Welcome to the adventures of complete facility access control solutions. Enterprise security leaders and integrators face diverse mysteries here, but each can be solved with an intelligent mixture of technology, security focus and IT collaboration, seasoned with a big dose of bottom-line business benefits.

The design and implementation of a physical security system is applicable to organizations of all sizes.

While conventional credentials such as visitor passes and access devices enable physical access, the underlying issue is to verify, validate and track the individuals holding these credentials. The ability to effectively manage identities campus-wide improves security to best protect people, property and assets.

While card readers have been in use for decades, new IP-based access control systems can not only lower initial costs, but can be easier to administer and improve the level of security.

Thief! Intruder! Birdwatcher? Sometimes, perimeter security puts you in contact with a variety of visitors, not all of them welcome, but how does one differentiate between visitors without making a bad first impression or creating a vulnerable situation? And how does that situation change based on a facility’s location and risk profile? Three security executives weigh in on the issue.

Door hardware plays such a significant role in access control and identification. A door that does not close properly provides no access control. The alignment of the door: the door hinges, return and handle hardware all combine with an electronic access device or a key to secure a room, building or facility. It is the quality of door hardware that makes for an operational physical barrier or controlled access point.

When Daniel Casillo swam from his sinking jet ski in New York’s Jamaica Bay last August, he had no idea he was going to be at the center of a huge perimeter security breach.

As evidenced in this year’s Security 500 report, today’s leading organizations have understood that they cannot operate without Security’s participation. They see the security program as a value advantage. And security leaders, in turn, are creating value across the entire organization and “taming their risk tiger.”

Thieves who stole seven paintings from a Rotterdam museum took advantage of an automatic door-unlocking system.