The Hot Topic – What are security challenges facing High Security sites in the future?

The high security industry is made up of various industries such as, Government, Military, Emergency Services, and Prisons where protection and security are of paramount importance. These sites all require the highest levels of protection from perimeter security, and access control points to wearable protective gear for security guards on duty. If these places have a breach in security, it can cause mass disruptions and major security issues. So, with the new year we wanted to know what major security issues high security sites could be facing in the future?

The first and most obvious security problem that high security sites face is the continued threat of terrorism. According to the Senior National Coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing, Dean Haydon, preventing terror attacks is “more difficult than it’s ever been.” He stated to the Independent that, “Changes in the way attacks are planned, targeted and carried out had made them harder to spot, while the profile of terrorists has ‘completely changed’… The main threat we currently see is from people within this country that are being self-radicalised. The timelines have been shortened. You can go out and buy a kitchen knife in a supermarket and decide, ‘This afternoon I’m going to commit an attack at X location.’ In the name of whatever ideology, and it’s a terrorist attack. Would we see that coming? That’s really difficult to detect.”

Terrorism has been a security issue for many years, it’s not a new phenomenon, but as clearly stated by Dean Haydon, it isn’t the act of terrorism itself that is changing, it’s the ideologies, the individuals, and the ways in which they are carrying attacks out that is. Marauding terror attacks are becoming more common in the UK than meticulously planned attacks, highlighted by the CPNI as a high security risk.