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Adam Bannister is a contributor to IFSEC Global, having been in the role of Editor from 2014 through to November 2019. Adam also had stints as a journalist at cybersecurity publication, The Daily Swig, and as Managing Editor at Dynamis Online Media Group.
If you’re running site security then you may or may not have noticed a spike in incidents around this time in the year.
Possibly because of improving weather, research from Farsight Security Services has revealed that security breaches peak during the Spring months of March, April and May.
More than double the number of arrests occurred in spring 2014 compared to winter 2013/14, a survey of multiple sites revealed.
The number of incidents logged soared by 46% in spring compared to winter, with the number of incidents averaging two per site after the seasons changed.
The role of weather in the trend becomes murkier, however, when you consider that the number of arrests arising from such incidents promptly plummeted by 75% in June, July and August.
Malcolm O’Shea Barnes, senior operations manager at Farsight, says: “With arrests and incidents peaking in the spring months, now is the time to be assessing security needs.”
Sites reported an average of six security incidents each throughout 2014.
“Of course, security needs to be a year-round priority,” continues O’shea Barnes. “Sites will see each season present different security challenges.
“For example, with the peak in incidents in spring it’s worrying to see false alarms occur because of minor things like fast growing foliage obstructing cameras.
“The statistics show that sites cannot afford to take risks with false alarms. Spring is a great opportunity for security installers to promote their maintenance services.
“Beyond that, the high number of incidents annually highlights security systems as a necessity. Each of the incidents recorded could potentially have cost the site owner thousands of pounds if they had not invested in 24/7 remote monitoring.”
The research defined an ‘incident’ as when suspicious activity has been observed, either when a crime has actually taken place or the activity has the potential to lead to a crime.
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Does Improving Weather Trigger a Rise in Security Incidents? Up to a point…If you’re running site security then you may or may not have noticed a spike in incidents around this time in the year.
Adam Bannister
IFSEC Insider | Security and Fire News and Resources
