ASSA ABLOY: Three Levels of Physical Server Security Businesses, large and small, create data which needs protecting, whether in an onsite server room or co-located at a data centre. When imagining a corporate data breach, people often picture black-hat hackers pursued by cybercrime investigators. The reality is often more mundane: Only around a half of breaches involve hacking, according to a recent report. To ensure maximum security of company servers, ASSA ABLOY recommends three levels of security working together within an integrated access system. In the absence of appropriate physical server security, the mundane can be dangerous — and expensive. Recent research for IBM by the Ponemon Institute estimates the average total cost of a data breach at $3.86 million. According to the same benchmark report, this average is rising, by 6.4 percent in the last year alone. Some of the highest breach costs are borne by companies in Europe, including Germany, France, Italy and the UK. Closer to home, CertNZ reported, in 2020 cyber security incidents caused nearly $17 million of direct financial losses in New Zealand.
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Such costs can be direct: in business disruption, lost mailing lists or disabled logistics software. Or they can be indirect: an erosion of customer trust and damaged brand equity. Hard-earned goodwill and positive reputations are quickly reversed. Costs also come from fines levied by government and international regulators. As Big Data gets bigger, so does the regulatory landscape for data handling. The most relevant framework for those operating in the EMEA region is the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, the GDPR. This wide-ranging data privacy rulebook has been enforced since May 2018. The GDPR requires to protect storage of all personal
information, including customer and employee data. Safeguards must include both electronic and physical barriers to unauthorised access. Three levels of physical security for servers In a security white paper, ASSA ABLOY recommends three levels of security working together within an integrated access system. At the top level, perimeter security ensures only authorised personnel enter a data storage building. Here, door and gate electronic locks with credential readers can work alongside the likes of CCTV and monitored fencing. On level two is the server room access. This can be monitored and controlled with a range of access control door devices with inbuilt credential readers, including Aperio battery-powered escutcheons or complete security locks. Either device integrates seamlessly with access and security management systems from all major manufacturers. At room level, physical security must also include water- and dustproofing, electromagnetic security and protection against other physical threats to servers and data. The third, final level of physical data security is the server rack or cabinet. Server rooms have a steady flow of authorised traffic: cleaners,
August/September 2021
