Executive summary

Physical security comprises the protection of equipments and building sites from theft, vandalism, damage, natural disasters and manmade catastrophes. Securing a company’s facility is a crucial part of any security plan. Without physical security, all other securities such as software security, information security, network safety and user access security are rather harder to initiate. Physical security requires solid buildings, emergency preparedness, power supplies, climate control and protection from potential intruders (Philpott & Einstein, 2011).

Dalton, Walton, & Carlton, Inc. have excelled in the physical security of its facilities. The access to the building and the floors is access key controlled to prevent any intruders. Though visitors are not escorted inside the building, they provide the name of their contact person and their access badges do not access the server room. The server room on the third floor has a raised floor and has extra air handling. The front and back doors automatically open in the morning and automatically closes in the evening. The admin has a master key card that can access all areas in the building meaning that in cases of disaster, the master key can be used to access all needed areas (Philpott & Einstein, 2011).There are five security cameras in the building, whose feeds go to a DVR, which is controlled by the building management.

In addition, the company has measures to counter any disaster. The building doors automatically open in the morning making it easy for employees to be able to vacate their offices in times of disasters. Again, there are back doors to facilitate easy movement in and out of the building in such times.

The company needs to improve on some areas as it endeavors to improve on its physical protection. The building access key cards should not access the server room for this could be a vulnerability to the company. The alarms should be upgraded to ensure they do not give false alarms and keep them fully functional.

Again, there is only one lift in the building. This might be helpful in times of disasters in that it will discourage people from using it. However, some disasters such as terrorism may require employees to move out of the building very fast and more than one lift would be better. In addition, to cover all other involved risks, Risk assessment should always be done from time to time. This will identify the vulnerabilities to help make an informed decision about the security solutions to be implemented.

To improve on the physical security, the company can minimize external access. There should be very few doors, which are solid, lockable, and fireproof and should always be observed by security guards. This is to ensure that outside people have no access to the facility at any cost. Again, the company can ensure that all the physical equipments are modern to help keep up with the latest technologies and disasters. Natural disasters such as earthquakes are hard to predict but one can have counter measures.

Areas the case study company does well for the physical protection of its facilities and infrastructure.

Dalton, Walton, & Carlton, Inc. have excelled in the physical protection of its facilities and infrastructure in some areas. Among these areas, include deterrence. Deterrence involves preventing and damage from happening in advance. The company has taken various measures to prevent any intended or unintended damage from happening. The access to the building and the floors is access key controlled to prevent any intruders (Garcia, 2008). Again, though visitors are not escorted inside the building, they provide the name of their contact person and their access badges do not access the server room. Again, there are five security cameras in the building. The camera feeds go to a DVR, which is controlled by the building management. This ensures that no employee can interfere with the feeds.

Another area is the security of the data center. The server room on the third floor has a raised floor and has extra air handling. This ensures that the servers are secure and have enough air circulation. Again, there is backup power that can light up to ninety minutes in times of a blackout. This will ensure that the servers continue functioning throughout (Garcia, 2008). The server room automatically locks itself explaining why the IT staff always prop the door when accessing it. All these measures ensure that the data is safe from any intruders.

Another area the company is doing well is preparedness for any disaster. The front and back doors automatically open in the morning and automatically closes in the evening. In case of a disaster such as fire, the employees would be able to escape quickly as opposed to when every employee uses a key card to move out. Again, the admin has a master key card. A master key card can access all areas in the building meaning that in cases of disaster, the master key can be used to access all needed areas.

Areas the case study company needs improvement on the physical protection of its infrastructure

The company needs to improve on some areas as it endeavors to improve on its physical protection. One area is the security of the data. However, though the company has done a lot in maintaining data security, there is stillroom for improvement. The key controlling the small server room on the third floor also accesses the building and floors. This means that anyone with the access of the key can be able to access the building and the server room. This gives enough room for sabotage. Competitors can blackmail someone with the access of the key to sabotage the company. This is a threat to the company.

Again, though the interior and primary exterior doors have alarms, the alarms are not used due to false alarm in the past. It is agreeable that this gives a room for anonymous access. The alarms can be upgraded to ensure they do not give false alarms and keep them fully functional. Alarms will ensure there is timely apprehension of any suspects trying to gain access. This is a vulnerability to the company.

Another area that requires improvement is the handling of visitors. Visitors should not be given access badges. Instead, they should be escorted to the contact person. Giving visitors an access badge is dangerous because such visitors can access the offices and steal physical items or data from computers. Escorting them will ensure they do not access any other office except the intended office. Unescorted visitors can be a great threat to the company.

Techniques that would improve security of the facility’s physical design

Some techniques can be used to improve the physical design of a facility. One such technique is assessing the risk the facility faces. This will identify the vulnerabilities to help make an informed decision about the security solutions. What follows is the implementation of the solutions with the view that any step taken in implementing the solutions makes the facility more secure.

Another technique is to minimize external access. There should be very few doors, which are solid, lockable, and fireproof and should always be observed by security guards. This is to ensure that outside people have no access to the facility at any cost. At the same time, the structural protection should be maximized by ensuring that the walls are full height and the ceilings fireproof (Smith, 2013).

Another technique is to make sure that all the physical equipments are modern to help keep up with the latest technologies and disasters. Natural disasters such as earthquakes are hard to predict but one can have counter measures to protect oneself from such dangers. Modern facilities have safe rooms used in times of storms (Smith, 2013).

References

Bush, G. W. (2003). The national strategy for the physical protection of critical infrastructures and key assets. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT WASHINGTON DC.

Garcia, M. (2008). The design and evaluation of physical protection systems (2nd ed.). Amsterdam: Elsevier/Butterworth-Heinemann.

Philpott, D., & Einstein, S. (2011). The integrated physical security handbook II (2nd ed.). Longboat Key, Fla.: Government Training. Retrieved July 22, 2015, from http://www.governmenttraininginc.com/pdfs/Excerpt-from-IPSH-II.pdf

Smith, K. (2013). Environmental hazards: Assessing risk and reducing disaster (6th ed.). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge

 
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