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Security insight. Real-world expertise.
Advice, perspectives and stories from the people protecting businesses and communities across South Wales.
- Security advice
What does effective security look like for your business?
From the first risk assessment to the people on the ground, discover what makes a security plan work.
24 September 2026 · 6 min read
Security insight. Real-world expertise.
Advice, perspectives and stories from the people protecting businesses and communities across South Wales.
- Security advice
What does effective security look like for your business?
From the first risk assessment to the people on the ground, discover what makes a security plan work.
24 September 2026 · 6 min read
What does effective security look like for your business?
From the first risk assessment to the people on the ground, discover what makes a security plan work.
- · 3 min read
- From our team
Latest articles
Uncategorized
- · 3 min read
Many people know that security is all about defence but what many don’t realise is that there are different kinds of ways to defend. You can protect your business and assets using all of these ways, so it is incredibly useful to know them to ensure that you have a solid security strategy in place. This article aims to help you implement the best defence for your business by outlining the three key fundamentals of security: to deter criminals, to detect any security threats, and to delay their entry or their impact if they have breached your security.
The 3 Ds of Defence
Deter
Physical deterrents are the first line of defence for any business, where they aim to deter or discourage a potential threat from occurring in the first place by suggesting that a successful attack is unlikely due to strong defences. These prevention measures are usually found around the exterior of a business and are effective tools in instilling doubt or fear of the consequences into the potential offender.
Examples of security deterrents include:
- Warning Signs – such as “CCTV in Operation” or “Premises secured by RGM Security.”
- CCTV Cameras – makes sure that they are visible from the outside of your perimeter.
- Security Lighting and Motion Sensors – most crimes tend to happen at night so illuminate your perimeter and you’ll reduce the risk for your business.
- Fences – these could be electric, fences with barbed wire on top, high fences, razor wire, rotating spikes, anti-climb paint or thick bramble bushes.
- On-site Security Presence – your perimeter may need static guarding.
- Gates and Access Control – making entry as difficult as possible can discourage opportunistic burglars.
Don’t have warning signs to deter potential thieves? To download and use our free A4 Security Sign, you can print it here!
Detect
Deterrents aren’t going to discourage every potential attacker, so it’s essential that you have other defence measures in place. At this stage of a threat, i.e. when a decision has been made to attack your business, you need to be able to detect it, monitor it, and respond to it. Detection measures are present in both the exterior and interior of a business and they are effective in making you (or your security team) initiate an appropriate response to a threat as early in the attack timeline as possible.
Examples of detection measures include:
- CCTV Cameras – we recommend fixed and pan-tilt-zoom cameras.
- Alarm Systems – to alert security personnel when unauthorised access is attempted.
- Security Lighting – to help the cameras monitor movement within the perimeter.
- Motion Sensors, Contact Sensors, and Glass Break Detectors – to help you track where your security has been breached and their direction of travel (fence-mounted sensors, underground movement sensors and/or passive infra-red sensors. Infra-red beams and/or microwave beams etc).
With a perimeter intrusion detection system and CCTV camera system capable of detecting and tracking an intrusion at all times, you can monitor a whole attack which is necessary for an effective response and for your business to get back any loss of information or assets that may have been moved off-site.
Delay
Delay security measures are your last line of defence with the aim of preventing an attack, but they also work to maximise the time between detection and an attack breaching the perimeter. This is essential to ensure enough time for an appropriate response to be triggered and deployed so that the threat can be defused.
Examples of delay measures include:
- Exterior Physical Barriers – fences, gates, access control, trenches.
- Interior Physical Barriers – locks, safes.
- Digital Security Barriers – encrypted passwords, access control.
With these three fundamentals of security in place, you can be sure that your business will be sufficiently protected!
What we can do for you:
RGM Security offers a wide range of security services as well as penetration testing to check your defences and threat awareness training for your staff. If you need training or just advice, please don’t hesitate to contact us!
Need more help or advice with your business’s security? Check out our other useful articles:
6 Tips For Running Effective Threat Drills
Many people know that security is all about defence but what many don’t realise is that there are different kinds
Uncategorized
- · 4 min read
Spring is the season for new beginnings, a season that represents growth and improvement, a time where we all tend to clean away the cobwebs in our lives that were left over from the Winter.
We’re all familiar with the much-needed Spring clean in our homes, but why is it that this ultimate “clean up” attitude only seems to be reserved for our personal lives? With the weather constantly improving and the days staying lighter for longer, we should all be taking advantage of this time to Spring clean our businesses as well.
