Week 8

Information transmission between financial markets in Chicago and New York

Every organization needs to ensure that there is the security of data centers or any place that holds valuable assets belonging to the people. When an organization fails to foresee scenarios, there could be occurrence security breaches since it will be convenient for people trying to breach the data center due to vulnerabilities. The physical security of the data centers is a necessary component of any information security strategy (Shein, 2010). Different risks can lead to failure of the physical security of the data centers of an organization, which may include inadequate management of the data center keys, external hackers, and ineffective monitoring of the behavior of onsite individuals.

Chicago collocation center is a scenario where physical security failed, and according to the research, it was reported that the organization was breached four times between 2005 and 2007 (Laughlin, Aguirre, & Grundfest, 2014). The people responsible for the management of the data center did not ensure that there is security to prevent the occurrence of these unfortunate events. In this attack, there was an intrusion that involves two masked persons who entered the facility after the cut the reinforcement walls with a power saw. This attack was made when the security personnel in the facility were way, and they found it easy for them to break into the data center. The intruders were able to steal the vital information of the organization.

The best practice to ensure the data center’s physical security is to know where the people are (Patel, & Shah, 2005). The critical component for the security of the data centers is the physical access management as it is a vital tool for overall environment physical security. Therefore, the security persons need to provide access and understand the movement through the data center. For the organization to ensure that the access to spaces is authorized and monitored, Mantraps, anti-tailgating systems, biometric readers, and other physical controls should be used.

In the increasingly digitized world, data centers represent a key technology since they house the storage systems and servers (Miller, & Beckman, 2013). The physical infrastructure in data centers should provide power and cooling for the components. The monitoring of the components should also be permitted for all the operating parameters. Therefore, physical security in data centers is crucial for every organization.

Key issues in data center security

Internal testing of physical controls is an essential concept concerning the physical security of an organization (Niles, 2004). It is essential to validate the access grants, testing the video footage to ensure that it is recording and also verification of anti-tailgate mechanisms to ensure that they are working effectively. The responsible team should ensure that physical testing is part of the operating procedures. Through testing, the data centers of the organization will be secure from the intrusion.

The people responsible for maintaining the physical security of the data centers should be trained to ensure that they adhere to the physical security procedures (Knapp, Denney, & Barner, 2011). Trained personnel must understand the importance of their responsibilities to the physical security programs of the data center. Intruders of the data centers look at the weak links to access the location, and these vulnerabilities can often be on the human side of the equation. However, training people will help in the identification of the vulnerabilities and maintenance of the physical security of the data center in an organization. Various processes and structures must collaborate with the company to ensure robust physical security, such as process management, access controls, and perimeter security.

For the physical security of data centers to be maintained, the server room should only be access by the service engineers and other administrative staff (Skorin-Kapov, Furdek, Zsigmond, & Wosinska, 2016). At the entrance doors, there should be signs which prohibit staff from bringing drinks, cigarettes, or food within the room. The rooms should have two doors to help the staff in case of an emergency. Adequate fire prevention mechanisms should be deployed in data centers.

In every organization, the physical access to the data center should be guarded to measure that there is no unauthorized access (Shim, Qureshi, & Siegel, 2013). The walls need to be made secure and thick to avoid intrusion. Data centers should also have CCTV cameras to maintain security. Through these measures, data centers will be secured against potential vulnerabilities.

References

Laughlin, G., Aguirre, A., & Grundfest, J. (2014). Information transmission between financial markets in Chicago and New York. Financial Review, 49(2), 283-312.

Knapp, K. J., Denney, G. D., & Barner, M. E. (2011). Key issues in data center security: An investigation of government audit reports. Government Information Quarterly, 28(4), 533-541.

Miller, K. C., & Beckman, P. C. (2013). U.S. Patent No. 8,528,101. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Niles, S. (2004). Physical security in mission-critical facilities. Schneider Electric.

Patel, C. D., & Shah, A. J. (2005). Cost model for planning, development, and operation of a data center.

Shein, R. (2010, March). Security measures for advanced metering infrastructure components. In 2010 Asia-Pacific Power and Energy Engineering Conference (pp. 1-3). IEEE.

Shim, J., Qureshi, A. A., & Siegel, J. G. (2013). The International Handbook of Computer Security. Routledge.

Skorin-Kapov, N., Furdek, M., Zsigmond, S., & Wosinska, L. (2016). Physical-layer security in evolving optical networks. IEEE Communications Magazine, 54(8), 110-117.