No Loitering Here

Retail stores experience a flux of activity all year long

Securing doors and valuables in retail locations without hindering operational efficiency can be a challenge. And that’s just from the customers’ perspective.

Adding to the difficulty of securing these dynamic environments, retail stores must manage large, flexible workforces, typically with high turnover.

Traditional locks and keys, even smart cards or key fobs, provide only a thin layer of security because they can be lost, stolen or borrowed. There also are the costs associated with lock changes and card inventory management.

Throw in having to maintain separate intrusion systems -- operated by someone with nothing more than PINs that also can be forgotten or loaned -- and often the results are numerous false alarm incidences and ensuing municipal fines.

Advancements in biometrics with physical access control have made it easier to implement systems that not only provide better security, convenience and costsavings but also help comply with government regulations.

Look no further than your neighborhood pharmacy.

According to the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, there are more than 56,000 pharmacies in the United States today, making retail pharmacies the perfect candidate for biometric access control. Over the last 10 years, biometrics has become more widely used because of its increased speed, reliability, accuracy and affordability.

The systems themselves can feature different types of modalities (fingerprint, iris, hand geometry, facial recognition); different platforms (from embedded access for fewer doors to client/server architecture for enterprise-level applications); and multiple factors of authentication (biometric/PIN/smart card). It simply depends on the requirement or network of the particular retail application.

Personnel Access
One major national chain was faced with the issue of a limited number of pharmacists to work at each location. The company’s compromise was to rotate pharmacists over multiple stores in a regional area, sometimes daily. This resulted in a complicated inventory of keys, cards, PINs and handwritten records -- costing time and money and providing a less-than-ideal level of security.

A pilot installation last year featured an embedded access control system with fingerprint biometrics for several of the company’s stores. This solution authenticated pharmacists, other employees and their access rights, eliminating the need for carrying the proper key to that store, as well as the need to remember the unique store alarm code.

With embedded software on the hardware, there was no need to install a dedicated server at each store or install software locally to make modifications. In this environment, the access control software securely sits outside of IT systems and is open source and Linux-based, which also eliminates constant updates to operating systems.

Gone, too, are false alarms because the only way for a user to activate the biometric reader -- installed on the public side -- is for the sensor to recognize the pharmacist who has arming or disarming rights to the intrusion system. Without this process, the device will not unlock the door or change the alarm status.

Event reporting for the installation shows that there would have been numerous false alarms if not for the device. The chain’s employees said they were surprised by how simple it is to use, and by how accessing the door throughout the day is no longer a disruptive situation.

“It’s perfect for the front door to the pharmacy, but that doesn’t tell the whole story,” said John Carter, president and CTO of e-DATA Corp. “Drive-through windows, partitioned warehouses, even cabinets containing Schedule II or other controlled substances can restrict physical access and keep an electronic audit just about anywhere.”

The electronic audit trail is especially important in pharmacies. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPPA) mandates that healthcare facilities, to control medicines and records, must protect patients’ personal information and meet all necessary requirements and codes. Failure to comply with HIPAA can result in both civil and criminal penalties.

The authenticated approach also allows pharmacies to investigate incidences, track operations across all stores and provide proper documentation for government agencies.

How about biometrics for a shared restroom area? That was the dilemma another major retail pharmacy encountered. With a retail clinic door on one side of the restroom and the pharmacy door on the other, a solution was developed to disengage pharmacy-side access when a person entered from the opposite door.

Some systems allow access rights to be electronically managed and moved in real time on a regional or national level. Many administrators need only a network- connected Web browser, on a laptop or a smartphone, to make changes to the pharmacy schedule.

Systems distribute fingerprint templates to other locations with the click of a button from anywhere in the world, without the need to enroll users at other biometric readers in the network or at other sites. The initial enrollment process itself has advanced to a matter of seconds. Convenience has now become a huge factor.

Loss Prevention
Loss prevention will always be a large component of retail as drug shrinkage and theft of critical-care consumables continue to plague pharmacies. Biometric access control eliminates internal fraud by preventing unauthenticated staff from opening secure doors, cabinets and drive-through windows. And the time stamp on the event log creates a more-detailed record of all access-related store activity. But a biometric solution isn’t just for pharmacy employees. Unattended or after- hour delivery vendors and contractors can access an armed auxiliary exterior or warehouse entrance -- even during commonly worked hours -- without a key, card or the alarm code.

