EVE Fiction

I've been thinking about the security rating system recently and I've been trying to find something about how it was established, etc.

The Wiki tells us that CONCORD was established in AD 23233 (YC-3) and that "For the first few decades of its existence CONCORD wielded very limited power..." It doesn't clarify whether the article is referring to physical military power or political influence here, but as it goes on to say that "...in recent years their authority has grown alongside that of inter-stellar trade, which is becoming more important by the day throughout the world of New Eden..." we can assume they mean the latter.

This raises the question then of how and when the systems of New Eden were originally allocated their security status. Did the 4 empires decide themselves? Did DED decide?

Bear in mind that between the Federation and State, the first war continued for another 17 years after CONCORD's founding, so large areas of empire space were still an active warzone. This includes what is now highsec (such as Luminaire at 1.0) as well as lowsec.

The only news article I can find regarding a system's security rating is regarding Sarum Prime, where an increase in naval presence prompted a CONCORD response by improving the security rating, but this is years later and doesn't hint to the rating system introduction.

I'll assume that the game mechanics of FW that effectively spawns almost countless numbers of naval vessels on all sides in lowsec sytems do not affect security in the same way the news story linked above does, because lore-wise the nature of deployment is different.

As an additional thought, I've often considered the on-gate presence of naval, customs, faction police and CONCORD ships on gates and those systems being rated as hisec as a case of chicken and egg. Which came first?

Are those systems "safer" or rated as hisec as a result of such a presence? Or are the patrols in those systems because the allocated security rating suggests they are expected to be there?