The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security

Chapter 10. Entering the Premises

Why is it so easy for an outsider to assume the identity of a company employee and carry off an impersonation so convincingly that even people who are highly security conscious are taken in? Why is it so easy to dupe individuals who may be fully aware of security procedures, suspicious of people they don't personally know, and protective of their company's interests?

Ponder these questions as you read the stories in this chapter.

THE EMBARRASSED SECURITY GUARD

Date/Time: Tuesday, October 17, 2:16 A.M.

Place: Skywatcher Aviation, Inc. manufacturing plant on the outskirts of Tucson, Arizona.

The Security Guard's Story

Hearing his leather heels click against the floor in the halls of the nearly deserted plant made Leroy Greene feel much better than spending the night hours of his watch in front of the video monitors in the security office. There he wasn't allowed to do anything but stare at the screens, not even read a magazine or his leather-bound Bible. You just had to sit there looking at the displays of still images where nothing ever moved.

But walking the halls, he was at least stretching his legs, and when he remembered to throw his arms and shoulders into the walk, it got him a little exercise, too. Although it didn't really count very much as exercise for a man who had played right tackle on the All-City champion high school football team. Still, he thought, a job is a job.

He turned the southwest corner and started along the gallery overlooking the ...