While many businesses now store valuable and confidential information on servers and in the deject, the filing cabinet still plays a large role in the office surroundings. Standard practices even so include keeping employee and customer files, contracts, insurance information and other reference paperwork for convenient on-site admission.
Importance of Securing Information Stored in Filing Cabinets
As you know, every filing cabinet that stores any blazon of confidential information should utilize a lock. This helps ensure that only those who should be accessing the chiffonier’s contents can do so and decreases the gamble of a physical information breach.
What is the gamble if a lock fails or is manipulated? At best, it’south enough to brand a company uneasy most what could or did potentially happen. At worst, it means that your customers’ information may accept been compromised, something that can erase years’ worth of hard work in gaining their trust. This article volition take a closer look at cabinet and office security so that you lot can avoid being burned.
How Do You Secure a Filing Chiffonier?
Before we become into some of the peak tips and suggestions for safeguarding cabinets and desks, it’southward commencement of import to point out that the locks that these appliances come with, as synthetic by the furniture manufacturer, aren’t very high quality. They’re considered typical factory locks, can easily be picked and manipulated and aren’t incredibly long-lasting. That leads us to our first indicate when it comes to desk and cabinet protection…
Keep Cabinets in Secure Office Areas
It never hurts to double down on protecting your company’s precious files. So, for case, in improver to improving security with amend locks, you might also consider storing cabinets in areas of the office building that besides crave special access to enter. Keeping of import files in a locked chiffonier behind a locked door increases the security two-fold.
Add together a Filing Cabinet Locking Bar
Important files and confidential documents tin be secured with an add-on locking bar. These retrofit security devices are made of thick steel and designed to be installed on the side of the cabinet. When the bar is airtight, it can exist locked with a padlock.
Watch this video to come across how simple it is to install a filing cabinet locking bar.
Enforce Security Policies for Keys
Tight cardinal management policies should use to keys for filing cabinets, restricted access and storage areas. Business organisation owners need to maintain backup keys and spares, go on rail of which employees have a copy of cabinet keys, and use a clear record-keeping procedure. This will help prevent filing cabinet keys from falling into the wrong hands or getting lost, while ensuring that important files can be accessed when needed.
Use Admission Control to Secure the Office
Admission control systems are comprehensive security systems that limit and track access to a building or surface area of a edifice. They unify the locked entry points of the facility and streamline security with keyless credentials. Using either unique entry codes, proximity readers or biometric scanners, authorized employees and guests tin can easily gain access to the spaces they need to exercise their job.
At the aforementioned fourth dimension, access control systems provide a higher level of security for the office. Doors lock automatically, admission is recorded, and entry can exist blocked during prepare hours or days.
Change the Original Manufacturer Locks
If y’all’re serious about desk and/or chiffonier security, the outset affair you’ll do is bandy out the original manufacturer locks. If you’re handy, you might be able to swing this yourself. If non, you can ever contact a professional locksmith to do this for yous. Switching out the locks to a more secure, better lock will immediately enhance the security of your desks and cabinets in the role.
Periodically Supersede Locks
Considering the potential for employee turnover – particularly in larger, busier offices – it makes sense to regularly alter out the locks on filing cabinets. This effort will help protect the sensitive documents inside.
Upgrade to Electronic Filing Chiffonier Locks
To avoid the trouble of keys altogether, your office can switch to electronic locking devices. Smart locks that are specially designed to replace standard filing cabinet locks tin be configured to meet the needs of your staff. Newer electronic filing cabinet locks can easily be retrofitted to most existing storage cabinets.
Locking and unlocking can be controlled by a keypad, Bluetooth or magnetic proximity reader working with primal fobs or access cards. This adds an actress layer of protection for physical information because the locking devices go along a time-stamped tape of who accessed the files.
Can Yous Change a Lock on a File Cabinet?
Like we mentioned in the previous section, swapping out a filing cabinet lock for a new, improve i can exist a DIY chore for those that know what they’re doing. Here’s a quick rundown on how to do information technology using either a pair of pliers or a wrench:
- Open up upwards the cabinet so that you have access to the lock core. You might even consider removing the respective filing chiffonier drawer so that you have plenty of room to work.
- Ensure that the core is in the “unlocked” position and then, depending on the type of core, achieve for a wrench or pair of pliers. Using the respective tool, remove either the prune or the nut.
- Remove the core and replace it with the new one.
- Retrieve the wrench or pair of pliers and either push button the new core into the slot or spiral the nut back in.
- Supercede the chiffonier drawer and test the lock to see if information technology works properly.
Tin can a Locksmith Make a Cardinal for a Filing Cabinet?
Yes. Locksmiths are specialized in repairing all types of locks and restoring access. If you have misplaced or lost the key to a filing cabinet, the locksmith tin employ the code on the lock cylinder to brand a new central and cut additional copies. If this lawmaking is unavailable or illegible, the locksmith can fashion a new key or rekey the lock.
Contact GV Lock Today
For more than information on how to all-time protect your part cabinets and desks, and for information on changing desk and cabinet locks, reach out to Great Valley Lockshop by filling out a service asking online.
Source: https://www.gvlock.com/blog/office-filing-cabinet-security/