Unit7casestudy
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Running head: UNIT VII CASE STUDY
1
Unit VII Case Study
Brian Jones
Columbia Southern University
UNIT VII CASE STUDY
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Unit VII Case Study – Physical and Environmental Security
Part I
The security and protection of the new data center will be just as important as securing
the data the center will hold. Without a multi-tiered security program in place, it would be quite
easy for an intruder to gain access to the facility. Similarly, if the facility is not properly secured
it could be exposed to other forms of attack such as terrorism and natural disaster. These items,
and others, will be addressed to ensure that the new facility will be secured for both the data and
the individuals who will work there.
The creation of the security plan will be a team effort, drawing on input from not only the
IT team, but the facility management team as well. Each of these departments has experience in
planning for, and dealing with, various aspects of securing the facility. While the IT team will be
tasked with the design and implementation of physical security for such areas as the server room,
the facility management team and security team will address other areas. Those areas will be
listed, in detail, below.
Part II
Location
The location of the new facility should be close to the main campus, but not too close. If
the new facility were to be built on the same property as the main campus, a disaster or man-
made attack could cripple both sites. By having the data center removed from the main buildings,
should a disaster or attack occur, at least one site should be secure to carry on operations. A
proposed site would be the industrial park that is approximately 21 miles from the main campus,
a minimum of 20 miles is considered typical in these cases (Scalet, 2015). The industrial park is
well suited for the new facility for the following reasons.
UNIT VII CASE STUDY
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1.
It is located in an area that is stable both politically and geographically. There have been
no political protests or actions in recent history. Additionally, using historic data and
predictive models, there is incredibly low likelihood of any major natural disasters such
as earthquake or flooding. There is also little to no crime reported in this area according
to local law enforcement.
2.
The industrial park is set back from the main roadway at least 150 feet. This will deter a
random vehicle pulling all the way down into the parking lot. Also, the main roadway is a
direct access to the industrial park, there are no other structures or areas serviced by this
roadway.
3.
The buildings already established in the park have their own security systems including
closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras pointed at the parking areas. Adding cameras to
our facility will provide overlapping coverage of the parking areas.
4.
Pedestrian traffic is negligible due to the park being at the end of roadway with no other
areas or structures.
5.
The industrial park is removed from the nearest airport by at least 75 miles. The
occasional flight may pass overhead, but with exceptionally low frequency.
6.
Finally, the utilities in this area are stable, with little occurrence of power interruption or
spikes. Additionally, all the utilities have been run underground to prevent strong winds
from bringing down overhead lines.
Perimeter
The perimeter of the industrial park is surrounded by an eight-foot-high fence that is
comprised of reinforced concrete columns spaced at eight-foot intervals. Between the columns is
a fencing material that looks decorative but is actually a metal cable system similar to those used
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UNIT VII CASE STUDY
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on highway medians. The cable is capable of stopping a motor vehicle should an intruder attempt
to breach the fence with a vehicle. The top of the fence also features lighting to illuminate the
fence and the area around it (Santos, 2019).
The industrial park is also outfitted with large lighting fixtures in all of the parking areas
and walkways. Each lamp casts an area of light approximately 10 feet in diameter. The lights are
also automatically triggered when ambient light levels drop.
Access Controls
The next area of concern will be which individuals will be allowed to access the facility
and how they will be identified. The first consideration should be the number of access points.
There should be a main entrance and a rear delivery entrance to be used on a day to day basis.
Both entrances should be monitored by a guard posted near the main entrance via CCTV. The
employees will be issued a badge with an RFID chip embedded to be used in conjunction with a
biometric scanner to verify their identity. Every time an employee uses their badge to access an
area, it should be recorded by the system security log to track who is accessing what areas and at
what time.
To stay within building and safety codes, there will be fire exits. These exits should be
clearly marked and be exit only. These doors should be alarmed so that any attempt at opening
them would trigger warning both to the security guard at the main entrance and the facility as a
whole.
Should any visitors arrive at the facility, they must check in with the security guard who
will issue them a temporary badge with limited access privileges. The guard will also call back to
the individual who the visitor is there to see and have that employee come to the main desk to
collect them.
UNIT VII CASE STUDY
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Power Recommendations
As previously stated, the utilities running to the industrial park have been relocated under
ground to prevent damage from winds or a vehicle colliding with a utility pole. The service to all
of the buildings in the park have been upgraded by the local utility company to handle the
demands placed on them. Upgraded service panels will be incorporated into the new facility as
well to handle the servers and workstations that will be necessary.
To protect the facility from power surges and spikes, surge protection should be installed
in conjunction with isolation transformers. To provide continuous power in case of an outage or
emergency, uninterruptable power supplies (UPSs) will keep systems from shutting down for a
limited time. To enhance the effectiveness of the UPSs, a backup generator should be installed
with the option of having the generator immediately take over should the main power go out
(Santos, 2019).
Responsibilities
Each facet of the security regarding the new facility will need to be guided by a
combination of departments. In many cases, multiple departments will overlap in the design and
implementation of the systems and controls.
The location of the facility will be supervised by the acquisitions department in
conjunction with facilities management.
Safeguarding the perimeter of the facility will fall to the security team. The
security team and facilities management will interact with the owners of the
industrial park if further strengthening of fencing or lighting is needed.
The access controls will be divided between the security team and IT team. The
security team will oversee the installation of the CCTV camera system and hiring
UNIT VII CASE STUDY
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of the guards. The IT team will be responsible for the implementation of the RFID
badges and biometric scanners. The IT team will also work in conjunction with
human resources (HR) to add and remove employees when the need arises.
Lastly, the facility management team will work with the IT team to determine the
expected load that will be needed to sufficiently power the new facility. It will
then fall to the facilities management team to ensure that the demand will be met
and fail safes will be in place to prevent surges and interruptions.
Summary
In summation, the new data center will be a great, and much needed, addition. It will take
a group effort and some forethought and planning to ensure that it will be secure, both for the
data and employees. By following the above recommendations, the outcome should prove to be a
success and provide a long-term solution for an offsite data center.
References
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UNIT VII CASE STUDY
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Santos, O. (2019).
Developing cybersecurity programs and policies
(3rd ed.). Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Pearson
Scalet, S. (2015, March 31). 19 ways to build physical security into your data center. Retrieved
from https://www.csoonline.com/article/2112402/physical-security-19-ways-to-build-
physical-security-into-a-data-center.html