Identify Vulnerabilities, Control Access, Record Events.
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Vulnerability Assessments

VULNERABILITY & SECURITY ASSESSMENT CAPABILITY

A Vulnerability and Security Assessment is an excellent way to evaluate your existing security posture and a great first step to take prior to making security improvements at your facility or when trying to solve a specific security problem.

During a Vulnerability and Security Assessment, all aspects of your facilities’ security are examined, any weaknesses are identified, and suggestions for security improvements are provided. In addition, opportunities where costs can be reduced or where security operations can be made more efficient are identified.

The Vulnerability and Security Assessment process is based on the Department of Homeland Security and Department of State’s Vulnerability and Security Assessment process. This assessment process is constantly evolving, allowing us to take advantage of lessons learned from previous assessments, and to keep up with the latest security best practices.

Our Vulnerability and Security Assessment process uses a structured, formal analysis process that allows us to gain a deep understanding of your business’ security requirements, operating conditions, policies and your surrounding community’s security risks and threats.

While client involvement is crucial to a successful assessment, our consultants facilitate the assessment every step of the way, keeping the project on track, and making sure that all important elements are examined.

Vulnerability and Security Assessments are custom tailored for each project/client, but typically include the following tasks:

  • Identification and analysis of most probable Security Threats.
  • A detailed assessment of current Security Threats and Vulnerabilities.
  • A review of Site and Facility Physical Security.
  • Analysis of local crime data: including your local area’s criminal activity history, review of recent police calls for service, review community crime statistics and trends, and crime forecast reports.  (Includes liaison with local Police Departments.)
  • An assessment and review of compliance with your company or organizations current Security Policies, Measures and Requirements.
  • Review of Facility Security Operating Procedures and Policies.
  • Review of current Physical Security Plan and Systems.
  • Review of current Electronic Security and Surveillance Systems.
  • Review of current Architectural Security Measures and Security Landscaping.
  • Review of current Security Personnel.
  • Evaluation of current overall Security Program and identification of any weaknesses and vulnerabilities.
  • Recommendations for Security Improvements.
  • Prioritization of recommendations and development of an implementation plan
  • Preparation of written Vulnerability and Security Assessment Report.

VULNERABILITY AND SECURITY ASSESSMENT PROCESS

So, what can you expect when we conduct a Vulnerability and Security Assessment of your property or facility?

The following is a brief outline of the typical assessment process:

  1. Prior to coming to your site, we will request a number of documents for our use during the assessment. These typically include plans of the site and buildings, copies of any existing security policies and procedures, samples of various types of forms, company telephone directory, employee handbook, and other similar items. We only want what you already have; if there is something on our request list that is not available, it is not a problem.
  2. We will work with you to identify the people within your organization that we would like to interview. The goal is to get a good cross-representation of all of the major operating and support departments within your organization. Typically, this would include members of senior management, department heads, and people who occupy roles which are directly related to security; such as building receptionist’s, security officers, and service personnel. The typical interview session lasts between 30 and 45 minutes.
  3. When we first arrive on site, we will start by conducting an in-depth interview with the person who presently serves as “security manager” for the facility. This may be an actual security manager, or may be the facilities manager or other person who manages the security function for the organization. This interview session covers a lot of details, and may take up to 2 to 3 hours. After this interview, we ask this person to give us a guided tour of the facility.
  4. We then begin conducting individual interview sessions with each of the employees identified in Step #2 above. Depending on the size of the organization, this process could take several days.
  5. At the conclusion of the interviews, we will conduct detailed inspections of certain areas of the facility and site. We may also spend extended periods of time observing certain areas of your facility, such as the building lobby, property access points or service areas.
  6. WE WILL NEED ACCESS TO YOUR PROPERTY OR FACILITY AT NIGHT… in order to measure lighting in your parking lots and other areas of the site. We will also use this opportunity to observe how your facility operates at night, to develop a plan to optimize the use of surveillance systems during hours of darkness and to get a general feel for the neighborhood during the hours of darkness.
  7. At the conclusion of our visit to your site, we will meet with you to give you an update on our progress and to discuss the next steps in the process. At this point it may be possible to offer some preliminary findings and recommendations, but in most cases, we will need time to process and analyze the data gathered, before we can give you any meaningful guidance.
  8. We will then return to our offices and begin our formal Vulnerability and Security Assessment process. During this process, we identify your critical assets, analyze potential threats, review loss history, study crime history and forecasts for your site and the surrounding community, evaluate existing security measures, and identify potential vulnerabilities and areas for improvements. At the conclusion of this process, we begin to write the Vulnerability and Security Assessment Report. It normally takes between two and three weeks from the time we complete our site visit to the time when we complete our draft report.
  9. While we are preparing the report, we often uncover things that require further investigation and study. In some cases, this may require that we return to your site to conduct additional interviews or to examine certain things or areas more closely. We may also request certain additional documents or other information that is available from within your organization.
  10. When the draft Vulnerability and Security Assessment Report is completed, we will send it to you for review. After you have had an opportunity to digest the document, we will meet with you in person or via teleconference to review the report in detail and respond to any of your questions or comments.
  11. After we have obtained your input, we will prepare a final Vulnerability and Security Assessment Report that incorporates your comments. If desired, we can make a formal presentation of the Vulnerability and Security Assessment Report to your senior management team or others.
  12. At the conclusion of the assessment process, we remain available to assist you with implementation of the recommendations contained within our report. This can include identifying vendors and sources of products and services, reviewing bid proposals, developing security policies and procedures, providing training, and assisting in other ways.