We had an incident occur that reminded me of the false sense of Security that people often have. We were called in on one of our vaults where the “troubled?” employee changed the combination lock so the people at the business would be locked out of the vault when they closed the door.

Something about the employee’s attitude made them suspect something.  They called us in to change the lock combination. ( One needs to know the combination to reset the combination.)  But it had been changed to an unknown number. 

My experienced installer knew what he was doing, he took the combination apart and from there he could read the combination from inside the vault door. Now knowing the new combination numbers,  we reset it to new safe numbers and all was saved.

We find this is true for Server Rooms as well.  All the security is from an electronic set of passwords.  But anyone who can  come from inside the server room can do all sorts of things.  It is one of the reasons people install servers vaults.  It is to create perimeter security so you cannot enter the room. If someone can get in, then it is too late! 

The same is true for the records manager, management thinks they are safe because they really have no sense of the power that a records manager can have over future events. I remember reading a popular novel where the key to the whole evil doer’s plan was the placement of false records in the archive and the removal of the evidence that contradicted it.  I remember thinking WOW! how much havoc a records manager could wield if they decided to go rogue.  (For those in Rio Linda, that has nothing to do with whether you are wearing underwear.)

Next time you have a risk management drill, turn things inside out and think about the threats from an inside out viewpoint.  You may realize how bizarre it can be from that point of view. And if you are facing litigation you might want to lock down the records room for the discovery period and litigation. 

Hugh Smith
FIRELOCK Fireproof Modular Vaults
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(610)  756-4440    Fax (610)  756-4134
WWW.FIRELOCK.COM

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