SECURITY AND PROTECTION SYSTEM

any of various means or devices designed to guard persons and property against a broad range of hazards, including crime, fire, accidents, espionage, sabotage, subversion, and attack. Most security and protection systems emphasize certain hazards more than others. In a retail store, for example, the principal security concerns are shoplifting and employee dishonesty (e.g., pilferage, embezzlement, and fraud). A typical set of categories to be protected includes the personal safety of people in the organization, such as employees, customers, or residents; tangible property, such as the plant, equipment, finished products, cash, and securities; and intangible property, such as highly classified national-security information or proprietary information (e.g., trade secrets) of private organizations. An important distinction between a security and protection system and public services such as police and fire departments is that the former employs means that emphasize passive and preventive measures. Security systems are found in a wide variety of organizations, ranging from government agencies and industrial plants to apartment buildings and schools. Sufficiently large organizations may have their own proprietary security systems or may purchase security services by contract from specialized security organizations.