Protecting your Data Centre from Physical Harm
The Issues
When it comes to corporate data security, most companies have focused primarily on combating threats from external sources, without giving much thought to data breaches from within the organisation, which can be equally as devastating. In a recent paper from Forrester Research: ‘Understand The State Of Data Security And Privacy: 2015 To 2016’ it found that over a 12 month period, insiders within an organization were responsible for 39% of all data breaches.
‘Insiders’ in this case include anyone who has access to the facility, including employees and sub-contractors. Although data centres usually have comprehensive physical security which starts at the perimeter fence, extends in layers to the outside of the building, the core of the building, each floor and finally to the server rooms themselves, few offer adequate physical control and monitoring at the rack level. In most cases, the security layers stop when you enter the area where the actual data is stored. If somebody has intentionally accessed this area, security is now minimal. Essentially, servers and other IT assets are vulnerable to anyone walking into the server room. Keys can be stolen or replicated. Lock combinations can be compromised. The potential for data theft, sabotage or accidental damage to hardware is enormous and this leaves the organisation open to a variety of serious impacts on its business; loss or theft of sensitive data, loss of customer confidence and related business, and a tarnished reputation. Additionally, significant fines will be levied by regulatory bodies in the UK when The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is introduced from May 18th 2018.
The GDPR requires that businesses take all reasonable steps to protect personal information, so the physical security of data in the datacentre increasingly matters. Given that any data breaches will be subject to fines of up to 4% of annual global turnover or €20 million, whichever is greater, it becomes essential to safeguard your individual IT racks. Data controllers are required to design the data protection principles of the GDPR into the very core of technical systems and organisational processes (Article 25 DATA PROTECTION BY DESIGN AND BY DEFAULT). IT departments need to show that they can protect and monitor access to confidential data, as well as demonstrate in real time when a breach occurs. Therefore security of the datacentre itself will become ever more important, which primarily means physical security at the rack level.
There is much more to physical access control at the rack level than a card reader or lock. Most solutions are missing additional critical components such as auditing capabilities and video surveillance of the rack itself.
The Solution
RACK ARMOR™ provides a comprehensive software and hardware solution for controlling, monitoring and reporting access to an individual rack, thus helping to protect valuable data at source.
-
Multi-party Control: For organisations seeking the maximum amount of security, multi-party control is an excellent security feature. Also known as a “two-man rule”, multi-party control requires that two cards be swiped within a ten-second time frame in order for access to be granted. By requiring two cards to be swiped, multi-party control eliminates worries about a single stolen card being used to access your server racks. This process also provides additional accountability: with two employees present, the risk of wrongdoing or unauthorized actions decreases.
-
Dynamic Mapping: Rack Armor’s dynamic mapping feature makes it easy to see the location where your alert is coming from. Rather than searching through a list of numbers or names, dynamic mapping’s clear visual cues allow you to quickly pinpoint an alarm and by showing multiple locations on-screen at one time, dynamic mapping helps you keep an eye on all of your sites simultaneously.
-
Rack and Door Actions: The Rack Action screen provides instant verification of the security status of your server racks, including both the front and back doors of each cabinet. Icons display the status of the door, lock and swing handle. This single screen allows you to quickly check the status of your racks, including a link to live video feeds at the rack. Helpful icons display information about whether your doors are locked or unlocked, how entry was gained and more.
-
Alarm Notification: RACK ARMOR™ allows for a number of different alarm notifications to be delivered to you. Aside from being notified when a server rack is opened, Rack Armor can tell you how it was opened, by whom, and show live or recorded video of the rack. It can also notify you when abnormal events happen, such as use of a mechanical key, forced entry or a latch being left open.
-
Reports Generator: A robust report generator will provide a detailed report covering who accessed your racks, when and what actions were performed. Comprehensive reports can be filtered by cardholder name, rack name and more to allow for a detailed breakdown of rack access.
Internal Data Breaches can happen to any company. The traditional means of physical security focus primarily on a building’s perimeter and facility, while internal security at the server rack level, the very source of valuable data, is minimal or non-existent. RACK ARMOR™ is the only physical security solution that combines access control with complete monitoring and auditing capabilities.
You’ve gone to great lengths to secure your organisation from external cyber threats. Now you can use RACK ARMOR™ to complete your IT security by preventing data loss from internal threats.
RACK ARMOR™ Physical Security
RACK ARMOR™ is the intelligent physical security solution that secures and monitors server rack access at the cabinet level. With easy-to-use dynamic mapping and customisable reporting capabilities, RACK ARMOR™ is the comprehensive physical security system that tells you WHO accesses your server racks, WHERE, WHEN, and for HOW LONG.
Restrict and Monitor Access to IT assets at cabinet level | |
Identify who accesses specific racks and track the time the cabinet door is open | |
Remotely Lock or Unlock cabinet doors | |
Automatically send an email alert, sound an alarm or call-up video if cabinets are left unsecured | |
Generate customised audit reports for detailed information on server rack access |