In Munich, Germany, a driver deliberately rammed his car into a demonstration of striking workers, seriously injuring dozens of people. In the chaos that followed, with officials issuing statements and a major police operation underway, affected organizations were left to figure out how to best respond—and keep employees, customers and partners safe.
The attack is a stark reminder that, despite our world being more digital than ever, physical security risks are prevalent, unpredictable and dangerous. To safeguard their people and maintain operational resilience, chief security officers must identify and plan for the risks most likely to disrupt or threaten their organization.
What those risks are will vary by business, but the ones that top the list affect organizations of all sizes, across all industries. Here we explore ten of the most common physical security risks and recommendations for how to mitigate them.
Dataminr In Action: Munich Car Ramming Attack
Dataminr alerted its customers to the car ramming attack in Munich, Germany 31 minutes before it was reported by any major news sources. This allowed customers to respond as soon as the attack occurred.
Via Dataminr ReGenAI—a new form of generative AI that provides live information briefs that update automatically—customers were able to quickly understand and maintain situational awareness of the attack as it unfolded, in real time.
No. 1: Attacks on office buildings and facilities
Whether an act of terrorism, arson or other assault, today’s businesses need comprehensive emergency and evacuation plans in place for deliberate attacks on office buildings, assets or facilities. Some industries are more vulnerable such as energy and utilities.
For example, physical attacks on the U.S. electric grid have “remained high since rising in 2022, with about 2,800 reports of gunfire, vandalism and other strikes on electrical networks” in 2024.
Recommendations for mitigation:
- Use tabletop scenario planning and preparedness planning to ensure physical attacks are handled effectively and quickly.
- Enhance perimeter security solutions with gates, locks, barriers, lights and signs.
No. 2: Cyber-physical risks
Chief security officers (CSOs) are seeing a rise in cyber-physical security risks given the increasingly blurred lines between cyber and physical domains, where, “a risk that originates in one domain has a significant impact on the other.”
For example, the 2024 Change Healthcare ransomware attack, which significantly affected the U.S. healthcare industry, including delays in, and access to, patient care. Or, when a physical risk spills into the digital domain, such as a fire at a data center.
Recommendations for mitigation:
- Ensure cyber and physical security teams work in lockstep. There should be no silos between the two, but rather collaboration and effective communication.
- Identify and close gaps between cyber and physical security.
- Develop a shared playbook.
No. 3: Environmental hazards
Chemical spills, gas leaks, air quality concerns, mold growth and other environmental hazards all pose a risk to employees and operations. For example, in 2024 there was a chemical leak at a U.S. oil refinery. It resulted in 2 deaths, 34 injuries and a shelter-in-place order for two Texas cities.
Pre-planning is paramount, especially for businesses in higher-risk industries, such as construction, mining, waste and recycling.
Recommendations for mitigation:
- Ensure hazardous materials are properly stored and contained, and install real-time alerting tools and technology to quickly detect potential hazards.
- Train employees on how to properly handle hazardous materials and how to respond in the event of an incident.
- Conduct regular inspections to help prevent incidents and improve conditions.
No. 4: Health and safety risks
CSOs and other security leaders often navigate a myriad of health and safety risks. These include falls and trips, roadway incidents and disease control.
In a 2024 study of key public health challenges, infectious diseases and global health security ranked No. 1. Given how unprepared most organizations were for the COVID-19 pandemic, this ranking demonstrates the, “need for strong global health security measures, such as disease surveillance and robust healthcare systems.”
Recommendations for mitigation:
- Establish robust incident prevention measures and comprehensive risk assessments to reduce risks.
- Ensure employees, customers and clients have access to, and training on, personal protective equipment (PPE).
- Develop a culture of safety and vigilance that emphasizes training, drills and awareness.
No. 5: Insider threats
Insider threats pose additional security challenges, whether intentional or unintentional, because they are caused by people—inculding employees, contractors, cleaning staff—who have legitimate access to data, networks and infrastructure. Risks include document theft, sabotage, espionage and fraud.
Even something as simple as having a confidential document left in the open puts organizations at risk, “Underestimating insider threats could sabotage not just your security measures but also the long-term growth of your business.”
Recommendations for mitigation:
- Establish security controls that reduce or prevent unauthorized people from accessing sensitive areas of the organization.
- Institute a clean-desk policy that takes into account desk sharing, hoteling and other hybrid work approaches.
- Take stock of suspicious employee activities (odd working hours) and unauthorized attempts at access.
Faster Mitigation With Dataminr AI Platform
Each of the risks listed in this article can be mitigated faster with Dataminr’s AI platform. It detects risks, threats and critical events from more than one million sources, in real time at a scope and speed far beyond traditional detection.
