When it comes to security, do you have to make a choice between security and convenience?

To best answer this month’s Ask Our Experts question, a common example faced by most people on a daily basis is in order. By now everyone should be well aware that secure passwords should not include the word “password,” your name, or the name of your pet, but many people choose to use those, or similar types of passwords, even though they are not very secure, because they are convenient, and easy to remember. A password that contains a random string capital and lowercase letters, with a few numbers, and a special character or two mixed in is extremely secure, but remembering it so that you can access your account is certainly not very convenient.

As you can see, there is a sliding scale between security and convenience, and those of us in the security industry frequently face the challenge of balancing both to meet client expectations. In a culture where convenience is held in extremely high regard, we cannot stress enough that when it comes to something as important as protecting your business or organization, employees, visitors, tenants, students, and/or faculty, security should always be the primary consideration.

When reviewing an overall security strategy, one of the aspects that frequently brings about the security vs. convenience topic is the access control system and its ease of use. An access control system is used by many different people, likely multiple times a day. How its implementation will affect users can have a significant impact on overall security.

For example, an extremely secure access control system may require one or more methods of authentication, adding time to the user’s standard entry process. It Is less convenient for users to have to find and/or enter their credentials, using a key fob, card or pin number, but it also means that security threats are much less likely to gain entry to the building. Proper design and end-user training, specific to the business or organization, is key to avoiding security risks such as having a sophisticated access control system, but the door is intentionally propped open by users, compromising security for the sake of convenience.

While there is no cut and dry answer as to whether you need to choose between security and convenience, where on the scale between the two that your organization will fall is determined by the level of security needed and desired. The level of convenience, or inconvenience rather, that is considered acceptable, will then play a role in deciding which security methods make the most sense for the overall needs of the users, and business or organization as a whole. As technology continues to advance, with things like biometrics and facial recognition, we may someday find that security, convenience, and the struggle for balance, is no longer a concern, but until then, the key is in finding a level of inconvenience that is acceptable for the level of security provided.

Don’t forget, if you have a question that we can help you with, please either ask in the comment section below or send an email to nroy@norrisinc.com.