In a 2015 survey done by Boon Edam Inc., more than 50% of enterprise security executives surveyed on the costs and risks associated with tailgating believed a security breach resulting from tailgating would cost the company anywhere from $150,000 to “too high [of a cost] to measure.”

In the same survey, only 15 percent of respondents said they were currently tracking tailgating incidents regularly. “While surveyors believe security breaches due to tailgating are on the rise and are deploying several strategies to combat tailgating, the big surprise is that roughly three quarters of respondents are not tracking tailgating occurrences, which could be a way to report on effectiveness or ROI and develop improvement strategies,” results of the survey said.

It could just be as simple as someone trying to be courteous and holding the door open for the person behind them. Or, passively granting a third-party vendor entrance without verifying credentials, but instead granting them access to the facility because of their uniform. The risks are obvious. From sabotaging equipment, stealing assets, planting a USB or chip to intercept data over wifi, to committing a violent crime, tailgating is not something security executives can take lightly.

Stop tailgating using FulcrumAI

And what about badge access gates? That same bad actor could have swiped an employee’s stolen badge-access card and made it through the trusty gates at the front door or other restricted areas of the facility. Without facial verification and live alerts pertaining to tailgating, the badge access security measure is toothless and far too easily overcome. Facial recognition used in watchlists, safelists, blocklists, should be a crucial component to any modern day security solution and is a force multiplying feature of AI-powered offerings.

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