This real-time information is invaluable to security leaders and teams as they can use it to identify risks as early as possible, allowing them to mitigate and respond to threats faster and more effectively—and strengthen business resilience.
No. 6: Natural disasters and severe weather
An increase in natural disasters and severe weather is the stark reality for today’s businesses. In 2024, there were 27 individual weather and climate disasters with at least $1 billion in damages, bringing the total sustained since 1980 to 403 with a cumulative cost of $2.915 trillion.
As organizations are responsible for ensuring the safety of their employees and protecting their physical infrastructures, they must ensure they are able to stay ahead of weather risks.
For example, during the 2024 Malibu, California fires, a major film production company used Dataminr’s real-time data to initiate outreach and notify at-risk employees two hours before the official evacuation notice.
Recommendations for mitigation:
- Conduct an assessment to determine your organization’s exposure, including criticality of operations and areas prone to weather risks.
- Establish emergency and evacuation plans and conduct severe weather practice drills.
- Ensure the organization has multiple communication channels and a clear chain of command for rolling out messages to employees and coordinating with authorities.
Learn More: Dataminr in Action ReGenAI: Palisades Wildfires
No. 7: Tailgating and piggybacking
Tailgating and piggybacking are both ways that unauthorized persons can gain access to restricted areas:
- Tailgating: When an unauthorized individual follows closely behind an authorized individual. This often happens when an authorized person politely holds the door open for an unauthorized person.
- Piggybacking: When an unauthorized individual accesses a restricted area with the help or consent of an authorized employee. For example, an unauthorized visitor can ask for access by pretending to be someone who is supposed to be there.
Both tailgating and piggybacking make businesses vulnerable to physical damage to property or equipment, theft of sensitive or confidential information or other malicious acts.
Recommendations for mitigation
- Institute security training to educate employees about the risks and help them to recognize tailgating and piggybacking.
- Install anti-tailgating doors that use turnstiles, revolving doors or interlocking doors that require each person to prove authorization. They are more expensive than training, but are strong deterrents.
No. 8: Theft
Whether it’s shoplifting, smash-and-grabs, burglaries or robberies, theft represents a real risk for the physical security of businesses—and they’re on the rise. Retailers reported a 93% increase in the average number of shoplifting incidents per year in 2023 versus 2019. Alarmingly, 84% also reported that violence during thefts has become more of a concern in the past year.
And it’s not just a retail problem. For manufacturing companies, internal fraud (i.e. theft of raw materials and finished goods) costs an average of 5% of annual revenue to fraud or around $267,000 per incident.
Recommendations for mitigation:
- Leverage real-time risk alerts for theft-related events (i.e. ongoing robberies in a nearby retail store) to reduce response times and enable efficient lock-down procedures.
- Implement security measures for continuous monitoring. Store valuable assets in secure boxes or safes.
- Design a rigorous inventory management system to help identify and prevent fraud and loss.
Read More: Top 5 Retail Threats: Tips for Retail Risk Management
No. 9: Vandalism
Vandalism covers a broad array of events including smashed storefronts, defaced property and destroyed equipment. Graffiti cleanup alone costs an estimated $12 billion a year in the U.S. The intentional destruction of property or assets can seriously impact how a business functions and how customers and clients feel about the safety of an organization.
Recommendations for mitigation:
- Build a coalition with local businesses and partner with law enforcement as community engagement can help reduce or prevent vandalism.
- Increase situational awareness by prioritizing proper lighting, security cameras and physical barriers to deter would-be vandals.
No. 10: Workplace violence
Workplace violence is “any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening behavior that occurs at the work site,” involving employees, customers, clients or visitors and remains the third-leading cause of fatal occupational injuries in the U.S.
This includes employee-on-employee violence, domestic abuse of employees and harassment from clients and customers.
Recommendations for mitigation:
- Provide extensive training and services to all employees.
- Ensure security personnel have the resources and tools to prevent unauthorized people from accessing the building and, in certain cases, provide protection for at-risk employees.
- Establish incident response plans and clear lines of communication with authorities.
Though security teams are often stretched thin across a constantly growing number of threats, it’s important that CSOs and other security leaders consider and prioritize all potential physical security risks for their business.
While there is no way to eliminate all risks, security leaders can stay ahead of them with well-thought-out strategies and plans and the technology needed to identify potential threats in real time. This will allow them to more effectively mitigate risks, ensure business continuity and protect their people.
Mitigate Common Physical Security Risks
See how Dataminr Pulse for Corporate Security helps organizations like yours stay ahead of physical security risks so you can respond faster, protect your people and ensure business continuity.
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