Implementing the right security measures is essential to the success of any self-storage company. A self-storage facility’s main job is to give your clients space to store their belongings while ensuring their property is protected within reason. Your clients must know you take security seriously or they will not trust you to store their belongings. There are a number of areas where self-storage facility owners overlook their security needs and not fixing them will lead to increased liability for your company.

Here are three areas self-storage owners overlook their security and how they can improve it:

1. Security cameras

You would be surprised how many self-storage facilities are working with either old and outdated CCTV systems or none at all. Installing a modern security system is a great way to improve onsite security. Modern security cameras give you better picture quality and recording tools to monitor who comes in and out of your facility. Cameras give visual evidence in case of theft as well as serve as a deterrent for prospective thieves. Every self-storage facility should have an up-to-date camera system installed.

Jason Fischbeck, Owner of smart technology company Automated Environments said self-storage owners have begun to install camera systems that can track license plates a recognize faces.

“A truly smart camera system can recognize if the people on your property are tenants or not,” Fischbeck said. “A camera that can record license plate numbers is going to make it easier for your team to know if someone should be on your property or not.”

Fischbeck also said that you want to avoid cameras that are simply motion sensor activated. Motion sensor cameras will turn on if any animal enters your space which could easily use up any video storage space you have. CCTV systems should also have night vision technology since most people are not going to break into your facility during work hours.

The camera system should be wired as opposed to wireless to avoid camera outages due to Wi-Fi connectivity issues. Cameras should be installed in every doorway, rollup, and walkway; however, make sure cameras are not pointed at your tenants’ storage space. Tenant privacy is important and you should not be able to see what they are storing.

2. Physical security

Many self-storage facility owners forgo a physical security presence as well as a visual one. A secure self-storage facility uses a capable private security company to protect your tenants’ property.

Cameras are great but they lack the physical presence to engage with a real-life event. Hiring the right security team can prevent break-ins in real-time. A prospective burglar will not want to mess with a place that is being patrolled by properly trained security.

Actual people overseeing you and your tenants’ property are going to be the biggest deterrent for theft.

Ensure that you hire a security team that knows how to deescalate. You want a security team that will not start a fight over property but won’t just allow someone to steal your tenants’ things.

The security team should be properly licensed by your state. Hiring an unlicensed security team is a massive liability so don’t do it.

3. Handling sensitive documents

No business is free of sensitive documents and a self-storage facility is no exception. Any self-storage company will have sensitive business data, tax data as well as employee and tenant information that if stolen by the wrong people will put their info at risk. You have to have a place to store those physical documents.

Jerry Dilk Senior Consultant for secure document storage company Data Storage Centers said that sensitive documents should be kept inside of a secure room.

“You don’t want to just put sensitive information in a storage bin, you want all sensitive information in a secure room that is monitored,” Dilk said. “That means you know who and when someone enters and leaves the room as well as what documents they looked at.”

Dilk went on to say that you should have a system that lets you process what documents are stored there and when they are stored and removed. Keep a list that clearly labels how long each sensitive document needs to be stored and when it must be destroyed.

When it is time to destroy your important documents it is important that you destroy them securely using a professional document destruction company.

Your tenants’ properties are only as safe as the security measures you create. Take the time to set up a security plan that integrates a modern CCTV system, hires licensed private security, and protects important documents. Do these things and you will show your tenants you take protecting their property seriously.  

Bill Herzog is the CEO of Lionheart Security Services in Tempe Arizona. He is an expert in private business security and has over 25 years of law enforcement experience.

Malvertising, or malicious advertising, is a cyberattack technique that injects malicious code into digital ads. Difficult to detect by both internet users and publishers, these infected ads are usually served to consumers through legitimate advertising networks. 

Malvertising uses what looks like legitimate online advertising to distribute malware and other threats with little to no user interaction required. Because ads are displayed to all website visitors, virtually everyone exposed to these malicious ads is at risk of having their device compromised if proper precautions are not taken.

How Does Malvertising Work?

In some cases, malicious actors will compromise a third-party server, which allows the cybercriminal to inject malicious code within an advertisement, such as banner ad copy, creative imagery or video content. Recently however, Google Ads have become increasingly used by malware operators to spread malware to unsuspecting users searching for popular products. Cyber criminals purchase advertisements that appear within internet search results using a domain that is similar to an actual business or service. 

When a user searches for that business or service, these advertisements appear at the very top of search results with minimum distinction between an advertisement and an actual search result. These advertisements link to a webpage that looks identical to the impersonated business’s official webpage.

