4 Security Vulnerabilities Easily Overlooked

1. You shred junk mail and other documents to destroy personal information. Isn't that enough?
2. Your school is small and you know your visitors and staffers on site. Your logbook is all you need, right?
3. Your workers wear branded apparel and are trustworthy. Your customers know them when they see them. Or do they?
4. You use prox card door access system so only employees can enter secure areas. Is a prox card your best option?

You've made great strides to enhance security. But is it enough to protect your people and property from ID theft and fraudulent access? Should you be doing more? The answer is YES!

1. LEFTOVER DATA
Shredding paper documents is a great start but if you are using any type of in-house printed ID, the used printer ribbon can be a significant security risk.

The technology used in all direct-to-card ID printers applies images, logos, personal identifiers, and access information to the card through heat and pressure creating an exact, readable copy of the card in reverse. In essence, the leftovers are a linear copy of all your data. Your students' names and ID numbers. Your employees' access points. Even machine-readable barcodes are at risk for fraudulent duplication.

To properly reduce ID printer ribbons to impossible-to-duplicate, non-readable trash, you need a shredder specifically designed to handle the film-like material used in printer ribbons. Smart-bit Ribbon Shredder

​2: VERIFIED VISITORS
Modern Visitor Management systems are cost effective and help ensure that the people on your campus have been properly vetted and are only allowed access as designated. Simple systems can pull data such as name, date-of-birth, address, and photo, from a state-issued ID. Where the system goes from there depends on the needs and budget of the school.

• Automatically post identifiers into a database
• Capture an up-to-date image for the school's visitor database
• Verify visitors, workmen, volunteers, parents against the school or district SIS blacklist
• Run a secure sex offender background check
• Issue an ID card or fob to give frequent volunteers or visitors for automatic check-in
• Use a visitor management kiosk to issue late passes and facilitate student pickup

ID Badges = Customer Confidence

3: EMPLOYEE ID
Give your customers the assurance that the workman wearing your logo on their shirt is really your employee. Issue photo ID cards and badges with your logo, the person's photo and their name in large print so that it is clearly readable from several feet away. Add a custom lanyard with your branding and corporate colors to reinforce their legitimacy even before they arrive at the customer's door. 

Your ID badging program can reinforce your commitment to your customers and be used to foster confidence in your staff. Encourage customers to look for the employee's photo ID. Ask them to verify that the person they are expecting to be at their home or business is the same as the person who arrives.

Use your ID badging program as a marketing tool to show your investment in your customers' wellbeing. A workman wearing a photo ID and logoed apparel is immediately accepted as more reputable and trustworthy.

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4: STILL USING PROX? 
Prox cards are typically used to limit door / building access. Unfortunately, 125kHz Prox cards (even those manufactured by HID) can be cloned in seconds - without actually touching the original. The cloned card will grant access to anything and everything the properly issued prox card was encoded to allow. The cloning devices are readily available for about $20.

We recommend budgeting an upgrade for your access control system as soon as possible. Your existing readers can be modified to allow access using a smart phone or technology (chipped) card. Plus a smart card system can provide two-factor protection for web access, specific software usage, and access to shared computers and workstations.