In physical security and information security, access control (AC) is the selective restriction of access to a place or other resource, while access management describes the process. The act of accessing may mean consuming, entering, or using. Permission to access a resource is called authorization.
Physical security describes security measures that are designed to deny unauthorized access to facilities, equipment, and resources and to protect personnel and property from damage or harm. Physical security involves the use of multiple layers of interdependent systems that can include CCTV surveillance, security guards, protective barriers, locks, access control, perimeter intrusion detection, deterrent systems, fire protection, and other systems designed to protect persons and property.
A turnstile is a form of gate which allows one person to pass at a time. A turnstile can be configured to enforce one-way human traffic. In addition, a turnstile can restrict passage only to people who insert a coin, ticket, transit pass, security credential, or other method of payment or verification. Modern turnstiles can incorporate biometrics, including retina scanning, fingerprints, and other individual human characteristics which can be scanned. Thus a turnstile can be used in the case of paid access, for example to access public transport, a pay toilet, or to restrict access to authorized people, for example in the lobby of an office building.
A flash drive is a data storage device that includes flash memory with an integrated USB interface. A typical USB drive is removable, rewritable, and smaller than an optical disc, and usually weighs less than 30 g (1 oz). Since first offered for sale in late 2000, the storage capacities of USB drives range from 8 to 256 gigabytes (GB), 512 GB and 1 terabyte (TB). As of 2023, 2 TB flash drives were the largest currently in production. Some allow up to 100,000 write/erase cycles, depending on the exact type of memory chip used, and are thought to physically last between 10 and 100 years under normal circumstances.
A systems integrator is a person or company that specializes in bringing together component subsystems into a whole and ensuring that those subsystems function together, a practice known as system integration. They also solve problems of automation. Systems integrators may work in many fields but the term is generally used in the information technology (IT) field such as computer networking, the defense industry, the mass media, enterprise application integration, business process management or manual computer programming. Data quality issues are an important part of the work of systems integrators.
The common access card, also commonly referred to as the CAC, is the standard identification for active duty United States defense personnel. The card itself is a smart card about the size of a credit card. Defense personnel that use the CAC include the Selected Reserve and National Guard, United States Department of Defense (DoD) civilian employees, United States Coast Guard (USCG) civilian employees and eligible DoD and USCG contractor personnel. It is also the principal card used to enable physical access to buildings and controlled spaces, and it provides access to defense computer networks and systems. It also serves as an identification card under the Geneva Conventions. In combination with a personal identification number, a CAC satisfies the requirement for two-factor authentication: something the user knows combined with something the user has. The CAC also satisfies the requirements for digital signature and data encryption technologies: authentication, integrity and non-repudiation.
Building automation (BAS), also known as building management system (BMS) or building energy management system (BEMS), is the automatic centralized control of a building's HVAC, electrical, lighting, shading, access control, security systems, and other interrelated systems. Some objectives of building automation are improved occupant comfort, efficient operation of building systems, reduction in energy consumption, reduced operating and maintaining costs and increased security.
In computers, logical access controls are tools and protocols used for identification, authentication, authorization, and accountability in computer information systems. Logical access is often needed for remote access of hardware and is often contrasted with the term "physical access", which refers to interactions with hardware in the physical environment, where equipment is stored and used.
HID Global is an American manufacturer of secure identity products. The company is an independent brand of Assa Abloy, a Swedish door and access control conglomerate. Björn Lidefelt was appointed CEO on 27 January 2020. He succeeded Stefan Widing, who led HID Global for over four years.
A card reader is a data input device that reads data from a card-shaped storage medium and provides the data to a computer. Card readers can acquire data from a card via a number of methods, including: optical scanning of printed text or barcodes or holes on punched cards, electrical signals from connections made or interrupted by a card's punched holes or embedded circuitry, or electronic devices that can read plastic cards embedded with either a magnetic strip, computer chip, RFID chip, or another storage medium.
A contactless smart card is a contactless credential whose dimensions are credit card size. Its embedded integrated circuits can store data and communicate with a terminal via NFC. Commonplace uses include transit tickets, bank cards and passports.
A keycard lock is a lock operated by a keycard, a flat, rectangular plastic card. The card typically, but not always, has identical dimensions to that of a credit card, that is ID-1 format. The card stores a physical or digital pattern that the door mechanism accepts before disengaging the lock.
Distributed temperature sensing systems (DTS) are optoelectronic devices which measure temperatures by means of optical fibres functioning as linear sensors. Temperatures are recorded along the optical sensor cable, thus not at points, but as a continuous profile. A high accuracy of temperature determination is achieved over great distances. Typically the DTS systems can locate the temperature to a spatial resolution of 1 m with accuracy to within ±1 °C at a resolution of 0.01 °C. Measurement distances of greater than 30 km can be monitored and some specialised systems can provide even tighter spatial resolutions. Thermal changes along the optical fibre cause a local variation in the refractive index, which in turn leads to the inelastic scattering of the light propagating through it. Heat is held in the form of molecular or lattice vibrations in the material. Molecular vibrations at high frequencies (10 THz) are responsible for Raman scattering. Low frequency vibrations (10–30 GHz) cause Brillouin scattering. Energy is exchanged between the light travelling through the fibre and the material itself and cause a frequency shift in the incident light. This frequency shift can then be used to measure temperature changes along the fibre.
An access badge is a credential used to gain entry to an area having automated access control entry points. Entry points may be doors, turnstiles, parking gates or other barriers.
Visitor management refers to a set of practices or hardware additions that administrators can use to monitor the usage of a building or site. By gathering this information, a visitor management system can record the usage of facilities by specific visitors and provide documentation of visitor's whereabouts.
Biometrics are used by the South African government to combat fraud and corruption and to increase the efficiency of service delivery to the public.
Automatic Systems, a subsidiary of Bolloré Group, is a company, specialising in the automation of secure entrance control. The company designs and manufactures vehicle, pedestrian and passenger access control equipment. According to the IMS research, titled "The World Market for Pedestrian Entrance Control Equipment" (2013), Automatic Systems is ranked No. 1 as speed gates supplier for Mass Transit Applications in the world and for Intrabuilding in EMEA. Headquartered in Wavre, the Belgian province of the Walloon Brabant situated close to Brussels, the capital of Belgium, Automatic Systems operates through its subsidiaries located in France, the UK, Spain, Canada and the USA. and a network of worldwide distributors. The company exports 90% of its production through a network of international distribution partners. Its net sales topped €71.9 million in 2016.
A mantrap, security mantrap portal, airlock, sally port or access control vestibule is a physical security access control system comprising a small space with two sets of interlocking doors, such that the first set of doors must close before the second set opens. Airlocks have a very similar design, allowing free ingress and egress while also restricting airflow.
Brivo, Inc. is a smart building company providing cloud-based access control and video surveillance products for physical security and internet of things applications.
Automated border control systems (ABC) or eGates are automated self-service barriers which use data stored in a chip in biometric passports along with a photo or fingerprint taken at the time of entering the eGates to verify the passport holder's identity. Travellers undergo biometric verification using facial or iris recognition, fingerprints, or a combination of modalities. After the identification process is complete and the passport holder's identity is verified, a physical barrier such as a gate or turnstile opens to permit passage. If the passport holder's identification is not verified or if the system malfunctions, then the gate or turnstile does not open and an immigration officer will meet the person. E-gates came about in the early 2000s as an automated method of reading the then-newly ICAO mandated e-passports.
