How I Rob Banks

Chapter 3Expensive Doesn't Mean Secure

In the security industry, companies are often duped into buying expensive solutions to perceived problems. Usually the salespeople don't mean to sell snake oil, but often they don't listen to the client or understand their needs and weaknesses. If you take one thing from this book, please let it be that “expensive does not mean secure.” I try to explain to our clients that they should, as Jessie J told us in her 2011 hit single, “forget about the price tag”!

This story is a splendid example of a security solution being installed without the client, consulting firm, or builders understanding their areas of expertise.

I was tasked with breaking into the head office of a particularly large and well-known bank. As mentioned, one of the most important things you can do with a client is talk to them and really listen to what they are after. This conversation ensures that the client is not spending more money on a job than they need to and that what they are asking for is actually what they need.

After a lengthy conversation with the bank, it became clear that the job was an extremely specific case and unlike most assignments we take on. The client asked me to enter the building through one specific door. This was unusual because the test was against the door system itself, not an attempt to gain access to the building or information.

It turned out that a security firm had recently suggested an upgrade to the client, and the client had done what ...