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Previous: Fire escape signs | Main | Next: Floor signs at the Getty parking structure
November 9, 2005 12:03 AM
Broken: Weakest link
Several readers have pointed out this interesting photo... this shows what happens when a security measure is broken.
That reminds me of the scene 'Blazing Saddles' when the good guys set up a tollbooth in the middle of the desert to delay the bad guys.
"Someone go back and fetch a truckload of quarters!"
Why do you need context? No one puts in a gate unless there is a need to screen people before they enter the area. With this lack of foresight in the overal design, I would hope this is just the entrance to a construction company or something, not a government agency.
What's kind of funny (to me) about this image is that you have to ask yourself, "Do people with clearance bother with the gate either?"
This was discussed in February on Bruce Schneier's security blog:
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/02/the_weakest_lin.html
Reminds me of a storage facility- they had a 4-digit combo to get in, which for safekeeping was taped directly to the lock. "Please try #### and if that doesn't work also try ####" was the gist of the message. Seems like a security measure installed by HQ, that was entirely undermined by the local employees.
A couple decades ago I was did some work at the National Telecommunication Information Agency. To get in, the receptionist would buzz you into the lobby, and if she approved of you, buzz you throught the Big Security Door. (When leaving, there was a big red button that you used to open the Big Red Door. If you were dumb or new enough to just use the unlocked door knob, the police, FBI, and NSA would drop by to ask you why.)
Then, from the office area, there was a 5-digit lock to get outside the computer room, and another to get into the computer room. And, because it was hot in there, an open door into the side parking lot.
'Course, that was in the days when even I could get a Secret clearance.
timmy, they have a gate the problem is it is missing the fence it is supposed to be in the middle of. Even a concrete curb would stop most people from going around.
If this is for a pay parking I wonder how many people are actually honest enough to stop at the gate.
Hey, I saw this a few days ago but didnt reply to it. I cant really tell, how high is the grass from the tollbooth, it looks like its a bit higher than the gate but Im not sure, where is this place, I would love to find it on Google Earth!
We have something like this at a nearby apartment complex. Due to some beauracratic SNAFU or something equally dumb, an apartment complext in one town that has an exit onto a road in another has a gate to limit access to certain hours... of course, nobody thought to put a barrier by the side of the road and getting around the gate is as easy as finding a bug in windows
At a store I used to work at, the sporting goods register required a logon/password to get into. OK...that makes sence, except that the Department Managet taped the logon/password directly to the register keyboard. His reasoning was that everyone (store employees) needed to be able to use this register, and the checker IDs wouldn't work...I pointed out that everyone (customers and thieves) would be able to use the register. I was later fired for "not being a "team player."
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Previous: Fire escape signs | Main | Next: Floor signs at the Getty parking structure
That's very funny, but could we have some context? Is the gate to stop people without badges or is it to issue parking slips? Where is it?
Posted by: J. Scott at November 9, 2005 01:27 AM