Secure Today

Studying to get your Certified Information System Security (CISSP) from ISC2 is not a walk in the park. It requires that you have many years of experience in the world of Information Security.

It’s prerequisites includes a possession of minimum five years of professional experience in the information security field or four years plus a college degree. Or, an Advanced Degree in Information Security from a National Center of Excellence or the regional equivalent can substitute for one year towards the five-year requirement. Then after passing the 250-item exam in six hours and complying with ISC2 Code of Ethics, you still have to be Endorsed. Please visit ISC2 website for more information.

I posted this because I want to share some useful links for you professionals out there, who are thinking or studying for CISSP. SearchSecurity with Shon Harris go over the ten Common Body of Knowledge (CBK) domains for the CISSP in the following webcasts. Be sure to read through all the useful information and try their 10-free quizzes.

Domain 1: Security Management Practices
Domain 2: Access Control
Domain 3: Cryptography
Domain 4: Security Models and Architecture
Domain 5: Telecommunications and Networking
Domain 6: Application and System Development
Domain 7: Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery
Domain 8: Law, Investigations and Ethics
Domain 9: Physical Security
Domain 10: Operations Security

Good luck!

This month, I’d like to discuss a topic that is somewhat being set aside when talking about security – Physical Security. We all know and agree that the physical aspect of security is as important as any facets of security, be it technical or logical, and administrative.

As a security professional, we should be very aware and concerned that the security we protect, such as critcal data and confidential information through the technology like firewall, DLP, IDP, and the like can as easily be compromised as someone stealing the physical server, damaged by natural or environmental calamities, or broken by infrastructure faults. So, physical security must not be ignored and should also be incorporated in the security policies as well as included in any security discussions.

Physical security must be implemented based on the model of a layered defense. The idea is, before unauthorized entity can access the valuable asset, they should go through layers of layers of physical barriers before reaching the spot. If one of the layers fails, the others will protect the asset. So layers of defense should move from the perimeter towards the asset.

I am a firm believer that security should not be a patched-approach, rather, it should be part of the architecture. Similar to software applications, I believe that one of the best ways to stay secure is to develop the program as error-, flaw-free. This way, we don’t have to worry about patching it and afraid of getting compromised by its vulnerabilities. Of course, it is not a perfect world, and that is why as much as we can, security should begin at the very start of the design.

Physical security is not exempted. The CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) is a discipline that structures the proper architectural design of a physical environment to reduce crime by directly affecting human behaviors and activities. The CPTED concept has been around since the 1960s. It provides guidance in loss and crime prevention through proper construction of buildings and the arrangement of environmental components.

CPTED Key Concepts

So the idea of CPTED is before even the construction of a facility, it then address the landscaping, entrances, exits, neighborhood layouts, access roads and freeways, lightnings, and traffic patterns. It also puts into consideration the placement of offices, lobby, restrooms, campuses surrounding, and even up to the scale of the wider scope of the city. As you can imagine, before a facility is built, the security is already put in consideration. Putting the proper landscaping should deter intruders, or building the right height of fence or correct placement of lightnings should stop unauthorized people. Another good example is to architect the built of a data center to be located at the center of the facility so that the walls will protect it from any damages from outside.

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