Physical Security in DR, BCP Scenarios

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent regulations to reduce its spread, many countries have had to implement restrictive measures on people’s freedom of mobility. One of such measures includes regulations and recommendations that aim at reducing the number of people who physically attend their workplaces. In other words, governments have been seeking to make more people work from their homes.

In this regard, the study found that in May 2020, the number of the U.S. employees who switched to work-from-home accounted for 71% among those whose profession allowed such a transition (Bick et al., 2020). However, at the same time, many buildings and offices have started being empty, which increased the possibility of illegal intrusion. For that reason, many organizations have started raising concerns regarding the physical and digital security of their property. Therefore, this paper seeks to identify the necessary protection measures that companies may adopt for increased safety.

Video Surveillance

1. CCTVs can be located indoors as well as outdoors;
2. Serves as both preventive and detective security method as on the one hand it can scare potential intruders and, on the other hand – provides the information about the crime and people involved (Costin, 2016);
3. Easy and cheap to set and install;
4. Modern cameras can transmit high-quality videos, which allows detecting even the smallest details (e.g., vehicle registration plate) during the day and night;
5. Live broadcasting can be accessed remotely from any part of the country/world through the internet.

Intrusion Alarm system

1. Located indoors to notify business owners or security managers about the unauthorized entrance to the office/building;
2. Modern systems provide a variety of possible detectors, including motion, glass-break, an infrared beam, and ultrasonic sensors (Abboud & Altimim, 2017);
3. The system can also notify the owners about the illegal entrance to the property through the special application, SMS, or by making a call;
4. In the cases when the fact of intrusion is proved, the system sends a notification to the police.

Additional Layer of Security for Server Rooms

1. The companies should also protect their digital data and information from thieves;
2. Additional protection for server rooms includes installation of strong doors and security gates behind the doors;
3. Install additional key-card controlled system.

Perimeter Security

1. Good security fences are the first necessary protection measure for big-sized properties;
2. Can also have surveillance cameras and infrared beams to provide information about unwanted guests;
3. Reduces the chances of potential intrusion as it becomes harder to sneak through;
4. It prevents “outsiders” from seeing what is inside the perimeter and buildings.

Access Control

1. Allows selectively restricting or providing access to different people;
2. The authentication process may be conducted using three methods, namely using of password or PIN, using of smart cards and keys, and using biometric measurement;
3. Reduces the chance of unverified entrance to certain areas by employees.

In summary, this paper identified measures that would help the companies to increase the safety of their properties and reduce the chances of illegal intrusions. The proposed solutions included the installation of video surveillance, intrusion alarm system and access control, and creation of additional security barriers for server rooms and land perimeter. Although these solutions may increase the maintenance costs, they ensure the safety of business property and protect from greater financial, intellectual, and physical losses.

Suggestions on the fellow student’s work

1. I think that Joshua could add an introduction and conclusion to his work to articulate the importance of increased security measures in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic;
2. The measures for physical protection of company’s confidential data and information could be added as it may be one of the most valuable assets of the business;
3. The information could be retrieved from various sources to increase the trustworthiness of the information provided by the presenter.

References

Costin, A. (2016). Security of CCTV and video surveillance systems: Threats, vulnerabilities, attacks, and mitigations. In X. Fan and T. Güneysu (Eds.), Proceedings of the 6th international workshop on trustworthy embedded devices (pp. 45-54). Association for Computing Machinery. Web.

Abboud, I. K., & Altimimy, A. H. (2017). Intruder glass-break defecting system using computer interface. Journal of Engineering and Sustainable Development, 21(01), 139-151.

Bick, A., Blandin, A., & Mertens, K. (2020). Work from home after the COVID-19 outbreak. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, 1-19.