Especially since the events of 9/11, the government’s increased use of biometric systems has paved the way for installations across many applications, including retail.

“What we are now seeing happen, however, is that as biometric technology has been embraced by the government for entrance into facilities, others have also begun to accept it as a better solution,” Carter said.

Biometric access control systems are easily integrated with camera, video and alarm monitoring to provide a complete suite of features. The robust offerings are combined with systems designed for easy installation, dramatically cutting down the time for setup, whether at one retail pharmacy or thousands.

This article originally appeared in the February 2011 issue of Security Today.

Featured

  • New Report Reveals Top Trends Transforming Access Controller Technology

    Mercury Security, a provider in access control hardware and open platform solutions, has published its Trends in Access Controllers Report, based on a survey of over 450 security professionals across North America and Europe. The findings highlight the controller’s vital role in a physical access control system (PACS), where the device not only enforces access policies but also connects with readers to verify user credentials—ranging from ID badges to biometrics and mobile identities. With 72% of respondents identifying the controller as a critical or important factor in PACS design, the report underscores how the choice of controller platform has become a strategic decision for today’s security leaders. Read Now

  • Overwhelming Majority of CISOs Anticipate Surge in Cyber Attacks Over the Next Three Years

    An overwhelming 98% of chief information security officers (CISOs) expect a surge in cyber attacks over the next three years as organizations face an increasingly complex and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven digital threat landscape. This is according to new research conducted among 300 CISOs, chief information officers (CIOs), and senior IT professionals by CSC1, the leading provider of enterprise-class domain and domain name system (DNS) security. Read Now

  • ASIS International Introduces New ANSI-Approved Investigations Standard

    • Guard Services
  • Cloud Security Alliance Brings AI-Assisted Auditing to Cloud Computing

    The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining standards, certifications, and best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment, today introduced an innovative addition to its suite of Security, Trust, Assurance and Risk (STAR) Registry assessments with the launch of Valid-AI-ted, an AI-powered, automated validation system. The new tool provides an automated quality check of assurance information of STAR Level 1 self-assessments using state-of-the-art LLM technology. Read Now

  • Report: Nearly 1 in 5 Healthcare Leaders Say Cyberattacks Have Impacted Patient Care

    Omega Systems, a provider of managed IT and security services, today released new research that reveals the growing impact of cybersecurity challenges on leading healthcare organizations and patient safety. According to the 2025 Healthcare IT Landscape Report, 19% of healthcare leaders say a cyberattack has already disrupted patient care, and more than half (52%) believe a fatal cyber-related incident is inevitable within the next five years. Read Now

New Products

  • Automatic Systems V07

    Automatic Systems V07

    Automatic Systems, an industry-leading manufacturer of pedestrian and vehicle secure entrance control access systems, is pleased to announce the release of its groundbreaking V07 software. The V07 software update is designed specifically to address cybersecurity concerns and will ensure the integrity and confidentiality of Automatic Systems applications. With the new V07 software, updates will be delivered by means of an encrypted file.

  • A8V MIND

    A8V MIND

    Hexagon’s Geosystems presents a portable version of its Accur8vision detection system. A rugged all-in-one solution, the A8V MIND (Mobile Intrusion Detection) is designed to provide flexible protection of critical outdoor infrastructure and objects. Hexagon’s Accur8vision is a volumetric detection system that employs LiDAR technology to safeguard entire areas. Whenever it detects movement in a specified zone, it automatically differentiates a threat from a nonthreat, and immediately notifies security staff if necessary. Person detection is carried out within a radius of 80 meters from this device. Connected remotely via a portable computer device, it enables remote surveillance and does not depend on security staff patrolling the area.

  • Unified VMS

    AxxonSoft introduces version 2.0 of the Axxon One VMS. The new release features integrations with various physical security systems, making Axxon One a unified VMS. Other enhancements include new AI video analytics and intelligent search functions, hardened cybersecurity, usability and performance improvements, and expanded cloud capabilities