What would happen if a stranger gained access to your building? What about if they got into your business’ data? It’s something nobody wants to think about. But it’s critical to your business that you consider every possibility.
Many businesses are aware of the physical damage risks of intruders getting into a building. But what about the less obvious impacts? What harm would a security breach do to your organisation’s reputation? And what about data protection or other regulations that your industry demands? There are financial costs – possibly very large ones – attached to all of those impacts.
That’s why assessing and mitigating security risks is vital to your organisation. High security isn’t optional – it’s business critical.
The hidden costs of access control breaches
Financial impacts
This is the most obvious area of risk when it comes to security breaches. Intruders might steal physical assets from your building, which all need to be replaced and/or reinforced. There might be damage to the building itself or its fixtures and fittings which require investment to put right. And more widely, there’s the question of insurance premiums, which might increase following a security incident.
Operational interruption
When a security breach incident occurs, it’s an emergency that can’t be ignored. It’s all hands on deck to stop, fix, and recover from the incident. Depending on the details of what happened, there could be downtime in your business offering while you work to rectify the security issues. And that kind of compromised continuity and loss of productivity can take a long time to overcome.
Reputational damage
What would it do to your opinion of a business you buy from if their buildings were breached and their assets or data stolen? Would it give you confidence in the security of that business as a customer? Unlikely. And that negative reputational impact carries over to employees as well, affecting their motivation and your future talent acquisition processes. The financial shockwaves from reputational damage could be significant – how many customers would stop buying because of the loss of trust in the safety of their data?
Regulatory penalties
All businesses are subject to regulations. And businesses which fail to meet the demands of those regulations can be punished very harshly. The loss of personal data through a security breach could incur financial fines and penalties which could seriously impact the business as a whole.
Access control is a core part of the wider cybersecurity landscape of any business. But it’s often forgotten or overlooked, with IT and security teams focused on internet security, phishing emails, and wider network considerations. With the extremely serious nature of the potential impacts of an access control breach, this is a risky thing to neglect.
Why basic access control systems aren’t enough for high security
Legacy or very basic access control systems use either weak encryption or no encryption at all. That means that data in transit between components and devices is left exposed to risk. If data isn’t encrypted, hackers have technology that enables them to intercept signals and exploit system vulnerabilities. That could mean that every time someone scans a credential at your front door, you’re risking the security of your building. With unencrypted systems, there’s also a risk of credential cloning or network sniffing – both potentially giving unauthorised individuals the tools to gain access to the premises without permission.
ATRIUM’s approach to security
ATRIUM access control is designed to meet and overcome modern security challenges with no extra hassle. When you install our ATRIUM KRYPTO products, you’re installing a system that’s encrypted with military-grade security from end to end. That means that whenever data is transferred from credentials to readers, from readers to controllers, and from controllers to servers, it’s robustly protected from interception, misuse, and cloning. Because of the algorithm behind AES encryption, this technology means that card cloning is impossible, as the authentication codes required to gain legitimate access change every time a credential is used.
Why does all of this matter? Because it means your access control system is no longer an exploitable weak link in your building’s security systems. It means you can be confident that only authorised individuals can gain access to restricted areas. And it also means that your premises is future-proofed against risks posed by criminals abusing emerging technologies. ATRIUM delivers reliability, scalability, and clean, simple integration without compromising all-important security.
Business benefits of high security access control
Investing in high security benefits everyone in the business. While initial setup costs could be a little higher, the financial implications of a breach could be extremely serious. That higher opening investment is well worth the peace of mind of knowing you’ve done everything possible to reduce the risk of a security breach. On top of that, compliance readiness and future-proofing mean you’re putting your business in the best possible position going forwards.
When you’re not worrying about the security of your premises, you have time, energy, and resources to put towards doing whatever it is that your business does best.
Upgrading to encrypted access control
The true cost of an access control security breach goes well beyond the immediate and obvious physical damage. There are financial costs, yes, but also reputational, regulatory, and operational impacts that are much more difficult to quantify and repair. ATRIUM, with its KRYPTO end-to-end encryption safeguards, ensures that data is robustly protected and your business is resilient to attack.
Encryption is not just about upgrading security. It’s about protecting your building, your assets, and your employees. It’s an essential business safeguard.
To learn more about encrypted access control.
