Jon Kim
Director of Cyber Security
Force 3, Inc.
A government laptop containing sensitive data of thousands of US Citizens is stolen from an agency. Personally identifiable information (PII) with the names, dates, and social security numbers are pulled from the hard drive and sold through online black markets. Cyber criminals use this information to obtain false identities, credit cards, bank accounts, or to potentially fund a suspected terrorist organization. This is a typical scenario which can be easily imagined, but the truth is this is far too real.
Respectfully, we've come to learn that the lack of physical security can lead to cyber security breaches and vice versa. Therefore, no single department or group should approach security as a separate silo. Security must be developed through means of an organizational holistic approach covering both physical and IT resources. To effectively mitigate the risk of a potential security breach essential IT components will need to be integrated to function collaboratively with physical security elements which includes the designated mission, technology, procedure, and notably the people. As security personnel have begun to recognize their common security objectives, the convergence of IT and physical functions has come to the forefront of the evolving security industry.
Learning Points:
1. What is security convergence?
2. Where to start when considering security convergence?
3. What strategies and technologies can be implemented to limit the amount of risk our agency faces?