Let’s Get Physical

Published on 19th September 2024 Author: Rob Black

“Dad, the house alarm went off!”

This is not great news at any time of day, but it’s especially unnerving when your 11-year-old daughter wakes you up at midnight to share it with you.

But something didn’t seem quite right. Whenever the house alarm had gone off before, there was absolutely no doubt what was happening – it sounds like a firetruck is driving through the living room.

In any case, I was now awake. So I jumped out of bed and went downstairs to investigate, no doubt casting an intimidating presence in my underwear.

Nothing found. I checked the alarm panel again. No problems indicated.

But then, as I went to look in on my already-fast-asleep daughter, a story started to form. I looked out her bedroom window at the neighbor’s house. Sure enough, all the lights were on – she must have heard their alarm!

Physical Security is a Contact Sport

You won’t be surprised to learn that here at Fractional CISO, most of our thought and attention is focused on digital security … things that, for the most part, can be evaluated, applied, tracked, and fine-tuned from a computer, anywhere in the world.

But, as with your home, physical reviews are equally important for ensuring the security of your business.

Of course, 50 years ago, when nearly all your company’s assets (other than financial) were physical in nature, this would have been obvious. Nobody needed to be reminded to lock the doors and keep the valuables out of plain sight.

Today, however, with cybercrime incidents so frequently in the news, it’s easy to neglect the physical part of the equation. The truth is, most businesses don’t seriously consider physical security until something bad happens.

That’s a mistake. We have clients that make or assemble things, often resulting in hundreds of thousands (even millions) of dollars of inventory on site. And yet, in many cases, the layout and processes involved in moving product and people in and out of the facilities are conceived with ease of manufacturing and transportation in mind – not protection.

And it’s not just businesses that make things that need to stay vigilant. Any business that lets people onto its premises – contractors, delivery people, HVAC specialists, guests, etc. – needs to consider and reduce its physical vulnerabilities.

Simple Fixes Go a Long Way

As the title of one of my recent presentations emphasized, “It’s Not Rocket Science!”

Yes, there are a lot of things to evaluate. But someone with a good eye for detail can do a fair assessment by walking around the facilities (including the outside), taking photos of notable items, reviewing access logs, examining drawings of the building, and asking questions regarding security procedures overall. Having a look at your facility from above through Google maps can also reveal weaknesses that might otherwise be missed.

Of course, you could spend lots of money on gates, locks, alarms, advanced technology, and even on-site human guards. But you can probably find things that can be corrected with small investments of time and resources.

For example, we had a client whose entrance to the outside was a single glass door. Everyone who walked by had an unobstructed view of lots of valuable equipment. Another client had a poorly lit parking lot in a part of town that was mostly deserted after hours. The fact is, in nearly all my physical security reviews with clients, I see obvious ways in which a bad guy could gain entry.

Fortunately, you don’t need to be James Bond to recognize and correct many of these things. In the two client examples above, better lighting, a few security cameras, and a door that can stand up to more than the swing of a hammer, go a long way.

Other simple fixes – moving critical servers from the closet in the breakroom to the cloud, for example – are also worth considering.

Start Now

Ultimately, the decision of what needs doing will come down to assessing the trade-off between experiencing a loss and the cost/effort in prevention. To do that, you’ll need to start by taking a good look around to see where you may be vulnerable.

Don’t forget your pants!

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Rob Black, CISSP

Rob founded Fractional CISO in 2017 and has helped dozens of companies improve their security posture as a vCISO. He consults, speaks, and writes on IoT and security. Rob has held product security and corporate security leadership positions at PTC ThingWorx, Axeda and RSA Security. He received his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and holds two Bachelor of Science degrees from Washington University in St. Louis in Computer Science and System Science and Engineering. He is also a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP).