Question

WEEK 4: NEW SECURITY MEASURES

Consider your home, school, or current place of employment. What would you do to increase your organization’s physical security?

What do you think are the top three things to do in this realm?

Try to think of the most cost-effective measures that would have the biggest impact. Does cost-effectiveness affect your top three things to do concerning security?


(Please Text Format, No Pictures or Hand Written)

Answer 1

Part a) What would you do to increase your organization’s physical security?

The following are the steps one should take in order to increase organization's physical security:

• Fenced walls, razor wires: works as a first point of physical security, deter intruders by posing a bodily harm
• Locks: typical physical security countermeasure, allows only individuals with a key
• Protective barriers: deter speedy or forced entry of persons, vehicles, etc.
• Security lighting: renders more visibility for security personal, surveillance cameras, etc.
• Security guards: adding human intelligence to physical security
• Surveillance cameras, sensors: can record and track movements, change in environment
• Smoke detectors, fire fighting systems: to cease event of fire
• Access control (smart card, biometric): to allow only authorized personnel in a restricted area

The above mentioned strategies can be employed in all 3 scenarios: home,school and current place of employment. But the place of employment may require more protection apart from the above mentioned. This is because the place of employment contains valuable data which when got in wrong hands may cause damages.

The following are the steps one can take in order to increase security in place of employment:

Lock up the server room

In order to protect server room from unauthorized personnel access, one can use a RFID or smart card to access the server room.

Use rack mount servers

Rack mount servers are easier to secure as they can easily be locked into closed racks that, once loaded with several servers, can then be bolted to the floor, making the entire package almost impossible to move, much less to steal.

Pack up the backups

Backing up important data is an essential but the information on those backup tapes, disks etc can be stolen and used by someone outside the company. Ideally, a set of backups should be kept off site, and the offsite can be secured by implementing the above mentioned steps of physical security.

Part b) What do you think are the top three things to do in this realm?

The top 3 things to do would be the following:

1. First and foremost, one must install Surveillance cameras, sensors in order to track movements and their whereabouts. This may be costly at first, but in the long run would turn into beneficial.
2. Second would be locks, not ordinary locks, but the access control locks (using RFID or smart cards). This will ensure that only authorized personnel are accessing the place. If any unauthorized personnel is successful in access, then cameras will come into picture tracking movements and detect the person.
3. Third would be fenced walls and barriers. This will ensure that nobody is able to climb up and access the organization or the concerned place.  

Part c) Try to think of the most cost-effective measures that would have the biggest impact. Does cost-effectiveness affect your top three things to do concerning security?

The most cost-effective that would have a biggest impact would be maintaining a visitors/employee log book. This would ensure who all are entering and leaving the premise and at what time. This will also help in tracking down the events if any mishappening occurs.

But this cost effective method is not the best in terms of security. It just provides a added layer and work along with the above three methods to provide overall physical security. The cost effective do affect the top three things, as if we only use log book method of physical, there may be a situation where this book is lost or some entries are deleted / manipulated. This is hamper the security. Thus, log book method being a cost effective method should be used along with the top three methods to ensure physical security and one must not solely rely on cost effective methods.

One must think about long run and not short term. The top three methods of security are not cost effective at first, but at a long run, these methods would prove to be cost effective and provide a better physical security.

Hope this helps.