#5MinSecurityRead: Security and Data Protection in the Physical

• by Ellie Hurst
• Advent IM Blog

Thank you to Advent IM Senior Security Consultant, Ian Waren.

As we live through these unprecedented times, it provides us with the opportunity to reflect, as ‘normal working’ takes on a whole new meaning in a lot of cases. That said, some things do not change, especially where security is concerned. The ability to protect our assets remains a constant challenge. If anything, the present situation should be focusing the mind and looking closely at our security posture. Reports would suggest that criminally motivated cyber activity is on the increase from a remote position; crime adapting with the times. But it’s not just cyberspace that is a changing security landscape.
The holistic approach to any security solution is essential and the physical protection of assets is probably even more relevant now as staff remote work leaving large premises relatively empty. Remote working throws up its own challenges where we need our people to work effectively but in a secure environment. Now is the time to review the physical and consider the infrastructure, policies and procedures to see if they meet expectations and are fit for purpose going forward.
The future of businesses resuming occupancy of large business spaces is proving contentious, with the obvious knock-on for ‘support’ businesses, should offices remain closed. The Government is driving a back to work message which is struggling to convince some big players now that remote working has proved to be a more than viable alternative and on a large scale too. Given this situation, the physical environment needs to be robust if the assets are to be protected when isolated and left alone, but at the same time pragmatic through a threat informed risk aware approach.
We also have to consider how we protect, update and access physical records at a time like this as they will remain in place while people are absent. Consideration needs to be given to their security and accessibility to those who need them in order to do their jobs. So, security is not the only consideration, data protection and the attention given to those physical records needs to be paramount too. Reviewing of physical security measures as well as data protection practices therefore should be a business imperative right now.

Watch out for a mini podcast from Ian later on our Podcast page.