Are Your Visitors and Contractors a Security Blind Spot?

Business depends on connection. Clients visit partners to collaborate, while contractors perform essential services to fill in the gaps. Welcoming these outsiders is what helps remain productive while keeping a lean and efficient workforce. Yet, these necessary interactions do pose some distinct security challenges, and they can be deceptive… 

Why third-party access is different

Managing visitor and contractor access does pose some interesting hurdles. Unlike permanent staff, visitors undergo a lot less vetting – it wouldn’t be economical or practical to do thorough background checks for each visitor. In a world of increasing intelligence-gathering efforts from unscrupulous actors, along with mere opportunists, this poses a threat.

Their access needs are often temporary and specific to certain areas. Manually managing these requirements is complex and inefficient. It’s also prone to error, and non-employees lack familiarity with internal security protocols at the best of times, thus increasing the risk of accidental breaches like tailgating.

Uncontrolled physical entry can directly enable cyber threats. Unsecured network ports and unattended workstations (and even simple shoulder surfing) become attack vectors that bridge a physical and digital security gap.

Modern access control systems

Modern Access Control Systems are the fundamental tool here for managing third-party risks effectively. These systems aren’t just simple locks, but where administrators can grant permissions restricted to specific floors or rooms. Individual lockers, even, can be precisely tailored to the visitor’s legitimate needs. 

Importantly, access can be time-bound. This means automatically activating and deactivating credentials according to schedules, as well as changing access once contract durations expire. 

Advanced ACS facilitates pre-authorisation. This allows visitors and contractors to be registered and approved before their arrival, thus streamlining the check-in process. It’s not only more efficient, but simply a nicer experience for visitors and makes them feel welcomed upon arrival.

Systems actually support diverse identifiers, like traditional access cards and badges, as well as secure mobile credentials stored on smartphones. Every access attempt – successful or denied – is logged automatically and stored. These encrypted audit trails provide visibility ensuring compliance with data privacy regulations.

The Role of Policy and Process

Technology alone is not a complete solution – it never is. An effective ACS must be supported by clear and well-communicated policies, along with a strong culture and diligent processes. Formal visitor and contractor management policies must be established to detail the request procedures, identification requirements, escort protocols, and acceptable use rules. 

Strict verification steps at reception or security checkpoints ought to confirm identity against pre-approved lists. Often, this exists, but the process of acquiring a passkey is rudimentary and inefficient.

Staff must receive training on recognizing valid credentials and identifying unauthorized individuals. It’s the responsibility of all staff to maintain site security and report suspicious or negligent activity. 

Closing the Gap on Third-Party Risk

Visitors and contractors represent a security blind spot, in part because they’re often seemingly innocuous. But, it’s not only bad actors, it’s also that these visitors are not trained according to your normal security standards, making human error more likely. Technology can be implemented, but culture and training must do a lot of the heavy lifting in order to erase these blind spots.