Strengthening Your Physical Access Security

Many of us are now in lockstep with data protection legislation when it comes to the secure destruction of obsolete paper and digital information and even other company assets such as old uniforms, counterfeit and prototype products. All items that may reveal information that’s confidential to your colleagues, customers and business secrets, in fact.

But how much do you recognise the threat posed by physical access items, such as ID badges, cards and digital keys? According to the Mayweather Group*, up to 10% of malicious data breaches are caused by compromises to physical access defence lines, and around 60% of companies have reported this type of breach in the past five years. That’s a high failure rate for what is frequently the first wall in a business’ security set-up.

With off-the-shelf kit, a data thief can scan and produce a clone of an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Card) or NFC (Near Field Communication) card without even needing to take the original card. Once the info from the chip embedded in the card is copied, the perpetrator enjoys the same access as an authorised employee. The more sophisticated the access item, the more the layers contained within it can pose a problem. For example, with a stolen card, hackers can follow you through secured access doors (called ‘tailgating’) and gain entry to locations such as server rooms or into office spaces where they can install malware and steal hardware. Through cloning or theft, these data robbers can use individuals’ personal information – even just a name and job title will do – to infiltrate your company hierarchy and launch phishing scams or falsify identities.