More Physical Security

As I've mentioned in past posts I work for a small company and my role is multifaceted. I was hired for IT Security but that quickly morphed into managing all IT functions (if it plugs in, turns on, or looks technical it's mine), project management for new branch openings, managing facilities, and physical security. A lot of this has been trivial due to partnerships that we have had with other companies. I did little day to day, hands on with a lot of these areas. I just managed the vendors, partners and people who did the day to day. All of that is changing. The company that we partnered with that did a lot of this is parting ways with us. Come the first of February we will have brought all these things in house. Some of it will still be outsourced, but the direct responsibility of it will be on my team.

Because of the nature of our business and the location of many of our offices, physical security is a BIG deal. Prior to this job I had very little experience with physical security beyond typical IT physical security. Server Room access and monitoring and such. I got this responsibility because I have a security mindset like The Mogull talks about here. Now that I'm responsible for ALL aspects I'm learning lots of new things that are being done in the realm of physical security. There is some pretty cool stuff and what is really great is the convergence of physical security and the rest of IT. Were in the middle of talks with various vendors to get all of the pieces in place prior to February and choosing the right vendor for each piece will be critical to the safety of our employees and the success of our business. Luckily my inexperience in this area is offset by my security mindset and others in the company who have been in this and similar industries for many years. They are not security experts, but they have seen and experienced lots of things that add value to my information gathering. I'm getting hints, tips and ideas from executives, hourly employees and everyone in between. It's good to know that even if most of my users don't get IT security that at least they are thinking about physical security and have something to add.