Physical security means safety of facilities such as buildings, offices, cupboards and so on - basically any equipment that can be stolen, damaged, destroyed or overcome by someone. It is naturally the basis of all security- every company locks its premises and employs other means to prevent thefts and unauthorized access.
Why should we care about physical security?
To put it simple, we care about physical security in order to prevent people from stealing, damaging or destroying assets. We also protect our assets against destruction or damage due to fires, floods or explosions, no matter if caused by human activity or by natural forces. We protect equipment, people, money, information, or any other assets. We choose adequate means of protection according to the market value or according to, for example, the level of classification of the information. The security measures should therefore be sufficient, but not excessive.
The decision on the adequacy and sufficiency of security measures shall be made on the basis of a risk analysis.
How is physical security ensured?
In pursuance of physical security, we need to reach the required level of security for a particular building, room and other assets. There is a wide range of measure that can show to be appropriate for a given asset, ranging form a simple fence to the top quality safe.
Passive physical security measures are adopted to prevent intrusion - unauthorized access. Typically, they take form of:
- walls, fences, barriers
- locks, bolts, barriers
- safes
- door with lock
- windows with lock
- fire prevention measures
- flood protection measures
Active physical security measures are adopted to prevent intrusion or, more often, they notify of an intrusion attempt. Typically, they take form of:
- guards
- security camera systems
- motion sensors
- temperature sensors
- systems of access badges, passwords, and so on
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