As our days are filled with running the business and dealing with urgent work as it arises, it can be tempting to push a much-needed business “clean” back until it’s Spring next year again, but it is absolutely essential that you don’t. Here’s why and how you can get it done in no time.
A Spring Clean is Essential for Your Business’s Security
You don’t know if your security measures are still effective if you don’t check them regularly, so a Spring clean is an ideal time to do this. If you don’t, and this is the time that an opportunistic burglar decides to try their luck with your business, you can be sure that you’ll be left with regret and a lot of unforeseen costs just to get you back to working order.
Protect yourself, your employees, customers and valuable assets by checking your business’s security and improving it if necessary.
How to Give Your Security a Spring Clean
Assess Your Building’s Exterior and Physical Assets
Your first form of defence is your exterior so walk around your perimeter and conduct an audit to ensure that it is as secure as it can be. Your exterior security needs to prevent intruders from entering the building so check:
- All dark areas, such as doorways, walkways and car parks are all well lit – replace burnt out, broken, or security lights if necessary.
- All physical security deterrents such as signs and fences are visible and are not compromised – fix or replace if necessary.
- CCTV cameras are working and are updated with the latest software – if not, check they are properly connected, if they need to be moved to a more weather-proof position, and update their software to the latest version.
- CCTV cameras are in ideal locations near windows and entryways – move cameras to get sufficient coverage of your exterior.
- Equipment and phone lines are not worn or damaged – if they are connected to any security systems, it’s essential that you check and replace them.
- Locks, gates, security keys and alarm response – if any of these measures can potentially be compromised or are not working, update them immediately.
- Potential entry points – if there are bushes, shrubs or trees that have overgrown, trim them. Not only does this enhance your visibility (and your cameras) of your outdoor areas, but it also ensures that people can’t use them to gain access to your perimeter as well.
Evaluate Your Business’s Interior
Although exterior security is essential, your interior security measures are just as important. If intruders somehow gain access to the interior of your business, you need to make sure that your employees, customers and assets are protected. To do this, you need to check:
- CCTV cameras are working and are updated with the latest software – if not, check they are properly connected and update their software to the latest version.
- CCTV camera placement is ideal – move cameras to get sufficient coverage of your interior.
- Carbon monoxide and/or smoke detectors are working – check regularly and replace batteries if necessary.
- Image sensors and/or glass-break detectors – if you don’t have any in place, secure them near windows and doors.
- Security policies for employees – it may be beneficial to review and/or implement bring your own device (BYOD) and remote work policies.
Examine and Update Your Cyber Security
Although part of your assessment of your interior security measures, cybersecurity is such an important issue that it should be handled as a completely stand-alone measure. Spring is an ideal time to check your cyber security, but ideally, you should be doing this as regularly as possible:
- Ensure all equipment is up-to-date and has necessary anti-virus and firewalls installed.
- Update all passwords and passcodes for all security systems and equipment.
- Update your website design to be modern and responsive.
- Consider implementing a password manager to encrypt and store all passwords.
- Update and Back Up all essential data.
- Evaluate who has access to your essential data and determine if it is only in the necessary individual’s hands.
- Create and enforce an internal cybersecurity policy.
Read: 4 Ways to Prevent a Cyber Attack on Your Business
So there we go, make sure your business is as safe and secure as it can be by having a major “clean” this Spring! You might find that everything is in working order, but at least you have checked and have peace of mind that you are protected.
What we can do for you:
RGM Security offers a wide range of security services as well as penetration testing to check your defences and threat awareness training for your staff. If you need training or just advice, please don’t hesitate to contact us!
Need more help or advice with your security? Check out our other useful articles:
6 Easy Ways To Find Security Weaknesses In Your Business
Spring is the season for new beginnings, a season that represents growth and improvement, a time where we all tend
Uncategorized
- · 4 min read
As much as we’d like it not to be the case, threats and violence are a part of life and they can occur in the workplace. Even if you have a positive working environment and your employees all get along, there are so many factors that can elicit thoughts of hostility or violence in people both in work and outside of an organisation, that it is almost impossible to completely prevent it.
While this might be the case, there are some measures that you can implement to prevent as much as you can and others that will allow you to prepare for and effectively manage any threats that do arise. Having this threat management plan in place allows you to stop many occurrences becoming serious, therefore it is absolutely essential that you have one to ensure the health and safety of your employees.
To help you ensure that you have the correct policies and procedures in place to deal with workplace threats efficiently and effectively, we’ve put together this brief guide for employees.
First, there’s the threat
To manage threats effectively, you first need to know what foreseeable risks may arise. From employee disputes to burglaries and violence, you need to be prepared for them all.
