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Operational and Organizational Security: Incident Response • Chapter 11 629

Fiber-Optics Are Immune to EMI and RFI
Damage & Defense… glass or plastic, surrounded by a reflective material called cladding. A
Another alternative is using fiber-optic cabling, in which data is trans-
mitted by light. Fiber-optic cable has a core made of light-conducting

plastic sheath surrounds all of this for added protection. Because the
signal is transmitted via light, data that travels along fiber-optic cable is
not affected by interference from electromagnetism or radio frequencies.
This makes it an excellent choice for use in areas where there are sources
of EMI or RFI. (Fiber optics is covered in greater detail in Chapter 6,
“Infrastructure Security: Devices and Media.”)
One way or another, fiber-optic cabling has become a common ele-
ment in many networks. If it is a small company, then most of the internal
network will probably be made up of cabling that uses some form of
copper wiring (i.e. UTP, STP, or coaxial). However, even in this situation,
Internet access is probably provided to users on the network, meaning
they will connect out to a backbone that utilizes fiber optics. In larger
companies, it has been increasingly common to connect different loca-
tions together using fiber-optic cabling. If buildings are connected
together with fiber optics, it doesn’t mean that copper cabling isn’t pre-
sent on the network. UTP (or some other cabling) will generally be used
within buildings to connect computers to the network or connect net-
works on different floors together. Because of this, EMI and RFI will still
be an issue.

Fire Suppression

Fire is a major risk in any environment that contains a lot of electrical equipment,
so fire suppression systems must be put in place to protect servers and other equip-
ment. Because problems with moisture and flooding can damage or destroy equip-
ment, water sprinklers are not an option in server rooms or other areas storing
devices. Other problems may occur if the fire suppression system releases foam that
damages equipment, creates significant smoke when putting out a fire, or causes
other potential problems that can result in collateral damage.When choosing a fire
suppression system, it is important to choose one that will put out a fire, but not
destroy the equipment in the process.These are often referred to as clean agent fire
extinguishing systems.
Halon is a fire suppressant often found in older facilities.When a fire occurred,
this chemical would be dumped into the room at high pressure, removing necessary
elements needed to work with the oxygen and fuel the fire. Halon 1301, made by
DuPont, worked by having bromine combine with the hydrogen released by the

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