Criminal gangs are planting “sleepers” in cleaning companies so that they can physically access IT infrastructure, the lead officer of the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Cyber Crime Unit told a recent SINET security event. He said that he was seeing a “much larger increase in physical breaches” as cybercrime groups diversify how they attack, as reported by Computer Business Review. Businesses have been urged to bolster their physical security processes in the face of the growing threat. The risk of physical breaches, it seems, is increasing as hackers utilise lower-tech ways of infiltrating organizations.
Cyber security can be very easily undermined if there is poor physical security alongside it. It’s best to bolster both of these bases of security to maximise protection as without one, the other is flawed. However, this message is difficult to get into the board room sometimes- especially once the price tag is seen.
The best way to realise a business’ own flaws is to conduct a basic penetration test that involves both physical and cyber threat vectors, and this will easily highlight where those risks lie. It would be arrogant to think that your business does not have weaknesses, so it is best to test these out using red team professionals who will acknowledge any weak points that need addressing.