Building infrastructure
Doors, windows, and walls are critical components of a building — especially
in a computer room or in an area where confidential information is stored.
Attack points
Hackers can exploit a handful of building-infrastructure vulnerabilities.
Consider the following attack points, which are commonly overlooked:
- Are doors propped open? If so, why?
- Can gaps at the bottom of critical doors allow someone using a balloon or other device to trip a sensor on the inside of a “secure” room?
- Would it be easy to force doors open? Would a simple kick near the doorknob suffice?
- What is the building and/or computer room made of (steel, wood, concrete), and how sturdy are the walls and entryways? How resilient would the material be to earthquakes, tornadoes, strong winds, heavy rains, and vehicles driving into the building?
- Are any doors or windows made of glass? Is this glass clear? Is the glass shatterproof or bulletproof?
- Are doors, windows, and other entry points wired to an alarm system?
- Are there drop ceilings with tiles that can be pushed up? Are the walls slab-to-slab? If not, hackers can easily scale walls, bypassing any door or window access controls.
Countermeasures
Many physical-security countermeasures for building vulnerabilities may
require other maintenance, construction, or operations experts. If building
infrastructures is not your forte, you can hire outside experts during the
design, assessment, and retrofitting stages to ensure that you have adequate
controls. Here are some of the best ways to solidify building security:
- Strong doors and locks
- Windowless walls around computer rooms
- An alarm system that’s connected to all access points and continuously monitored
- Lighting (especially around entry/exit points)
- Mantraps that allow only person at a time to pass through a door
- Fences (barbed wire and razor wire)
