Security Measures

You are assisting with the design of a new campus building for a multinational firm. On the recommendation of a security consultant, the architect has added closely spaced sculpted stone posts with reinforced steel cores that surround the area between the building entrance and the street. At the most recent client meeting, the building owner has queried the cost of these. Can you explain their purpose?

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These bollards are designed to prevent vehicles from crashing into the building lobby as part of a terrorist or criminal attack. The security consultant should only recommend the control if the risk of this type of attack justifies the expense.


Katie works in a high-security government facility. When she comes to work in the morning, she places her hand on a scanning device installed at a turnstile in the building lobby. The scanner reads her palmprint and compares it to a master record of her palmprint in a database to verify her identity. What type of security control is this?

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Biometric authentication deployed as part of a building’s entry-control system.


The building will house a number of servers contained within a secure room and network racks. You have recommended that the provisioning requirement includes key-operated chassis faceplates. What threats will this mitigate?

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A lockable faceplate controls who can access the power button, external ports, and internal components. This mitigates the risk of someone gaining access to the server room via social engineering. It also mitigates risks from insider threat by rogue administrators, though to a lesser extent (each request for a chassis key would need to be approved and logged).