Issue link: https://securitytechnologyexecutive.epubxp.com/i/530736
8 SECURITY TECHNOLOGY EXECUTIVE • May/June 2015 www.SecurityInfoWatch.com CONVERGENCE Q&A; B y Ray B er n ard, P SP, CH S - I I I The door hinges on metal perimeter doors in commercial and industrial buildings practically all look the same from the outside. However, many have ordinary hinges whose hinge pins are easily removed from the outside, allowing the hinge side of the door to be opened from the outside. Other doors have security hinges whose hinge pins cannot be removed, and some doors have special security hinges that keep the door from being opened from the outside even if the hinge pins are removed. What kind of door do we need to keep our equipment secure? Recently someone entered one of our equipment rooms from the outside by removing the hinge pins from the door hinges. We suspect that it was a worker who came back after hours to retrieve a toolbox, but some telephones stored in the room are now also missing. Ordinary hinges are a common building perimeter door vulnerability that is found during many facility security assessments. There are two kinds of security hinges for commercial doors that address this problem. So that the door can be opened outward, the hinges on electrical and telecom room building perimeter doors are located on the outside. This often means that anyone with a small Phillips screwdriver and a hammer can remove the hinges easily and take the door off, regardless of the strength of the door and its locking hardware. Two types of security door hinges keep the door in place: • Security set-screw hinge • Security stud butt hinge These hinges are shown in the Figure 1 and Figure 2 illustrations. Secure Hinge Designs A security set-screw hinge (see Figure 1) looks the same from the outside as a non-secure hinge. The difference is the set-screw that cannot be accessed from the outside, which screws into the hinge pin and prevents the pin from being removed when the door is closed. A security stud hinge (see Figure 2) also looks the same from the outside as a non-secure hinge. The difference is that the hinge contains thick metal studs on one side of the hinge that move into corresponding holes on the other side of the hinge when the door closes. The hinged side of the door cannot be moved even with the hinge pins removed, because the studs prevent the hinge leaves from being slid apart. A similar design is used (not illustrated) for prison doors and other very high security facilities, where the studs proj- ect from the back of the hinge into the door and frame, and can withstand around 200 foot pounds of pressure in a ram test, which would normally shear the hinge installation screws but cannot shear the studs. Monitoring Equipment Room Doors Doors to critical equipment rooms, whether they open to the building interior or exterior, should be access-con- trolled doors that alarm when held open too long or when access is denied (to alert security to a possible attempt at unauthorized entry). They should be monitored visually by video that is displayed to a live operator (or alternatively has an image or video clip sent to a responding individual's computer or phone). Network and telephone system equipment often share a room with electrical and other types of equipment. Access is usually granted to multiple insiders and outsiders, and there are valid reasons when work is being for the doors to be propped open, and in such cases the rooms are some- times left unoccupied long enough for unauthorized access to occur as well. Thus a means should be established to Perimeter Doors Secure Equipment Rooms This simple fix can prevent critical asset theft (continued on page 35) Q: A: Write to Ray about this column at ConvergenceQA@go-rbcs. com. Ray Bernard, PSP, CHS-III is the principal consultant for Ray Bernard Consulting Services (RBCS), a firm that provides security consulting services for public and private facilities. For more information about Ray Bernard and RBCS go to www.go- rbcs.com or call 949-831-6788. Mr. Bernard is also a member of the Content Expert Faculty of the Security Executive Council (www.SecurityExecutiveCouncil.com). Follow Ray on Twitter: @ RayBernardRBCS Figure 1 Figure 2