Businesses in Nigeria, like every other part of the world are not immune to threats, risks and dangers posed by both internal and external factors of their operating environment. That’s why they can’t afford to be ignorant of the business security loopholes common to most Nigerian companies.
As more companies rely on information technology to efficiently run their businesses, there’s an increasing need for cyber security. But information threat should not be the only concern of businesses, especially in Nigeria.
There are several other potential physical threats, risks and dangers that can negatively impact the operations of a Nigerian business. Many of these physical threats are not obvious to an untrained eye, so they are erroneously overlooked.
7 Business Security Loopholes to Guard Against in Nigerian Companies
In this article, we will be addressing 7 of such business security loopholes that should be guarded against by Nigerian companies. Failure to guard against them can inevitably lead to the loss of lives and properties.
Let’s get started!
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Poor Door Security
Poor door security is one of the potential business security loopholes in Nigerian companies. Doors are the first part of every building, residential or commercial. Your company is no different, after the main gate comes the door into your office building. How secured are they?
Doors are simple but often effective security measures to guard against external threats, risks and dangers, but many Nigerian companies take it for granted. Criminals are on the lookout for the slightest mistake a member of your staff can make, like leaving an important door open due to frequent usage.
Starting from the main entrance of the building, the kind of door installed will determine the level of deterrence to potential threats, risks and dangers. After the entrance, comes other internal doors within the company, these also must be secured, especially doors leading to very critical areas of the organization.
If they aren’t security doors that can only be accessible through the use of electronic identification systems, then they should always be accessible through keys only available to designated employees.
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Open Company Lobby
Another common business security loophole in Nigerian companies is the lobby; it’s often overlooked as a potential threat to business security. After the door, comes the lobby; it’s the first part of a building that the public can enter. So it’s important for businesses to maintain a good lobby security.
A lobby is a buffer, a receiving area for people between the public side of the building and the private side. If the company’s lobby is left unprotected, criminals can easily make their way from the public side of your company into the private side without any form of restrictions.
Companies with open lobbies often rely on a receptionist to be the gatekeeper, but receptionists can get busy and distracted. That you have a receptionist desk is not sufficient security for your company’s lobby; get a security guard and CCTV camera installed!
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Inadequate Security Personnel
An effective security measure is a combination of both systems and people, one cannot replace the other. They are both essential to keeping organizations safe. But in some Nigerian companies, this is not the case as we’ve repeatedly witnessed, just one person is usually in charge of security.
That’s why inadequate security personnel is on our list of business security loopholes to guard against in Nigerian companies. Merging different security functions into one broad role managed by one person has fundamentally compromised all your security measures.
This might look great on the balance sheet, and certainly has some short term cost saving benefits. But the fact remains that where there were once two people to take responsibility, there is now only one. With skills and training focused on one person instead of two, they will be too stretched to optimally perform.
When this happens, compromises are inevitable, and maintenance and monitoring ultimately suffers. This means that even with the best intentions, they cannot react quickly enough in the face of security threats, risks and dangers. There simply won’t be adequate resources in place to take action, unless there are sufficient guards in place who can react immediately.
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Poor Security Orientation/Awareness
It’s unfortunate that many Nigerian companies view security as a luxury rather than a necessity. They think that there’s no point in hiring a private security firm as a ‘just in case’ measure when budgets are tight and every penny of investment must be accounted for.
This very attitude and mindset towards security is responsible for the poor security orientation/awareness in most Nigerian companies. It’s no surprise it made the list as one of the business security loopholes Nigerian businesses have to guard against.
To make security a top priority in Nigerian companies, attitudes need to change at the very top. In many organisations, it’s seen as just one more headache to be dealt with, or directors and senior management are so laid back about the whole issue that they don’t give it the right attention or budget. It’s vital that the MD or CEO buys into the fact that physical security is important, and assigns to it the budget it needs.
Once the company’s top management is onboard, the same attitudes need to be disseminated throughout the company, so that everyone understands the importance of security and that adhering to the policies is absolutely key.
All too often, the commitment is there at a strategic level, but the implementation is lacking at the lower levels of the organization. This shouldn’t be the case. Having a fantastic security protocol and polices, without the correct awareness and training to all staff will never be effective.
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Poor Security Maintenance Policy
Most Nigerian businesses have the right intentions when it comes to security, and tend to put good systems in place at the very beginning. However, once this has been done, it needs to be maintained and communicated. It’s also a case of continual improvement and evolution.
As you know, most Nigerians generally have poor maintenance culture and your company may be no exception. This is one of the business security loopholes in Nigerian companies. It doesn’t matter how much you spent on security systems when you started, the question is; are they all still functional?
Having a clearly defined security maintenance policy to regularly review existing security protocols and conduct periodic security risk assessments as your business evolves, is one guaranteed way to guard against this business security loophole in your company.
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Poor Employee Background Check
No organization can exist without people; your company is no exception. The first set of people a company needs to operate is employees. This is a no brainer and many Nigerian companies get this. But the missing part which is also one of the common business security loopholes is employee background check.
Pre-employment screening and background check is the foundation of a good internal security measure to protect the company against internal threats, risks and dangers. It seeks to verify the credentials of those you are seeking to grant fulltime access into your company as employees.
Most corporate crimes are rarely executed without the involvement of an insider, in most cases, one of your trusted employees. Pre-employment background check can help to minimize the likelihood of employing a criminal into your workforce.
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Inadequate Cyber/Information Security
With the increasing use of the internet via several mobile devices for many business activities such as; e-banking, e-commerce, e-registration, e-payments, e-learning and many more, Nigeria is fast becoming a highly digitalized society.
And with such increasing levels of digitalization comes more cyber related crimes, threats, risks and dangers. How prepared are Nigerian companies for this digital age that is fast changing our way of life?
Cybercrimes are all computer, internet and information technology (IT) related crimes. According to Interpol; more and more criminals are exploiting the speed, convenience and anonymity of the Internet to commit a diverse range of criminal activities that know no borders, either physical or virtual, cause serious harm and pose very real threats to victims worldwide.
The awareness of cybercrimes is just developing in Nigeria and very few organizations are adequately prepared to guard against it. That’s why it’s one of the business security loopholes in many Nigerian companies. Adequate attention must also be given to the protection of company information as well as the physical environment in which the business operates.
What Next?
It’s not sufficient to be aware of these 7 business security loopholes in Nigerian companies, you need to take corrective actions as a business owner, management executive or security personnel.
We can help out with this, and the best place to begin is with a thorough security risk assessment of your business. It’s free, click here to book a session with us today!