A recent report from Genetec reveals that as cybersecurity evolves so, too, does physical security. Successful modern businesses can’t stay safe and secure without both.
In its latest “State of Physical Security” report, the company revealed that 69 percent of respondents said physical security — and the related data derived from it — is “mission critical” for a 21st century business.
The report shows that more than 46 percent of respondents from larger organizations say they use their physical security systems to “improve overall business efficiency, productivity, and asset optimization,” reports Loss Prevention Magazine.
Making physical security investments
The survey emphasizes that we live in a security age where shoring up — and continually perfecting — physical security assets are necessary. About 36 percent of participants said they are investing in “unified solutions” to make it easier to maintain, view, and collect data “across all of their systems to improve functionality and operations.”
That number was 31 percent from the previous year’s survey, indicating more business owners comprehend the necessity of streamlining their processes for collecting and interpreting the data gleaned from physical security. Additionally, 51 percent of respondents said that they have now invested in video analytics tools to make their existing systems function better and “digitally transform their business processes,” according to Loss Prevention Magazine.
“Before the pandemic, physical security’s role in business intelligence and operations was already growing, but over the last two years, it has proven to be a strategic asset in coping with a variety of challenges,” Pervez R. Siddiqui, vice president of offerings and transformation at Genetec Inc, told the magazine. “As we emerge from the pandemic, organizations will contend with three undercurrents: Changes in the physical dimension of work as workspaces evolve into hubs for collaboration and cohesion, workflow automation of the mundane in a bid to drive productivity and retention, and board-level interest in achieving operational resilience through integrated risk management.”
The importance of the cloud
One thing is clear — the cloud is indispensable.
About 45 percent of companies with 1,000 or more employees already incorporated cloud solutions to complement their existing physical security. From just the previous survey, that number stood at only 26 percent. Beyond this, 94 percent of respondents declared they plan to institute either “cloud or hybrid cloud solutions” in the long term for their security needs.
It means we are in an era where cloud-based and physical security are one and the same.
“The adoption of cloud and hybrid cloud solutions is rapidly accelerating in the security industry,” Christian Morin, vice president of product engineering and CSO at Genetec, told the magazine. “While many physical security departments were hesitant to consider cloud connected solutions in the past, they now better understand the benefits these solutions bring and how it can help them to better utilize their resources to achieve their respective business goals while minimizing their overall operational complexity.”
Finally, 52 percent of participants points to access control as the type of physical security improvement they hope to adopt in the next year.
Thibaut Louvet, director of access control product group at Genetec said keeping old “legacy access systems” that use “outdated technology” open companies up to modern cybersecurity threats and lead to long-lasting damage.
“So it is reassuring to see that organizations are taking the necessary steps to migrate their access control systems to more modern, cyber secure access control systems,” Louvet added.
Check out more data from the full survey here.
Peter Cavicchia II 