The news media has been very visible about the next phase of security — cyber. Assuming that this domain belongs solely to the Information Technology (IT) department is a major mistake. The best security policy involves the integration of physical and virtual solutions to address gaps in your overall defenses. Today’s system integrator is ignoring the emerging cyber market. The physical security integrator needs a phased approach to adopt the skills needed to embrace the cybersecurity opportunity, starting with countering the insider threat to the business.
Case in point: WikiLeaks. An Army Private, Bradley Manning, downloaded 400,000 classified documents from a secure facility and forwarded them to WikiLeaks, an international non-profit organization that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources. Evidently, Private Manning, (like many insiders who are a potential threat to their organizations and co-workers), was very verbal in his displeasure with the Army leading up to his breach. The physical security guards actually took his weapon away from him upon entering the facility a week prior to the breach. One might ask, why was he given access to top secret facility (information) at all? The answer is simple: silos and a poor security policy. Security can prevent this situation and be proactive.