Hi-Tech-Consulting

http://www.amazon.com/Solving-Security-Puzzle-Ed-Morawski/dp/0979325595/sr=11-1/qid=1172330049/ref=sr_11_1/105-8589152-4990025

Product Description
Everything you need to know about electronic security & fire systems for your business or home including burglar alarms, fire, card access, digital video, and loss prevention. SOLVING THE SECURITY PUZZLE is a step-by-step guide to assist business professionals in solving their unique security & loss prevention issues through the latest technology. This book covers all security issues from liability to loss prevention with sections on every type of electronic security system including digital video, card access, intrusion & fire alarms, biometrics and logical access. SOLVING THE SECURITY PUZZLE also provides information on selecting security contractors and vendors and how to negotiate the right system to solve your security needs.

About the Author
Ed Morawski has been involved with electronic & physical security since 1973 when he began working as a technician for American Alarm Company in Cincinnati, OH. He become manager of the central station and worked there for ten years until Honeywell Alarm acquired the company. After moving to Los Angeles in 1983 he held various positions at API, the largest security company in California. API was acquired by ADT in 1996 and he became Regional Installation Manager and later Western Region Manager for the Engineered Systems Division. In 1998 he helped start UPS Security, which was primarily involved in remote management of security systems for several of the largest property management companies in the nation. Mr. Morawski moved to Brassfield Communications in 2006 where he is the Director of Engineering overseeing security system design for many other large customers such as Amgen and Kaiser Healthcare. Ed Morawski also started Hi-Tech-Consulting in 2005 to assist small business customers in getting electronic security systems utilizing the very latest technology and thinking.

“Using Culture to Cure Theft”
Security Management (02/07) Vol. 51, No. 2, P. 46 ; Kresevich, Millie

Companies that do not treat their employees well or that fail to establish a culture of high standards will produce disgruntled employees with low morale. These unhappy employees are much more likely to steal from the company than employees who are happy and feel recognized by the company. Companies can reduce employee theft by increasing employee morale and creating a corporate culture that is conducive to employee honesty. Luxottica Retail regional loss prevention development manager Millie Kresevich has created a core curriculum for a training program on developing a culture of integrity and honesty. This program is based on years of experience dealing with employee theft in the field, including interviews with hundreds of employees who were caught stealing. The program takes four hours to implement via workbooks and presentations, its expense is minimal, and it is built upon the following six principles: tell the truth; address the problem; get employees to commit to the program even if they disagree; welcome and embrace the truth; reward those who tell the truth; and create a platform of integrity. The program is also built on a manager’s code of conduct that emphasizes listening, trusting others, clarifying expectations, leading by example, treating employees like customers, and fostering an environment of honesty. The program was created for the retail industry but can be adopted to any type of company, and feedback about the program has been decidedly positive.
(go to web site)

Credit card fraud
By Steve Coomes Contributing Writer

25 Jan 2007
Most American adults know about the crime of credit card fraud, but few know so much of it occurs at restaurants. Whether at a fine-dining spot or a quick-service burger joint, the opportunity for theft exists whenever a card leaves the hand of the customer.
 
Wayne Steiger is president of CTS Consulting Group, a group that has worked for the past several years to stop credit-card fraud with high-tech tools. The problem in restaurants, he said, ranges from adding a few dollars to a credit card tip after the customer has paid, to organized crime rings defrauding thousands of customers of millions of dollars. (Read also our exclusive report, Speedy, secure electronic payments done tableside)
 
“We know there are crime syndicates, formed commonly of illegal immigrants, going city to city, using their skimmers while working in a restaurant,” said Steiger. Skimmers are small magnetic-stripe readers that capture card information for fraudulent use. “It used to be that skimmers could hold just 50 cards, but now it’s 300. And when that person leaves the restaurant, he goes home and, in two minutes, he’s downloaded that information to a personal computer. Then he puts it on Internet and sells it.”
 
According to Visa, of all card fraud perpetrated at the retail level, 40 percent occurs in restaurants. Steiger said that for all cards, he’s seen that number as high as 70 percent in restaurants.

“Safety Officials Learn From Mall Evacuation”
Spokesman Review (02/13/07) ; Cannata, Amy

Mall security personnel, fire fighters, police, and other emergency responders say that the fumes scare that prompted the evacuation of the NorthTown mall in Spokane, Wash., on Sunday provided them with some valuable lessons. For example, the only major hitch in the evacuation of the mall was the traffic jam of vehicles that occurred in the mall parking garage, says Spokane police spokesman Tom Lee. “We learned if it was a major emergency we wouldn’t even mess with the parking lot,” Lee explained. “We’d tell them to go on foot and get away from the area.” Authorities communicated the evacuation order to shoppers and store employees via public address announcements and by having security visit mall stores. Authorities believe that someone released something into the mall, but they are still unsure about what type of substance was released, and a review of security videotape turned up nothing suspicious. Some 40 people received medical treatment for inhaling fumes. A spokesman for the International Council of Shopping Centers says that malls’ emergency-response capabilities have improved since the Sept. 11 attacks.
(go to web site)

Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) was created by Congress to insure the reliability of financial records after the scandals of Enron, Tyco, and other large corporations where duplicate books, fraudulent reports and shredding of documents were the norm. Auditors are now demanding detailed records of who in the organization has or had access to financial records. 

While providing such reports is possible to do manually, it can be extremely time consuming; and if it later turns out the report was inaccurate, the person generating the report can be criminally liable. By installing a card access system on record rooms, you can usually satisfy the toughest auditors by providing a report of access system activity on the critical doors.  One of the best ways to comply with SOX is to control access to financial records both electronically and physically through card access systems. By installing card readers on all file rooms, you automatically limit, control, and document access to records.  Computer terminals that can be used to access financial records need to be secured in such a manner as to be able to prove and document the person accessing the information is authorized. Some regulators have questioned passwords and even access cards as not strictly proving a person’s identity because passwords and cards can be exchanged.  We see a distinct necessity to use biometric type readers to access financial records. At the very least, such systems provide unequivocal proof of who actually accessed such records. Basically, you can’t go wrong in using such systems. While more traditional types of readers and passwords may meet the intent of SOX, we can’t guarantee they will pass muster during an audit. 

Card access systems which help you comply with Sarbanes-Oxley can be part of larger building wide systems resulting in very cost effective solutions. The additional cost of installing readers or biometrics on record rooms is very small when added to a new or exiting system covering the rest of the building or facility.