Businesses realise data is critical and physical security for servers is more important than ever

Businesses, large and small, create data which needs protecting, whether in an onsite server room or co-located at a data centre. When a business imagines a corporate data breach, they’re probably picturing black-hat hackers pursued by cybercrime investigators. The reality is often more mundane. Only around a half of breaches involve hacking, according to one recent report. Gaps in the physical security, the business’ data and servers are equally important targets.

Perhaps the company director leaves their laptop on the train. Or an unauthorised visitor spots open server racks and quickly downloads records onto his smartphone. Or maybe the server room access control is left entirely to lock-and-key technology which cannot be easily tracked.

Physical server security

Securing sensitive data needs the involvement of every member in an organisation, from top to bottom. But physically protecting servers and data stores is the heart of the security and IT manager’s role.

How much could a data breach cost someone?

In the absence of appropriate physical server security, the mundane can be dangerous — and expensive. Recent research for IBM by the Ponemon Institute estimates the average total cost of a data breach at $3.86 million (€3.57 million). According to the same benchmark report, this average is rising, by 6.4% in the last year alone. Some of the highest breach costs are borne by companies in Europe, including Germany, France, Italy and the UK.

Unauthorised access

As Big Data gets bigger, so does the regulatory landscape for data handling

Such costs can be direct: in business disruption, lost mailing lists or disabled logistics software. They can be indirect: an erosion of customer trust and damaged “brand equity”. Hard-earned goodwill and positive reputations are quickly reversed. Costs also come from fines levied by government and supranational regulators. As Big Data gets bigger, so does the regulatory landscape for data handling.

The most relevant framework for those operating in the EMEA region is the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This wide-ranging data privacy rulebook has been enforced since May 2018. GDPR requires businesses to protect storage of all personal information, including customer and employee data. The business’ safeguards must include both electronic and physical barriers to unauthorised access. Server protection is critical.

Physical security for the servers

Does a company know who last accessed their servers, and when? If the answer to either question is “no”, the company is taking unnecessary risks with data security. Yet ensuring they stay on the regulators’ right side, and avoid a costly breach, could be straightforward: better access control.

To ensure maximum security of their servers, in its recent white paper ASSA ABLOY recommends three levels of security working together within an integrated access system. 

Security management systems

• Level 1 — perimeter security ensures only authorised personnel enter a data storage building. Here, door and gate electronic locks with credential readers can work alongside the likes of CCTV and monitored fencing. It’s a company’s first line of physical breach defence.
• Level 2 — server room access can be monitored and controlled with a range of access control door devices with inbuilt credential readers, including Aperio battery-powered escutcheons or complete security locks. Either device integrates seamlessly with access and security management systems from over 100 different manufacturers. At room level, physical security must also include water- and dustproofing, electromagnetic security and protection against other physical threats to servers and data.
• Level 3 — final level of physical data security is a company’s server rack or cabinet. Server rooms have a steady flow of authorised traffic: cleaners, maintenance staff, repair technicians and others. Employee screening cannot be perfect — and accidents happen. Rack or cabinet locking with RFID readers is the last line of defence against a malicious or accidental physical data breach.

Real-time access control

ASSA ABLOY’s Aperio KS100 adds real-time access control and monitoring to server racks and cabinets

ASSA ABLOY’s Aperio KS100 Server Cabinet Lock adds real-time access control and monitoring to server racks and cabinets. The lock works with an existing or new access control system; compatible credentials employ all standard RFID protocols including iCLASS, MIFARE and DESFire. Under the EU’s GDPR, the business must inform anyone affected by a breach “without undue delay”. With the Aperio KS100, the business would know right away if unauthorised access had even been attempted.

Once installed, KS100 locks integrate with the access control system and communicate wirelessly via an Aperio Communications Hub, even if the company’s racks are co-located in a distant data centre. Once online integration with the security admin system is complete, lock access decisions are communicated from and recorded by the company’s software wirelessly.

Data protection regulations

“When Aperio replaces mechanical locking at all three levels of server access control, lost keys no longer compromise data security. Lost credentials are simply deauthorised and a valid replacement reissued. The current status of any lock, at any level, is revealed with the click of a mouse. Generating detailed audit trails is straightforward, making the KS100 and other Aperio wireless locks invaluable for incident investigation”, explains Johan Olsén, Aperio Product Manager at ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions EMEA.

The right electronic locking keeps the customer reputation intact, the business data off the Dark Web, and on the right side of the multiple data protection regulations, including GDPR.