Biometric security advances in the past couple of years have businesses around the world re-thinking their protection options when it comes to protecting vital infrastructure.
In a BBC report, the newsgroup described what a Singapore company was doing about protecting their server cabinets and data center using biometric technology.
Fingerprint scanning
The Singapore business began using fingerprint scanners in an attempt to prevent tailgating or more than one employee accessing vital, secure areas. Unauthorized access to server cabinets and data centers is one of the top loss generators in any industry and preventing that type of loss is critical to company management and security staff.
Biometrics enhance the strongest building infrastructure
Companies can harden their facility by any number of construction methods but without biometric infrastructure, they are in danger of leaving their most crucial data in harm’s way. Locking down the physical assets inside the plant gives companies a way to have building access control and that means limiting access to those employees who are cleared to be in such vital and strategic regions.
The fingerprint scanner uses an employees’ own fingerprints as the sole means of access. Because fingerprints are unique to each human being, they can’t be replicated or duplicated. When a worker scans his or her fingerprint into a biometric system, various points of the print are used to create a profile of that employee. If a worker or thief bent on mischief tries to gain access based on the fraudulent use of a staffer’s access material, security is immediately notified and access is curtailed.
The use of biometric security is increasing as company managers discover that traditional methods of security, passcards, key locks and use of passwords are fraught with loopholes and easy to bypass. A Register UK article said that executives need to keep abreast of changing technologies but also be preemptive about other aspects of physical security. Can someone hide behind the server racks? Are back-up tapes left, unencrypted, for couriers to pick-up. Always encrypt data before letting it out of the center.
Biometric security can help a company secure their physical infrastructure in a stronger, harder and virtually unbeatable manner and the technology is just getting better. As more businesses come on-board with the technology, developers continue to work on creating software that raise the bar on data center security, not month by month, but day by day.