To help you identify workplace threats, respond to and manage them, we have many invaluable articles to help you do just that.
What Types of Threats Can We Face in the Workplace
Threat Awareness: The 5 Types of Workplace Violence
Understanding Employee Theft and How to Combat it
Sexual Harassment in the Workplace and What to Do About it
Advantages of Being Prepared in the Workplace
Second, it’s down to you (as the employer) to manage it
The best threat management strategy is one that outlines all of the potential risks and their probability of occurring, the policies and procedures that they have in place to manage them, and any external factors, such as insurance coverage and professionals and their resources, that are involved in the process.
Below we have outlined the absolute basic threat management plan that you should have in place, so read about our general guidance and seek expert advice if you need more information.
Things that your threat management strategy needs to cover are:
Preventative Measures
- An Effective Hiring Practice – this should include adequate drug/alcohol screening, criminal background checks, reference checks and questions that elicit signs of an antisocial personality.
- Employee Threat Orientation – good practice in threat management is ensuring that all staff know and understand what is considered a threat, what the risks are in the workplace, what policies the company has in place to prevent and manage them, and what to do or who to notify if any circumstances should arise.
- Hostility Management Training – it’s essential that employees and managers are able to defuse hostile reactions from customers, other employees and others as they can dramatically reduce the risk of a situation escalating into violence.
- Threat Notification System – a sufficient notification system will allow employees who are concerned about confidentiality to report any threats easily and privately. Just ensure that everyone is aware of how to report threats.
- Sufficient Security Measures – you need strong security measures in place such as pedestrian and vehicle access controls, on-site security guards, CCTV, locks, controlled-access systems, and emergency response and lockdown capabilities.
- Physical Security Audits – you need to be reviewing and assessing your security measures frequently to ensure that they are all up to date and in the best condition.
Management Measures
- Programme Policies and Procedures – you need threat policies such as workplace violence to clearly define what is considered a threat and the consequences of these threats occurring.
- Crisis Communications – this is essential for effective responses to threats that arise.
- Threat Response Team – you need a trained and multidisciplinary team that can plan for, investigate, assess, and defuse threatening situations. Core team members should include, at a minimum, managers from Corporate Security, Human Resources, and Legal.
- A Threat Preparedness Guardian – allocate someone to ensure that the plan, teams and measures are all up-to-date.
- Human Impact Team – you also need a trained team that is prepared to manage the human side of threat responses. This can include support programmes, next-of-kin notifications, enhanced benefits to affected employees, and return to work programmes. Team members should include those who are equipped to address legal, financial, benefits, human resources and security issues of impacted people.
- Family Assistance Programme Team – this can be a team of trained employees or outsourced to health professionals.
- Health Care Services – you need to be able to provide physical and psychological support to your employees.
- Enhanced Workplace Security – you may need to implement additional security measures in times where there is increased risk.
- Post-crisis Preparedness – if your company is large, serious workplace violence can attract unwanted attention. Prepare for your responses to the media to reduce the damage this can have on your brand.
Read our other articles on Threat Awareness for more useful information:
Why it’s Important to Run Threat Drills in the Workplace
Terrorism Awareness Training: Are Your Staff Threat Aware?
How Would You or Your Staff React to a Threat Situation?
An effective threat management strategy aims to maximise awareness and preparedness (as these are key to prevention) whilst showing employees that their safety is a top priority of the business.
What we can do for you:
RGM Security offers a wide range of security services as well as penetration testing to check your defences and threat awareness training for your staff. If you need training or just advice, please don’t hesitate to contact us!
Need more information about threat awareness or your other security measures? Check out our other useful articles:
6 Tips For Running Effective Threat Drills
As much as we’d like it not to be the case, threats and violence are a part of life and
Uncategorized
- · 3 min read
What is Intrusion Testing?
Intrusion testing (or white hat attacks) is a method of not only identifying the vulnerabilities in a business’s security but attempting to exploit these vulnerabilities to gain unauthorised access or cause other malicious activity. The process can be automated or manual and involves gathering information about the target, such as possible entry points, attempting to virtually or physically break in, and reporting back the findings. As Intrusion Testing determines security weaknesses, it can be used to test employee security awareness, an organisation’s security policy compliance and ability to identify and respond to security threats.Will Intrusion Testing Benefit my Business?
Anything that can identify weaknesses in your security controls allowing you to improve and reinforce your security is extremely beneficial to any business.
