Perimeter Security

Securing the physical perimeter

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

The delay in movement will help decrease the chances of a c rime being successful, which is why perimeter security is so important.

Masking the world a safer place is not an easy task. The Axis of Evil that exists has brought home to all of the world what an unsafe and unpredictable environment we live in. The risks of such threats exist for all, be they high profile organizations, utility suppliers,, institutions, the civil service, or any large gathering of the general public.

When referring to the environment I am not talking about the natural one here. The security treats that come from the climate change and other environmental phenomena is a different story.

Crime, anti-social behavior, terrorism; these are factors which need to be taken into account in today's society when considering security requirements, be this for objects or subjects.

But they are all factors factors which can have their level of threat reduced by a common theme – the physical perimeter and its security.

Measures such as CCTV and others can be but viewed as a deterrent. Although they may be useful in catching the act of a crime on camera they will not, in actual fact, prevent the occurrence. While CCTV pictures may lead to an arrest and conviction, if we are talking about here about a crime, they cameras will not prevent a crime or an incursion. Only good proper perimeter security can do that; or make it as hard as possible for someone to penetrate the perimeter and this is the same in real live as in cyberspace.

The physical perimeter can be a wall, a fence or just an imaginary boundary; a line in the sand, so to speak, and securing this perimeter is different for each situation. And, we are dealing here about securing the perimeter and not, as yet, about defending it.

On a fixes base, so to speak, your perimeter is the perimeter fence and/or wall followed, if the base has buildings, by the walls of buildings, and here the option of securing the perimeter are the same as everywhere, from the wire of the fence to CCTV, sensors and guards.

In the open,in the field, your perimeter that has to be secured is a fluid one, and open and field here means field, forest, etc., and especially so if and when on the move. The same, as to a fluid perimeter, is also true in today's cyber operations. Securing such a fluid perimeter is a total different kettle of fish than that of securing a fixed perimeter and the rules of engagement are mobile and fluctuate. Each and every situation and area requires a different assessment and response.

Walls, whether for countries, as in the case of the Great Wall of China, walls of cities, and all the old towns did have them, to walls such as that that such as the one that was known as the “Berlin Wall” or the wall that Israel has built against the Palestinians, are one way of securing a perimeter and dependent on the attempted breach provide quite a solid defense.

Perimeter fences, with or without guard towers, and a great example for this is here the border that was between West Germany and the German Democratic Republic, is another protection, though not as difficult to penetrate as is a solid wall. Then again, a wall with no defenders is easier to penetrate than a good fence with mine fields and defenders.

The perimeter of a building are, generally, the outer walls of said building unless there is a fence and/or wall before one gets too the building proper, as, for instance, in t he case of the MI6 HQ in London.

The weak points of a building's perimeter are, generally, its doors and windows and the locks they are secured with. Someone who does not mind making a lot of noise, for instance, will be able to overcome most doors, windows and locks.

Cameras will be a deterrent but none as good as guards, especially if the latter are armed.

Security and defense of a perimeter, as can be seen, go hand-in-hand, to some degree, for locks, for instance, and metal shutters are security while also a defense.

Perimeter security, its requirements and the possibilities available differ according to the building, property, land area and topography of the same, and the way in which the premises are to be used.

When one thinks of the term perimeter security one is immediately drawn to fencing and manned security posts; however, when defined simply as the outermost boundary to entering your premises, it casts a different light on the term.

Perimeter security can mean securing the outer boundaries of a plot of land, the main entrance/exit doors to a building, or the entrance doors to a compartment within a shared building.

Depending on the particular situation and whatever form of attack premises are likely to experience, any delay in movement will help decrease the chance of such a crime being successful, which is why perimeter security if so very important.

On the move, as mentioned previously, your perimeter is fluid and your responses to that are too; a lot more so than at any fixed location.

In field operations, in whatever terrain, when working in a team, your perimeter security are your skirmishers. When traversing the same type of area alone then the entire ballgame changes and you are your own perimeter security and you set where your perimeter is and how you are going to, if necessary, defend it.

Wild animals of all kinds, and even domesticated ones, have an invisible set of perimeters around them. There is an outer one where they will either run or let you know, in no uncertain terms more often that now, that you have gone too far and better leave.

If the inner perimeter of wild animals gets crossed then most will attack, even the likes of rats and squirrels, as anyone who has ever cornered a rat will know.

If the animal is something rather larger and more dangerous, like a hippo or a lion then the danger of serious harm arises and one better takes heed before of the warnings.

As human s we too, theoretically, have such an unseen perimeter around us and with some people this one is a wider area than with others and in military and such kind of operations it is set by different criteria as in civilian life.

Often, however, the fact that some people drop their guard, so to speak, in civilian life and that they are not as observant as they might be if alone in a forest, especially at dark, they allow attacks to happen. Some people wear an, invisible to them, sign that says “I am a victim! Attack me.”

How many of those do those of us who can spot such signs see day in day out? Many, I can tell you, and they invariably wear headphones and listen to some kind of loud music and are totally oblivious to what is going on around them, even to a car approaching from behind let alone a person intent on harming them. It is scary, I tell you.

On the move, whether in the open field or in the city, you make your own perimeter which, as said, is fluid, to some degree, and you secure it. That means, open eyes, open ears and ideally some distance from other people, in order to give yourself enough reaction time in case of need.

© 2010
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