These days it’s cyber security and hackers that make the headlines, but there’s also the occasional robbery that makes the headlines (such as the Hatton Garden heist).

There’s no point having your cyber security up to date if your physical security doesn’t match it; you still need to take the threat of a break in very seriously because an easy-steal is hard to resist for criminals, and the costs of recovering everything (if you can at all) are huge. Here are five top tips to make sure your business security is the best it can be.

Is everyone aware of the policies?

First things first, for security to be taken seriously it needs to filter down from the top of the business. That means directors and CEO’s must be taking responsibility for security policies and making sure that the rules and processes involved are communicated through the business. If you’re keeping confidential information, equipment or products within the premises, they need to be kept in a secure, locked area. If possible, you should establish a visitor policy whereby non-employees wear visitor badges at all times and sign in when they enter the building.

Are your locks up to date?

The entrances and exits of your business premises really need substantial locks on the doors to be safe. You will have to make a decision regarding who to distribute keys to within your business, and it’s important to only hand them out to employees that are reliable and trustworthy. If your doors aren’t easy to upgrade you might want to consider reinforcing your entrances and exits with some secure roller shutters for an extra layer of security.

Is anyone in charge of security?

If you’re a fairly large business you ought to have someone independently in charge of security. For example, if you have invested money into a CCTV system then you should have a guardroom where someone can monitor the external entrances and exits to the business. If you’ve invested money in this regard, you may as well invest a little more to ensure the cameras are being monitored.

Keep inventory of all removable devices

If employees are taking laptops or mobile devices home, it can be a great risk to the business. For instance, if employees have access to data or secure files from home then there is the risk that they may accidentally share or lose the information. An even worse scenario could be that their home is broken into and laptops and phones stolen. A solution could be to attach external GPS tracking technology on all portable devices that employees could be taking home.

Train your employees

Finally, regular security training is important for employees because it reminds them that they have a responsibility to take care of sensitive data and expensive equipment, otherwise there could be serious repercussions. Consider everything from educating employees on the latest cyber threats, such as ransomware to social engineering. Both are serious threats that your employees could fall victim to if they aren’t aware of the risks.