Here are just a few ways that Intrusion Testing can benefit you. It can allow you to:
Identify and Fix Physical Security Control Flaws
Whether it’s a weakness in your system or application configurations, your physical security measures or the actions and habits of your staff, Intrusion Testing will find and exploit these vulnerabilities. Only when you find them can you fix them, so the reporting from this testing allows you to improve your overall security. Read:- 6 Easy Ways to Find Security Weaknesses in Your Business
- You’ve got IT security in place, but how do you know if it works?
Understand the Level of Real-World Risk to Your Business
Carrying out Intrusion Testing can show you and your employers just how serious these threats are and how they can really impact a business. Seeing what an attacker could do in the ‘real world’ should ensure that security measures are enforced and security is taken more seriously.Test and Manage All of Your Defences
Intrusion Testing can be used for all aspects of your security from cybersecurity to physical measures and it can help you identify which vulnerabilities are critical, significant or false positives. This not only helps you to see what areas of your security need to be improved upon the most, but it also allows you to allocate your security resources more effectively. Read: Is your business really as secure as you think?
Run Your Business Cost-Effectively and Without Disruption
Recovering from a security breach can cost an organisation more money than it can afford, not to mention that any breach disrupts the running of your business, so think of Intrusion Testing like a business continuity audit. Each disruption has a negative impact on business, so Intrusion Testing ensures that you don’t suffer the effects of unexpected downtime or loss of accessibility.Meet Regulatory Requirements and Avoid Fines
Every organisation needs to meet certain security and legal compliance requirements and auditing regulations and Intrusion Testing can help you do just that. The detailed reports from intrusion tests can be used to show ongoing due diligence to auditors as the tests are held in high regard as they assess real-life consequences.Maintain Trust with Your Employees and Clients
Having weaknesses in your security can lead to compromised customer data and compromised data can lead to loss of clients, suppliers, and partners as they lose confidence and trust in your brand. Intrusion Testing allows you to keep your data as safe as it can be, helping you to maintain the reputation you’ve worked so hard to build and therefore the trust and loyalty of your customers.
If you don’t test your security, how can you be sure your measures are sufficient when a threat actually occurs?
Intrusion Testing is essential to any business from testing the current effectiveness of your security strategy to helping you improve your defences, making it a valuable addition to your complete security and threat management plan. So, what are you waiting for? Make a proactive effort to identify risks to your business before any breaches occur. Trust us when we say, the consequences of not doing so make this well worth your time and effort.Read the next in the series: Why You Should be Intrusion Testing and How Often
What we can do for you:
RGM Security offers a wide range of security services as well as Intrusion Testing to check your defences and threat awareness training for your staff. If you need training or just advice, please don’t hesitate to contact us!See the range of security risks that need to be covered in our other useful articles:
What is Intrusion Testing? Intrusion testing (or white hat attacks) is a method of not only identifying the vulnerabilities in
Uncategorized
- · 4 min read
With the Easter weekend just gone, we are sure that you’ve had your fair share of egg hunts and scavenger hunts to last you all year! However, we think it is the perfect time for one more: to hunt for the weaknesses in your business.
With reports on hacks and security breaches becoming a more common occurrence, it is important now more than ever to become familiar with your business security. After all, if you’re not familiar with the systems you have in place and the vulnerabilities that you may have, how will you understand and respond to any potential threats in the future?
To help you on your hunt to find your security weaknesses, we’ve compiled some easy tips of where to start and what to look for.
1. Check Your Perimeter
There are many things to hunt for around your perimeter, starting with any deterrents. For example, do you have a sign warning any trespassers that you have CCTV? Something as simple as this is a great preventative measure, so make sure you have one in place. If you don’t have one, you can download one for free here.
Secondly, check the situation of both your interior perimeter and your exterior. Are there any gaps in your fencing? Are there any climbing aids that have appeared over time, such as overgrown trees or a skip, that someone could use to breach the fencing? Has anybody tampered with your locks? Thinking in this way can really help you become aware of any weaknesses, so make sure you know what the crime rate is in your area and check your grounds regularly.
Read: Protecting Your Land Perimeter from Intruders and Theft
2. Check Your Monitoring Systems
If you have CCTV cameras and security alarms in place, make sure to check these regularly. Something as simple as running through your CCTV at the beginning of every week could help you identify any abnormalities that may be occurring. Alarms also need to be checked fairly regularly, as you want to ensure that these preventive measures will actually work when they are supposed to.
3. Check Your Staff
Many businesses don’t like to do this as they feel that they will lose the confidence of employees, but you shouldn’t worry. The majority of staff like to have performance checks as these are goals that they can work towards, and as internal theft is almost as big an issue as external theft, these checks are necessary for the success of your business.
