Crime Increase Adds Physical Security Risks to Financial Institutions
Across the United States, banks have recently experienced a rise in ATM-related crime. For example, in 2021, Travelers insurance companies saw a 257% increase in the number of insurance claims related to smash-and-grab thefts. According to the FBI, the city of Houston alone has more than 50 organized retail crime rings operating in its metropolitan area.
“Cash losses often exceed $200,000, and replacing destroyed ATMs and related damage can take weeks. Newer model ATMs can cost $80,000 or more.”
KrebsOnSecurity.com
In this environment, a large-scale financial institution with more than $10 billion in assets and branches in several states needed our assistance reviewing and strengthening their ATM security measures. One of the major challenges the financial institution’s security team faced was a need to expand its monitoring capabilities quickly. The security team was not equipped with the right tools to detect and respond to suspicious activity at ATM locations in real-time.
Often, financial institutions are forced to rely on manual processes to monitor their ATMs or use costly, reactive security tools that require a lot of resources to operate. These security measures are not scalable or sustainable for a large-scale financial institution with an expansive ATM footprint. Even with the right tools in place, without the right amount of monitoring and management, it’s hard for security teams to detect and respond to suspicious ATM activity.
Enhancing Video Surveillance Capabilities for Increased Coverage and Actionable Analytics
Bank security teams must respond dynamically to changing conditions and have proactive reactions as potential situations arise. Video intelligence from a proven partner can help make this possible. When our team at 3Sixty Integrated began working with this financial institution, their staff relied on security cameras to manually monitor the perimeter and interior of a building, in addition to the hundreds of customers who use ATMs every day. Without smart physical security integration and actionable intelligence, their security team was at a major disadvantage and, by default, reactive to potential threats.
The multi-state financial institution recognized that its physical security team needed to be armed with the right tools to detect and respond to suspicious ATM activity in a timely manner without impacting operations. This required a cost-effective solution that could scale and meet the growing needs of their expanding ATM network.
3Sixty Integrated took a proactive approach to secure the institution’s ATMs, staff, and customers by implementing a video surveillance solution that would strengthen its overall physical security strategy. Our integrators at 3Sixty Integrated worked with the financial institution to create a solution that met their security requirements, delivered an easy-to-use user interface, and helped automate the process of detecting and responding to suspicious ATM activity.
Physical Security Solution with Enhanced Integration
Enhancing video surveillance capabilities with comprehensive analytics has directly impacted the financial institution security team’s abilities to respond to, increase safety, and effectively manage operations. Having actionable analytics that can alert SOC personnel to unusual activity enables the financial institution to respond more quickly to threats and effectively address situations.
With enhanced analytics, security staff can detect unusual activity with a high degree of confidence and take appropriate action in real-time. In addition, the financial institution’s robust analytics capabilities have been used to detect patterns of suspicious activity that were previously difficult to detect and analyze. Empowered with advanced analytics, the financial institution’s security team was also able to address day-to-day security concerns by reducing false positives and improving monitoring efficiency.
Overall, strengthening physical security through video surveillance enhancements have led to significant improvements for the financial institution throughout the branch locations, including shortening response times, improved two-way communications with law enforcement, enhanced situational awareness, and an improved overall safety and security environment.
A Physical Security Framework that Delivers ROI
Today’s financial institution security leaders face an array of challenges, including the increasingly complex threat landscape and a new wave of emboldened criminals leveraging new and emerging technologies.
3Sixty Integrated is honored to have partnered with this multi-state financial institution to implement a comprehensive security solution that focused on strengthening physical security, and keeping visitors, staff, and assets safe.
Our framework for delivering a complete physical security solution begins with a comprehensive assessment of the client’s current environment. Our security professionals, armed with a detailed understanding of the financial institution’s physical security needs, were then able to determine the most effective technological and operational solutions.
Today the financial institution has a unified security system that empowers its security team from the executive level to the front line. We achieved this through a combination of people, processes, and technology central to our comprehensive framework.
With over 20 years of experience, 3Sixty Integrated has become an expert in the design, installation and maintenance of custom security solutions to keep your organization and assets safe and secure. Contact us today to discover how we can help you find the most effective security solutions.