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626 Chapter 11 • Operational and Organizational Security: Incident Response

building or office area. Shielding blocks signals from escaping, but may also have
the unwanted effect of blocking cellular communications. Information on how
shielding works as well as other information on wireless cells, can be found in
Chapter 4 of this book.

Location

When devising a physical security plan, it is important to determine which poten-
tial disasters apply to the environment in which the equipment is located.After
dealing with the environmental factors of a server room, the environmental factors
surrounding the building must be considered. Different geographic areas face dif-
ferent risks.A building located in Canada needs to consider the impact of blizzards,
and needs proper heating and an alternative energy source if there are power out-
ages. On the other hand, a building located in the middle of “Tornado Alley” will
need to consider the possibility of tornadoes. Other areas may be prone to floods,
earthquakes, or other natural disasters.
Planning for disasters is a major part of security. It is important to devise strate-
gies for how particular disasters can be dealt with. For example, if a company is
located in Miami where hurricanes are a possible risk, they may face the possibility
of power loss. Consequently, the company may want to purchase a generator to
provide power when normal energy sources are disabled. If a company is in
Arizona, air conditioning is a necessity to keep equipment cool.To deal with the
possibility of an air conditioner breaking down, a secondary air conditioner can be
installed as a backup.When looking at the varying risks and needs a company
might face, you can see that it differs based on the geographical location.Analyzing
these risks can help create a plan that addresses each situation.
Beyond geographical location, the location of equipment within the environ-
ment should also be considered in a physical security plan. Placing equipment in
insecure locations creates a catastrophe waiting to happen. Considering where
equipment is placed can help avoid many problems before they occur.
Servers and other vital equipment should be raised off of the floor to prevent
flood damage. Raising equipment off of the floor also protects it from being acci-
dentally kicked. More than one network administrator has received calls from frus-
trated users complaining that they cannot connect to the network, only to find that
the janitorial staff had knocked a network cable loose with a vacuum cleaner. In
other cases, water damage may be caused by a soaked mop slopping water on
equipment, or (worse yet) a mop bucket being knocked over near a server. By
raising equipment off the floor, any number of possible problems can be avoided.

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