A few basic ways to do this is to schedule in regular spot checks as well as unexpected drop-ins. During these times you need to check that people aren’t where they shouldn’t be and that all your guards (if you have any) are alert at all times, i.e not sleeping on shift. You will naturally be able to notice if things are not right, such as if somebody was working late for no reason, so this is a simple and effective method to be aware of any security weaknesses.
4. Check Your Online Security
Cyber hacking is becoming more and more common in this digital age, so it is crucial to check your systems regularly. Do you have an efficient virus protection system? Do you have a secure method of storing all of your digital information? Effective and secure data protection is essential, so make sure you get an expert in to set everything up and review your systems frequently.
5. Check Your Audits
When was the last time you did an audit? Are you up to speed with current events? You need to make sure you do these regularly so that you know who has access to what keys and codes etc. Many business owners who are not up to date with their audits, run the risk of internal threats, as you can’t fix and improve on systems that you haven’t reviewed.
6. Check Your Employee Removal Process
This might not seem like such a big issue when you’re talking about security weaknesses but it is better to check nonetheless. You need to ensure that your employee removal process is efficient and effective, i.e be sure that they return any key cards or ID badges AND deactivate them and change any pin codes that they knew so that they can not gain access following their leave.
The most important thing about doing your own security check is to be vigilant. This, along with being up to date with all procedures, paperwork, and being aware of your suppliers and staff, will make a big difference to the running of your business. So what are you waiting for? Get hunting for any of your security weaknesses!
Need more help with security? Check out our other guides for more advice and information
With the Easter weekend just gone, we are sure that you’ve had your fair share of egg hunts and scavenger
Uncategorized
- · 3 min read
Cyber attacks cost British businesses £34+ billion a year, so if you own a small business and don’t think this will ever affect you, isn’t it better to be safe than sorry?
In actual fact, smaller businesses are starting to become more of a target for cyber crime purely because they have not implemented the safeguards that larger companies and victims of cyber attacks are recommending. With this in mind, we can’t stress enough how important it is to take cyber crime seriously and to help you prevent a potential cyber attack on your business, here are four ways that you can start.
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How You Can Prevent a Cyber Attack
a1) Use a Password Manager to Store Your Passwords Securely
Passwords are essential to keep any of our information safe, but they are even more so in a business! With masses of sensitive and confidential data that needs to be protected, you need to make sure that passwords are strong and changed frequently. The easiest way to do this? Use password managers such as LastPass or RoboForm! These password managers encrypt and save your passwords for you, as well as entering them automatically for you and allowing you to update them with a click of a button.
Read: Password Security: 10 Tips to Keep Your Passwords Safe
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2) Update and Back Up Regularly
Stop clicking later on your notifications for updates and make sure that all of your computer software is up to date! Updates are improvements, so if you remain on older systems, there may be cracks in the defence systems that leave you vulnerable to cyber attacks. Combine this with regularly backing up your data, such as on the cloud, and you’ll ensure that no critical data is lost in the event of an attack.
Security Tip: Always store your backed up data in remote locations away from the office (either physically or on the cloud) and encrypt it where possible.
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3) Create an Internal Policy
Did you know that your employees are the biggest risk to your business in terms of cyber security? When you think about it, it makes sense. From having weak passwords or clicking on a link in an email to employee negligence, it is down to employers to increase employee awareness of potential threats and employees to uphold these measures. Employees need to know what not to do to ensure that sensitive data is stored and handled safely, and only communicated to persons with the appropriate clearance.
Security Tip: It’s important to stay updated on the latest scams and cyber attacks and you need to inform your employees of the potential threat too. Learn from the mistakes of others and implement the necessary measures to prevent it happening to you!
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4) Consult a Security Expert
With security being the number one priority in any business, it is always wise to consult a security expert to ensure you have all of your safeguards in place; they will also be able to identify any potential security risks or holes in your infrastructure and advise you on how you can rectify these. Although this may seem like a significant expense, it is by no means unnecessary. This invaluable service could save you quite a lot of money down the road and potential issues that may arise from losing confidential information during a cyber attack.
Read: 6 Easy Ways to Find Security Weaknesses
With cyber criminals becoming more and more advanced every day, we need to be taking the time to learn about the latest scams and attacks to better understand them. Only then can we implement the necessary safety measures, ensure our employees are prepared and our business is protected.
What we can do for you:
If you’re interested in knowing more about threat awareness training for your staff, RGM are offering training courses developed by Counter Terrorism and Threat Specialists. If you need training or just advice, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
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Check out our other articles to keep every aspect of your business safe:
Cyber attacks cost British businesses £34+ billion a year, so if you own a small business and don’t think this
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