security and protection system

security and protection system, any of various means or devices designed to guard persons and property against a broad range of hazards, including crime, fire, accidents, espionage, sabotage, subversion, and attack.

Most security and protection systems emphasize certain hazards more than others. In a retail store, for example, the principal security concerns are shoplifting and employee dishonesty (e.g., pilferage, embezzlement, and fraud). A typical set of categories to be protected includes the personal safety of people in the organization, such as employees, customers, or residents; tangible property, such as the plant, equipment, finished products, cash, and securities; and intangible property, such as highly classified national-security information or “proprietary” information (e.g., trade secrets) of private organizations. An important distinction between a security and protection system and public services such as police and fire departments is that the former employs means that emphasize passive and preventive measures.

Security systems are found in a wide variety of organizations, ranging from government agencies and industrial plants to apartment buildings and schools. Sufficiently large organizations may have their own proprietary security systems or may purchase security services by contract from specialized security organizations.

Development of security systems.

The origins of security systems are obscure, but techniques for protecting the household, such as the use of locks and barred windows, are very ancient. As civilizations developed, the distinction between passive and active security was recognized, and responsibility for active security measures was vested in police and fire-fighting agencies.

By the mid-19th century, private organizations such as those of Philip Sorensen in Sweden and Allan Pinkerton in the United States had also begun to build efficient large-scale security services. Pinkerton’s organization offered intelligence, counterintelligence, internal security, investigative, and law enforcement services to private business and government. Until the advent of collective bargaining in the United States, strikebreaking was also a prime concern. The Sorensen organization, in contrast, moved toward a loss-control service for industry. It provided personnel trained to prevent and deal with losses from crime, fire, accident, and flood and established the pattern for security services in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in western Europe.

World Wars I and II brought an increased awareness of security systems as a means of protection against military espionage, sabotage, and subversion; such programs in effect became part of a country’s national-security system. After World War II much of this apparatus was retained as a result of international tensions and defense-production programs and became part of an increasingly professionalized complex of security functions.

The development and diffusion of security systems and hardware in various parts of the world has been an uneven process. In relatively underdeveloped countries, or the underdeveloped parts of recently industrializing countries, security technology generally exists in rudimentary form, such as barred windows, locks, and elementary personnel security measures. In many such regions, however, facilities of large international corporations and sensitive government installations employ sophisticated equipment and techniques.

Since the 1960s, crime-related security systems have grown especially rapidly in most countries. Among contributing factors have been the increase in number of security-sensitive businesses; development of new security functions, such as protection of proprietary information; increasing computerization of sensitive information subject to unique vulnerabilities; improved reporting of crime and consequent wider awareness; and the need in many countries for security against violent demonstrations, bombings, and hijackings.

Security systems are becoming increasingly automated, particularly in sensing and communicating hazards and vulnerabilities. This situation is true in both crime-related applications, such as intrusion-detection devices, and fire-protection alarm and response (extinguishing) systems. Advances in miniaturization and electronics are reflected in security equipment that is smaller, more reliable, and more easily installed and maintained.

Types of security systems.

Security systems can be classified by type of production enterprise, such as industrial, retail (commercial), governmental, government contractor, or hospital; by type of organization, such as contract security or proprietary; by type of security process, such as personnel or physical security; or by type of security function or emphasis, such as plant protection (variously defined), theft control, fire protection, accident prevention, protection of sensitive (national security or business proprietary) information. Some of these categories obviously overlap.

Security for small businesses constitutes a special situation. Because small firms cannot afford specialized proprietary security staffs, measures must be incorporated into regular routines and staff training or be purchased from outside organizations. Theft, both internal and external, is a prime concern.

Residential security constitutes another special category. Sizable housing or apartment complexes, especially if under one management, can employ sophisticated security measures, including, for example, closed-circuit television monitoring of elevators and hallways and trained security guards. Relatively simple equipment for houses or small apartment buildings, as, for example, exterior lighting and alarms, is increasingly used. Some neighbourhoods of large cities cooperatively employ patrol services or organize resident volunteer patrols.