What are the two general categories of safes?

The two general categories of safes are best classified as Digital and Mechanical. This classification takes into account the different mechanisms by which safes secure their contents.

Digital safes utilize electronic locks and may feature biometric access methods, offering convenience and advanced security features like numerical keypads, smart technology, and remote access capabilities. In contrast, mechanical safes rely on traditional key locks or combination dials to secure their doors. This distinction highlights the primary operational differences between various safe types, making it a crucial aspect of physical security assessment.

While the other categories, such as fire and money or residential and commercial, are relevant in specific contexts, they do not accurately encompass the primary operational mechanisms of safes. Fire and money, for instance, refer to what a safe is designed to protect against but do not categorize safes based on their locking mechanisms. Similarly, residential and commercial classifications are based on usage rather than the functional principles of how the safes operate. Portable and fixed categorizes based on the mobility of the safe but does not address the security mechanisms themselves. Thus, Digital and Mechanical represent the most foundational way to categorize safes in the context of physical security.