Turnstiles or similar barriers that have movement sensors on the exits can also easily be opened by putting a hand through to the other side and waving it around. While the cost of successful digital attacks keeps increasing, physical damage to your assets can be just as harmful. One notorious example of physical security failing saw a Chicago colocation site robbed four times in two years , with robbers taking 20 servers in the fourth break in. Physical security largely comes down to a couple of core components: access control and surveillance.
Pre-attack behaviors
Access control encompasses a large area that includes basic barriers to more sophisticated things such as keypad, ID card or biometrically-restricted doors. The first line of defense is the building itself--the gates fences, windows, walls, and doors. Locking these, adding deterrents such as barbed wire, warning signage, and visible guards will put off most casual attempts on your locations.
Access control systems are many and varied, and each have their own pros and cons. Simple ID card scanners might be cheap but are easily stolen or forged. Embedding NFCs in workers — something that is reportedly becoming a trend in Sweden and drew ire from workers unions in the UK — is also way to reduce the chance of card loss. Biometric security is also a common option to secure both facilities and devices. In theory our unique body identifiers — whether fingerprint, iris, face or even your pulse — are harder to steal or fake than any cards.
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A report from ABI Research predicts the use of biometrics will only increase in the future. Fingerprint remains the most common method, but ABI suggests it will be augmented with a growth in face, iris and pulse. Fake fingers can overcome fingerprint readers, photos or masks can be enough to fool facial recognition, and German hacking group Chaos Computer Club found a way to beat iris recognition using only a photo and a contact lens.
Surveillance includes everything from guards on patrol, burglar alarms and CCTV to sound and movement sensors and keeping a log of who went where. At more high-risk locations, companies can deploy far more sophisticated detectors such as proximity, infrared, image, optical, temperature, smoke and pressure sensors to maintain a holistic view of their facilities.
Where typically physical security and digital security used to be entirely separate realms, they are slowly becoming more and more intertwined. Surveillance systems are increasingly connected to the internet, access control systems and monitoring systems are keeping digital logs, while use cases for AI in physical security are become more popular. For example, CCTV-based image recognition can alert you to the arrival of people or vehicles. Behavioral analytics tied into access controls can alert you to unusual behavior.
Companies are also beginning to use drones for facilities surveillance, and increasingly drone manufacturers are looking to add automated, unmanned capabilities. However, this growth in physical security technology means IT and physical security need to operate more closely. Digital logs need to be processed, stored and presented to the right people. AI models may need to be created and systems trained.
Importantly, all internet-connected devices need to be properly secured. However, the security providers are often device manufacturers first and now they want to get into the whole IoT business so they're really a development shop second. And what we're finding with these devices are actually introducing more exposures than those closed off systems than we've seen in the past.
These devices can often be hacked remotely. If your sensor networks are not adequately segmented and protected, a flaw in one device can allow an attacker to disable a range of your security processes. As a result of this growing convergence of the physical and digital, physical and IT security are becoming increasingly merged in cross-functional teams, with some companies creating security operation centers SOCs that deal with both types of security. Even if the two teams are not merging into one large function, Kenny says it is still important that the two work together and have shared responsibility.
Having CSOs responsible for both physical and IT security, Kenny says, can bring the different teams together to help raise security across the organization. And penetration testers often try to gain onsite access during intrusion simulations by impersonating builders, cleaners, or even IT support workers. They don't want to cause any disruptions or challenge somebody that may be of higher authority to them. At a branch office of a financial organization, Kennedy was able to gain access just by saying that he was from corporate IT there to update the servers.
Given the major human element involved in such attacks, they can be hard to defend against. Employee education and awareness is key to reducing the potential threat of social engineering. Medical services, retailers and public entities experienced the most breaches, with malicious criminals responsible for most incidents. Some of these sectors are more appealing to cybercriminals because they collect financial and medical data, but all businesses that use networks can be targeted for customer data, corporate espionage, or customer attacks.
Governments across the globe have responded to the rising cyber threat with guidance to help organizations implement effective cyber-security practices. In the U. To combat the proliferation of malicious code and aid in early detection, the framework recommends continuous, real-time monitoring of all electronic resources. The threats countered by cyber-security are three-fold:. Cybercrime includes single actors or groups targeting systems for financial gain or to cause disruption.
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Cyber-attack often involves politically motivated information gathering. Cyberterrorism is intended to undermine electronic systems to cause panic or fear. So, how do malicious actors gain control of computer systems? Here are some common methods used to threaten cyber-security:. Malware means malicious software. Often spread via an unsolicited email attachment or legitimate-looking download, malware may be used by cybercriminals to make money or in politically motivated cyber-attacks.
There are a number of different types of malware, including:. Cybercriminals trick users into uploading Trojans onto their computer where they cause damage or collect data. For example, spyware could capture credit card details. An SQL structured language query injection is a type of cyber-attack used to take control of and steal data from a database.
Cybercriminals exploit vulnerabilities in data-driven applications to insert malicious code into a databased via a malicious SQL statement. This gives them access to the sensitive information contained in the database. Phishing is when cybercriminals target victims with emails that appear to be from a legitimate company asking for sensitive information.
Phishing attacks are often used to dupe people into handing over credit card data and other personal information. A man-in-the-middle attack is a type of cyber threat where a cybercriminal intercepts communication between two individuals in order to steal data. A denial-of-service attack is where cybercriminals prevent a computer system from fulfilling legitimate requests by overwhelming the networks and servers with traffic.
This renders the system unusable, preventing an organization from carrying out vital functions. What are the latest cyber threats that individuals and organizations need to guard against? Here are some of the most recent cyber threats that the U. In December , the U. Department of Justice DoJ charged the leader of an organized cyber-criminal group for their part in a global Dridex malware attack.
This malicious campaign affected the public, government, infrastructure and business worldwide. Dridex is a financial trojan with a range of capabilities.
Affecting victims since , it infects computers though phishing emails or existing malware. Capable of stealing passwords, banking details and personal data which can be used in fraudulent transactions, it has caused massive financial losses amounting to hundreds of millions.
What Is Network Security?
In response to the Dridex attacks, the U. Perpetrators take advantage of people seeking new partners, duping victims into giving away personal data. In late , The Australian Cyber Security Centre warned national organizations about a widespread global cyber threat from Emotet malware. Emotet is a sophisticated trojan that can steal data and also load other malware. Emotet thrives on unsophisticated password: a reminder of the importance of creating a secure password to guard against cyber threats.
End-user protection or endpoint security is a crucial aspect of cyber security. After all, it is often an individual the end-user who accidentally uploads malware or another form of cyber threat to their desktop, laptop or mobile device.