The Exploitation of Buildings’ Security Systems
by Violent ‘Insiders’

By Dr. Joshua Sinai

The exploitation of buildings’ security systems by employees who embark on violent attacks against their colleagues and others who happen to be inside their offices, provides them with important advantages in conducting an attack. One advantage is their ability to bypass access and badging control security measures, for instance, by using their trusted identification cards to enter and bring their weapons into such facilities unimpeded. Another advantage is their familiarity with their facilities hallways and offices, including the scheduling of meetings with their intended victims, making them “smart” attackers. Such trusted access also provides them the important advantage of having the time element on their side, which favors the success of their attacks by surprising their unsuspecting intended victims. These and other vulnerabilities in a building’s security system that are exploited by trusted ‘insiders’ are generally unavailable to ‘outsiders’ who lack such unimpeded access. This article examines these issues through a series of twelve illustrative cases, from 2006 to 2023, of trusted insiders who exploited their buildings security systems to conduct their attacks. It concludes by highlighting possible countermeasures to reduce the likelihood of the success by such employee ‘insiders’ in carrying out future attacks.

Violent Incidents by Trusted Insiders in Their Facilities

January 30, 2006: Jennifer San Marco, 44, a former U.S. Postal Serv...