Security vs Convenience vs Price

A sign posted in a print shop:
“Quality, Service, Price …Pick Two” 

 
We have all been there when shopping.  You can want whatever you like, but if you are real, you know that some things are driving your purchasing choices and some are along for the ride.
 
In physical security, we often find three other concepts work against each other.  All our customers want some level of security and when you are talking to them you try to figure out what amount is appropriate. Ultimately, you have to let the client decide and what you try to provide is informed assessment of the risks.  Often you have to know the business they operate within.  A drug store may or may not offer triplicate prescriptions which are mostly narcotics and drugs with street value.  You have to ask and once you know, you should set the need for security a bit higher.  You need to remind some businesses that internal theft is a real risk and the locks which work so well at 4 in the morning are not in play against a bad staff member.  

Convenience comes into play any time an authorized user needs to pass through a locked door or open a cabinet.  Low value items are usually in places many people need to go fast and so often have quick locks.  The other end of convenience is probably prisons where you do not even get a key.  You enter a vestibule under the supervision of a guard on the other side of glass.  And only when that person is convinced you are no threat and the first door closes and locks, does the second door unlock.  The guard can not open both doors at once. 

Price is where you decide how much of what you want.  I can sell you more security but the price is higher.  I can sell you more access but you either take a bit less security or you pay more.  This last point is well shown with push button locks.  There is a simple 5 button door lock called a Simplex 1000.  It accepts only ONE code so if you have 200 people using that door they all use the same code.  It has no memory of who opened it or when.  It runs more than a residential lock but it has its place and runs into a few hundred dollars.  However, if you want to know who used which code to pass through the door when, you need an electronic lock which can save an audit trail.  It also means the administrator has to establish a code for every single user.  These locks cost more to install being over $1000 but also have more labour overhead to maintain.  If you had $1 000 000 in cash sitting on the other side of a door, I would put neither on your door.

Most customers know about trade-offs in purchasing.  Those who do not seem to get it are the ones who find it hard to buy any major product -- or so I believe.

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Laux Myth ... Thoughts From a Locksmith
By MartinB, Found @ http://lauxmyth.blogspot.com/