Physical Security

Physical security addresses security threats, vulnerabilities and safeguards that can be employed to physically protect organizational assets and related sensitive information. These assets include the personnel, the facility or the building itself, data, equipment, media, support system, and other supplies. Moreover, it describes security measures that are designed to block access to an unauthorized people from physically accessing and evading controls of the building, assets, and stored information. Physical security provides guidance on how to design physical structures to protect unauthorized or potentially harmful activities.

Physical security encompasses secure site selection, structural design of the facility, and the mechanism employed to securing the facility against intruders, theft of equipment and information, other environmental controls and safety measures required to protect the people, the facility and the entire assets of an organization.

Physical security covers one or more of the following areas:

• Site and facility design considerations
• Perimeter security implementation and support
• Visitors control
• Security guards
• Physical access controls
• Keys and locks
• Facility security
• Telecommunications and server rooms security
• Data center security
• Utilities safety
• Heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems
• Environmental controls such as humidity, water, dust, flooding, temperature, etc.
• Fire prevention, detection and suppression systems
• Personnel safety and privacy such as duress, travel, etc.
• Gates and doors
• Closed Circuit Television (CCTV)
• Lighting systems

The goal of physical security is to provide organizations with comprehensive picture of the requirements that are necessary for the overall physical and environmental security, including the potential security threats associated with the protection of secure facility. To achieve these goals, physical security countermeasures employ physical barriers, entry and search controls, intrusion detection systems, and different types of alarm systems. When physical security controls are combined with other organizational security controls and practices, they are intended to deter, delay, detect, assess and appropriately respond to an unauthorized activities.

Physical security threats may emanate from one or more the following sources:

• Natural/Environmental threats
• Utilities- communication outages, power outage, etc.
• Manmade/Political instability
• Staff resentments such as protesting, boycotting, etc.