These malicious advertisements have been used to impersonate the the websites of popular products and services such as cryptocurrency exchanges, Notepad++, Grammarly, MSI Afterburner, Slack, Dashlane, Malwarebytes, Audacity, μTorrent, Ring, AnyDesk, Libre Office, Teamviewer, Thunderbird and Brave to name just a few. 

By impersonating the official websites of popular products and services, threat actors distribute trojanized versions of software. A trojan is software that appears to be one thing (e.g. a legitimate software application), but actually is malware. Google Ad campaigns are being used to distribute malware in the guise of legitimate software tools.

Deceptive Links

Google has controls in place to prevent ads from being displayed that include links directly to sites that host malware. To circumvent this control, cyber criminals will typically send anyone who clicks on one of their malicious ads to an intermediary site first, and then redirect the visitor to a web page containing the malware which is often hosted on Github, Dropbox or OneDrive. 

This activity often makes use of seemingly credible websites with typo-squatted domain names that are surfaced to the top of Google search results in the form of malicious ads during searches for specific keywords. The moment one of these disguised sites is visited by a victim (one who actually clicks on the promoted search result), the site immediately redirects them to the rogue site. From there they are redirected to the malicious payload.

The ultimate objective of such attacks is to trick unsuspecting users into downloading and installing malevolent programs or potentially unwanted applications.

How to Protect Yourself From Malvertising

Having a high-quality and up-to-date antivirus program will go a long way towards detecting and stopping many types of malware. You may also consider using ad blockers, however there are workarounds hackers can exploit that will still leave you vulnerable.

Beyond that, storage operators and staff should keep an eye out for suspicious ads and browse the web mindfully. Take the following steps to avoid accidentally falling into a malvertising trap:

• Before clicking on an advertisement, check the URL to make sure the site is authentic. Note that a malicious domain name may be similar to the intended URL but with typos or a misplaced letter.
• As the first few results on a given search term are usually promoted ads, it is safer to skip them and scroll down until you see the project’s official website search result and use that instead.
• Rather than search for a business or financial institution, type the business’s URL into an internet browser’s address bar to access the official website directly.
• If you visit a website frequently, bookmark its URL and use that to access it instead of searching for it every time.

The devastation wrought by Hurricane Ian led governors in several Southeastern states to declare a state of emergency—a move that has a big impact on self-storage operators when it comes to setting prices.

The declarations triggered price-gouging laws that could put temporary limits on self-storage rental rates in some jurisdictions, according to a newsletter recently published by the national Self Storage Association. 

The recent declarations were made in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina,South Carolina and Virginia. All 50 states have price limiting measures that go into effect during a state of emergency, however not all are applicable to self-storage operations. For this reason, the SSA advises any operators affected by a state of emergency to consult with an attorney before making rate changes. 

For operators not currently impacted, now is a good time to review the law in your state so you are aware of your limitations the next time a disaster strikes. Conducting a review of the law now will help you mitigate your risk of running afoul of any anti-gouging laws unintentionally in the future.

Anti-Gouging Laws in Effect

According to Inside Self Storage, the anti-gouging laws currently in effect following Hurricane Ian are as follows:

• Florida: The price-gouging statute is in effect statewide and prohibits charging an “unconscionable price” for self-storage units. Violators are subject to $1,000 per incident up to $25,000 for multiple violations. 
• Georgia: Businesses are prohibited from selling at higher prices, unless the increase reflects an increase in costs incurred by the seller for providing specific goods or services.
• North Carolina: Prices cannot exceed the average amount charged by the seller during the 60-day period preceding the emergency declaration.
• South Carolina: Self-storage facilities may not charge an unconscionable price during the duration of the state of emergency. 
• Virginia: Storage facilities may not charge an unconscionable price for 30 days following the declaration of a state of emergency. 

Avoiding Financial and Reputational Risk

Remember, customers can submit complaints to the state if they believe your business is violating the anti-gouging laws. The best way to avoid fines is to:

• Avoid raising rental rates during a state of emergency until you consult with an attorney first.
• Pause automatic rental increases on existing customers during the state of emergency.

Potentially worse than government fines is the reputational damage your company could face if caught breaking price-gouging laws. Such an event could be a PR nightmare for your company and erode the trust you’ve worked hard to build with your tenants.

Navigating Anti-Gouging Laws

If you want to avoid such a predicament, be very cautious about raising rates during a state of emergency. A slight miscalculation could end up being a costly mistake in terms of fines and lost business due to negative publicity. Avoid this major financial risk by consulting with your legal counsel before you raise storage rents.

