Physical Security Designing - Assignment Example

Physical Security Designing The security of any given building handling sensitive information influences the day-to-day operations of the given organization, as well as guarantees the safety of the sensitive information contained in the building together with the safety and security of the employees. This is especially important for a facility that is meant to handle sensitive information pertaining individual’s requests for citizenship within the country. The security of such a sensitive and critical facility will encompass the use of physical security assets including security guards, barrier material, and closed-circuit television cameras. This security plan will generally adopt the layered defense model. The creation of layers from the perimeter moving inwards towards specific critical and strategic assets within the facility. The layers will generally adopt a particular functions that may include; (1) Deterrence, (2) Detection, (3) Delaying, (4) Assessment, and/or (5) Response. The main purpose of this document is to produce the standard operating procedures as pertains to the procedural, physical and cyber security within the facility. This document contains a comprehensive overview of the facilities security program. All operators, security personnel and specific facility staff are required to have a comprehensive mastery of this document, especially as pertains to the procedures and critical information contained with this security plan. 1. CPTED Applications According to the Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), the susceptibility of a building to crime can be prevented through influencing human behavior by creating and/or developing specific environmental designs. This security plan implements the three strategies that formulate the fundamental principle of CPTED. They are; Natural Access Control Natural Surveillance Territorial Reinforcement It is important to consider that this security plan has been developed to increase security within the facility as opposed to hardening the facility. Hardening the target is aimed at denying access by implementing physical barriers. This security plan is focused on securing the facility by allowing desired and appropriate flow of traffic within the desired or appropriate areas. It is also important to note that the security plan has been developed under one main assumption. Tis assumption determines the validity and viability of this security plan. The construction of the facility has been presumed to have be done using CPTED standard building materials. These materials affect the security and integrity of the structure and as such affects any security implements to be installed in and around the facility. All doors and walls meet the requirements of UL752 “Standard for Safety: Bullet-Resisting Equipment”. All entrances are properly and adequately secured, and no element of the structure poses a threat to itself. Surveillance Options Natural Surveillance The facility will effectively implement and place physical features that will naturally assist in surveillance within the facility. These will include the strategic placement of personnel and visitor walkways. This will also be implemented of specific activity areas so as to increase and potentially maximize visibility of potential threat areas. CCTV The facility shall install up to 20 CCTV cameras at strategic points within the facility as well as outside the facility. There shall be a CCTV camera installed at every external entrance. All secure rooms will have security cameras inside and at the entrance at the outside of the room. These cameras should have the ability to zoom, tilt and/or pan. The whole CCTV system shall be connected using a unique Fiber Optic system. The signals from all cameras shall be broadcast to the central security office that is manned at all times. Before selecting a given CCTV surveillance system. There are certain aspects and/or features of CCTV systems that influence the quality of surveillance that they can provide. Factors such as the lens type, focal length, depth of field and illumination requirements of the cameras to be used significantly affects the quality of surveillance provided by these tools. This is also affected by the internal and external lighting that is available and installed within the institution. One important factor is the amount visibility realized from cameras in darkness. Cameras with night vision capabilities are highly recommended for this purpose. Outdoor Barriers These formulates the first and primary layer of security at the facility. These outdoor barriers will be created to suit the requirements of the facility to enable it handle any given security threat. 1.1. Perimeter Wall The perimeter wall will be the first line of security. The perimeter wall will be erected to the standard 8-foot concrete and/or brick requirement. This wall is to be made to be 1.5 to 2.0 feet in thickness. This height and thickness should be strong enough to withstand external impact from an external threat. Fencing Electrical and/or barbed fencing shall be installed at the very top of perimeter wall. This fencing will be 1 foot high and will have the electric fence run at the top along the length of the perimeter wall. The barbed wire will be wound around the electric fence along the full length of the perimeter wall. Bollards The facility shall employ two main types of bollards; traffic bollards and protective bollards. There shall be three main entries the facility’s grounds. These entrances shall have bollards mounted at strategic sections to control, mitigate or eliminate the flow of automobile traffic in and out of the facility. These bollards will also be installed in strategic positions within the facility serving the same purpose. Some of these bollards will be illuminated so as to control and direct traffic flow. All these bollards should be retractable into the ground or road. Security Zones and Lift-Gates There shall be a security zone established at every entrance into the facility’s premises. These zones shall each have a security post to be manned by a minimum of 3 security personnel. Each of the entry point will have a lift-gate, similar to the one illustrated below. Locks Owing to the nature of the activities to be conducted within the facility, it is essential to security that an effective and viable security lock system be implemented. The information that will be handled will be sensitive in nature and a Main Key Systems should be employed. In this kind of system, each lock will have a distinct scan pad that will scan identity tags that will double-up and security access cards. Every employee will be required to possess one of these tags for them to have access to certain areas within the facility. Access will be limited to employee security clearance levels to be determined by their, authorization to the information within the given secure area or room. Identity tags can only open the doors that it has access to. Master keys will be availed to key personnel within the facility. This will include management, certain security personnel and key employees within the facility. These systems would be most ideally be combined main key-central lock systems. This is primarily for the different security functions that will be performed within the facility. This means employees of lower security clearance levels can only open certain doors while senior security clearance level employees can access all doors. Lighting Considerations Exterior Lighting The facility shall have exterior lighting strategically placed so as to reinforce and highlight strategic areas of interest and those that pose a potential threat to security. These include: guards posts, the perimeter wall, all external and internal entrance and exit points, and all other areas of interest. The external lighting shall be motion-activated. There are certain facets that have to be considered before installation of both the exterior and interior lighting. These factors include; their durability, power requirements, effect on CCTV and security guard visibility. It is also important that the lighting be identified for their purpose. This includes lighting for illumination zones, security posts, inside or outside and/or access doors. The switches and controls to the lighting should be in secured and centralized sections. It is advisable that the area be close to a security off or post. It is essential that the light is controlled as it ay compromise on the quality of other surveillance systems. There has to be backup lighting in the event of a power failure. The lighting also has to be consistent and continuous. Section Seven: Alarm Options All entrances to secure areas will be fitted with alarm systems that are to detect activity that would otherwise compromise the integrity of the sensitive information contained within the facility. The intrusion alarms will be employed throughout the facility. There will be two main functions of the alarm system; (1) to provide constant and reliable monitoring in areas that are not frequently manned or occupied by an employee, (2) to ensure security and integrity of the sensitive information handled by the institution. There are certain factors to be considered before purchasing an intruder alarm system. They include the amount of open access that the alarm system is supposed to provide, the costs of installation and maintenance, issues with the equipment and the functional requirements of the system. Entry Control Entry points to secure areas will have access limited to the vital employees. This is mainly to ensure integrity of the information contained within the facility. As mentioned earlier, every employee will have an identity tag or badge that will double-up as an access card. These cards will be smart cards that will have all information pertaining to the employee, their security clearance level, and keeps a record of their movements throughout the facility. This is critical in limiting access to critical and sensitive information while keeping track of employee movement in the case where the facility is subjected to an internal security threat. In conclusion, the implementation of this security plan is essential and integral to the operations of the facility. This is owing to the fact that the integrity of the information within the facility has to be protected. It is vital that access to this information be limited while ensuring security of the staff working within the facility. References Read More