July 2009 E-Newsletter

Physical Security

It may seem like an odd topic for an IT company to address but physical security is your first defence against unauthorised access and malicious damage.

There's no point spending time and money securing your network if a disgruntled employee can simply walk up to your servers and pour a cup of tea in the vents.

It's an extreme example but securing your servers and comms equipment can prevent both accidental and malicious damage and will also make them a harder target for thieves should the worst happen and you suffer a break-in.

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The perfect server room

When possible it's usually best to try and find a room where severs can be located away from the hustle and bustle of everyday business. Keeping the server isolated can help prevent damage from passing traffic and can also help you prepare a more appropriate environment for your servers.

Lock the room- It's amazing how many times we see servers in perfect locations but with the door wide open. If you can find a suitable place to store your servers it's usually a good idea to lock the doors to prevent unauthorised access. This is particularly the case in larger organisations or organisation with high staff turnover where the chances of someone taking malicious action against the server are higher.
Prevent heat build-up - Locking your servers is a cupboard is a recipe for disaster unless you take extra care to ensure waste heat is dealt with appropriately. Computer equipment produces vast amounts of heat and unless that heat is actively removed it will build up and damage your server hardware. Air conditioning is always a good idea but relatively expensive to install and operate. An alternative is simply to ensure there is good airflow in the room by installing suitable fans and venting.
Protect from dust - Dust can cause servers to clog up over time leading to heat build up and reduce lifespan. If servers are located in dusty areas it's a good idea to install some form of air filtering in the room and ensure the area is hovered regularly. It's crucial that air intakes are not blocked on any PC so don't make the mistake we once saw of protecting you computers from dust by blocking the air intakes with cling film (no dust certainly but a burnt out CPU)
Be aware of flood risk - The story of a US company that situated their data centre beneath the rooftop air conditioning system is a case in point. The system suffered a leak and the water destroyed their entire data centre. Although this is probably not a scenario that would face many SMEs it's still important to know what's above your servers and if the room is at risk of flooding. If there is a flood risk it's best to situate your servers off the floor, away from any items that could channel water and perhaps protected by a good quality server rack.

Denial of service

A denial of service attack is any attack intended to make a computer or resource unavailable for use. In this context it's a fancy name for putting your servers out of action so they can't be used for your business function.

Although disgruntled employees may try to steal data or equipment they may equally do nothing more than look to cause disruption.

When thinking about the physical security in your office ask yourself these questions:

1 - How easy would it be for a disgruntled employee to disrupt business by damaging our IT infrastructure?

2 - If damage did occur, how easy would it be to identify the perpetrator?

3 - How much would one hours downtime cost us, one day, one week? Budget for physical security accordingly.

3 - If the worst occurred and our servers were destroyed, could we recover? Are backups stored somewhere safe?

As with all things IT, if in doubt, consult an expert!

Physical security on a budget

We're realistic and we know that many SMEs simply don't have the space for a dedicated server room. With that mind we have come up with some top tips for protecting your servers where space is at a premium:

Server Safes - Server safes are exactly what they sound like; a floor (or shelf) mounted safe that holds your server and protects it from theft or unauthorised access. Safes can be installed that block access to ports and buttons for added protection and they cost from as little as £200.
Lock the comms cabinet - It may sound simple but most comms cabinets we come across are not locked or are locked with the key in place. A cable connected incorrectly can bring down an entire network so protect yours by keeping routers, switches and firewalls locked away from harms reach.
Fans - Air conditioning is expensive but a desk fan can do wonders to avoid hot air building up round a server in the summer. If you're hot, the server stuck in the corner under a desk is probably more so!

As with all things IT, if you are in any doubt call us and we'll help you with any physical security questions or problems you may have.

Geek-Guru Security auditing

Geek-Guru have many years experience supporting and more importantly securing our clients networks and businesses.

We have expertise in physical security (including CCTV and access systems), network security, disaster planning & recovery and a wealth of other specialisms designed to keep your business and your data safe.

For more info please e-mail us or call the office on 0845 234 0580

www.geek-guru.co.uk
0845 2340580

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