Political Science

In any organization security has always been an important issue. All assets and individuals in any organization are faced with some degree of risk thus requires protection. Mitigation and elimination of these risks is not an obvious duty of the administration in the organization. It involves planning which depends on the administrators understanding of the risk the organization is exposed to, the vulnerability to these risks and the security needs of the organization. This paper assesses the basic principles of physical security.

Physical security is the foundation of all security systems in any organizations. Physical security can be defined as any physical control aimed at protecting the premises and assets belonging to an organization. It also protects the information and individuals in the premises. However, there are other sophisticated security measures that are aimed at protecting individuals and information which is beyond physical security. Basically the role of physical security is to prevent unauthorized persons from assessing the premises of the organization which intern prevent the assets from sabotage or theft (Kovacich  Halibozek, 2004).

The physical security adopted by any organization depends on several factors that determine the vulnerability to unauthorized access, theft or sabotage. It is indisputable that no single security measure will satisfy all the security needs in an organization. However, the implementation of physical security mitigation measures can be approached in layer. An organizations physical security should have the outer and the inter protection layer.

The outer protective layer is determined by the type of organization as well as the location. For example an office in the city center and a manufacturing unit in the industrial district can not have the same outer layer of physical. The perimeter of the organization may be the walls of the building or the fence around the organization. The ground is also another important aspect of physical security. The ground may serve different purposes such as a loading zone, aesthetic purposes or a buffer between the fence and the building but it also gives unobstructed surveillance of the premises. Although roads are essential in any organization, they are also problematic when physical security is considered. They allow access to the organization for both authorized and unauthorized individuals. The organization can have full control of the road incase of a private road or unlimited control over it use.  Physical security is enhanced by physical barriers either around the perimeter or on the points of entry. The barriers may be natural such as large water bodies or rough terrain. It can also be elected structures such as fences, gates or infrastructures such as highways. None of them can be considered as an absolute barrier to unauthorized access. However, these barriers are can extensively deter unauthorized individuals from assessing the organizations premises by making accessibility cumbersome.  The effectiveness of these barriers can be increased by use of alarms. It is also essential to deploy security guards to ensure that unauthorized person do not ignore the elected barriers (Kovacich  Halibozek, 2004).

Physical security also entails inner layer. Depending on the location of the organization, the administration may not have control over areas beyond the walls which makes the inner layer of physical security essential. The presence of the outer layer does not overrule the inner layer. The inner layers include the walls of the building and all the possible access points such as doors and windows. The building is the basic security structure in any organization and any opening that can allow human access must be addressed. The strength of glass used in windows should be strong depending on the location of the window. Doors are the main access points in any building and should be locked when they are not in use and their accessibility should be controlled when they are not locked. It is therefore essential to control how keys to various doors are issued. An organization that takes physical security seriously does not issue keys to groups rather to trustworthy individuals.

Another useful physical security principle that has become very popular with the development of technology is access control. It is a basic security tool that controls who accesses what in the organization. Access control can be mechanical or can employ sophisticated modern technology. This sophisticated access control includes passwords to prevent unauthorized access of information, electronic access control with controlled user cycles and access points and video monitoring. Generally, access control involves controlling the vehicles and employees entering and leaving the premises or outsiders such as suppliers and customers. Control can be at the gates or lobbies where a security guard is deployed or at the doors where electronic access control can be employed (Kovacich  Halibozek, 2004).

In conclusion, there are basic principles of physical security that any administrator should be acquainted with. No single mitigation measure can assure ultimate security of the organization asset. However, organization should access the risks and vulnerability before developing a physical security plan. Conducting appropriate security assessment will enable the management to implement informed and intelligent physical security designs.