Who is tampering with your valuables? - a users guide to tamper evident labels and seals
by Dr Adrian Steele
Ever been concerned that items you store, post or courier are being opened and viewed by people you don't want to? Its human nature to be protective over sensitive information or valuable goods, and many companies are now wising up to the risks of sensitive commercial information falling into the wrong hands. From product pilfering of valuable goods in the supply chain to sealing of confidential client notes, we quite regularly want to ensure that what we want to remain secret, stays secret.Of course the more devious members of the criminal fraternity have been targeting the BIG one for many years now - cash in transit bags. "Wasn't me gov!" when a supposedly "sealed" bag of cash arrives from a courier, minus a few notes.... and guess who is responsible for the difference. The technology has moved on a long way now from the early days when all you needed to open a C-I-T bag was... well that would be telling! The advances by specialist tamper evident seal suppliers now enable companies concerned about unauthorised opening of their packages to be confident that the budget required to circumvent the technology is way beyond the value of the goods contained - good news!When selecting a solution be aware of the following common problems:1)Does the supplier know what they are talking about? Are they a specialist in tamper evidence or are they flogging you a stock solution at an inflated price because they see you as gullible?2)Ask the manufacturer how they would get around their own technology - be wary of people who say that everything they sell is secure (send it to me and I'll show you it isn't!)3)Are the minimum run lengths small enough for your needs? Many users don't need millions of security seals, just enough for their application, and this can be an issue for small volume users.4)are there lots of different technologies available to suit the exact end user application? Sites such as www.securitylabels.com offer a wide range of techniques to provide an exact bespoke solution.Remember, if its an off the shelf solution, anyone else can buy it, its almost certainly NOT secure and there is no point taking a half baked approach to a problem where clever criminal minds have been before you for a long time. Get advice from an expert, and solve the problem first time around.Be safe, be secure!
About the Author
Dr Adrian Steele PhD is a leading researcher into tamper evident technologies at Mercian Labels Ltd (UK) - www.securitylabels.comView their website at: http://www.securitylabels.comView their website at: http://www.securitylabels.comView their website at: http://www.securitylabels.comView their website at: http://www.securitylabels.comView their website at: http://www.securitylabels.comView their website at: http://www.securitylabels.comView their website at: http://www.securitylabels.comView their website at: http://www.securitylabels.comView their website at: http://www.securitylabels.com
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