Your business is likely unsecure. That was the takeaway from the monthly IT Council’s keynote breakfast Tuesday.
Secure Ideas Senior Security Consultant Jennifer Shannon talked physical and digital security and how businesses don't always asses physical weaknesses when addressing digital data.
Jacksonville-based Secure Ideas specializes in ethical hacking and breaking-and-entering to test cyber and physical security measures on behalf of client companies.
During her keynote, Shannon talked about how doors and locks can be physically bypassed without lock-picking as well as vulnerabilities related to the construction of buildings, such as drop ceilings.
But of most interest to the attendees were some of the digital tools that could bypass electronic locks to access restricted physical locations based on RFID and NFC protocols.
In the end, she said, all locks and security systems can be broken or bypassed. Even with a state of the art security system and proper security measure, every system is vulnerable due to social engineering exploits.
But she did offer some tips, like never trust workers in high-visibility vests or workers with ladders wandering around buildings, she joked. She recounted several stories of how she and her colleagues with Secure Ideas were basically given free roam through sensitive areas just by wearing a vest and acting like she belonged.
“Stop looking at things like it’s a physical security threat or it’s cyber security issue,” she said. “Security is interrelated.”
She said employees are usually at the cross-section of physical and digital security, which is why training is important.
Workers should be vigil, she said, not to the point of paranoia, she added, but said some security scrutiny is welcome.
“Don’t just have policies on paper,” she said. “Employees need to be aware of the procedure and protocols. Audit and test the systems.”
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