Most businesses experience a dip in their rapport with customers — even top self-storage facilities. It takes strategy to recover from such an extreme hit. Whether your self-storage facility received terrible reviews, dealt with a pest problem, or experienced a costly cyberattack, here’s how to rebound.

Identify the Negative Press 

It’s imperative to identify what damaged your company’s reputation in the first place. Are there a slew of negative reviews on a search engine, such as Google or Bing, drowning out anything positive? Is an unhappy customer spreading negative news about your services on social media? Is a former employee or competitor taking their issues to YouTube? Was there a break-in or other incident?

Once you pinpoint where the negative press is circulating, it’s time to use those same platforms to spread a new message. Instead of going on the defense, consider a more forward-thinking approach to rebuilding your reputation. 

Boost Positive Reviews 

Before you dive into reputation recovery mode, remember that several platforms can boost your self-storage facility rankings online. Consider Pinterest, YouTube, FaceBook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter, to name a few popular platforms. Revamping your social media profiles works in tandem with prominent search engines, meaning information crosses over from one another.  

Resolve Issues

First, if a tenant genuinely has an issue with your facility, own up to your company’s failures. Apologize publicly and swiftly. Not only does this display a sense of responsibility, but it shows that you honestly want to fix problems or cracks in your business. Keep in mind that an unhappy customer tells ten people, but a customer with resolved issues tells twice as many. Identify clear and concrete steps that you will take to resolve the problem and prevent it from reoccuring.

Use Content Marketing

Another valuable bonus to the Digital Age is that content marketing is highly influential. You can reach a large audience while establishing yourself as an expert in your industry. Perhaps you publish helpful how-to blog posts or offer downloadable checklists for tenants. Regardless of the specific topics you choose to write about, try to view your business from the customer’s point of view. Give them what they need on the platforms they visit. 

Feature Testimonials

Remember to use testimonials to improve your reputation. Not every tenant is out to sink your reputation. Ask current tenants to write positive reviews on search engines and social media platforms. Additionally, feature these testimonials on your website so that prospective tenants can read them. 

Take Customer Cues

Lastly, take your cues from your customers. They already know what they want from your business, so listen intently to their expectations. Be straightforward — ask customers what they want out of your business, and take those suggestions to heart. Don’t forget to reward existing and loyal customers. The bread-and-butter tenants can do wonders for your reputation, so give them a pat on the back now and then. 

Recovering from a damaged reputation is a tall order — but it’s not impossible, and you don’t need to buy your reputation back with false promises. Put in the work, and you’ll boost your reputation in due time.

While Baby Boomers are downsizing, millennials are accumulating more and running out of room for their stuff.. As a result self-storage facilities have seen an uptick in technology “wants” from customers. Aside from innovative moving services and climate-controlled units, here are a few ways the market is answering those demands. 

1. On-Demand Services

The on-demand industry satiates people’s instant gratification craving flawlessly. As expected, this trend is overflowing to the self-storage industry, as well. From reserving a storage facility online or ordering pick up and delivery of your stored items with an app on your phone.

2. Automation

Kiosks are popping up all across the nation and for various industries. When it comes to self-storage, customers now desire a more hands-on approach—and kiosks are the answer. At the touch of a fingertip, customers can complete the self-storage rental process from beginning to end. 

Plus, kiosks are typically available 24/7 and are synced with the owner’s data, making the self-storage experience seamless (and attractive). 

3. Increased Security 

Gone are the days of using a gruff-looking guard dog or building a higher fence to protect valuable property. Instead, self-storage facilities are turning to technology to bolster their security systems.  

Some facilities are forgoing the old key and padlock approach, opting instead for keypads with codes or locks that can opened with a mobile app. Not only do these security methods offer owners more control over access to their items, but they provide more protection to customers as well. What’s more is that it’s no biggie if a customer forgets or loses their key. 

4. Remote Monitoring 

Knowing how stored items are holding up is a significant concern for many self-storage customers. With climate-controlled units on the rise, people are genuinely worried about their things. 

According to SFGate, technology is answering this particular concern, too, through remote monitoring. From thousands of miles away, a customer and owner can be alerted of an issue with the unit.

Perhaps the power goes out, or there’s a leak in the facility. No matter what the problem, owners can fix the issue in real-time thanks to remote monitoring.

5. Cloud Tech Software

Few people enjoy desktops covered in paperwork or flow charts scattered around the office. Cloud tech software offers a more sophisticated approach to managing your self-storage facility. 

Owners can track industry trends, view sales figures, monitor customer activity, observe employee production, and so much more. This updated software helps to streamline your everyday operations, keeping you current on all business activities. 

When used suitably, technology can offer self-storage facility owners a hassle-free way of doing business.