Speaking at a press briefing at the CA World conference, Ron Moritz, former CTO of Symantec, told reporters many companies haven’t thought about the ramifications of integrating physical security systems, such as card access servers, into a corporate network.
If managed correctly, Moritz said, the convergence can enhance security through the correlation of physical security events to IT security events. For example, an alarm can be triggered when someone logs onto a workstation using the credentials of an employee not registered as having swiped an access card to enter the building where the workstation is located.
If the systems aren’t properly protected, it may be possible for a computer-based attacker to access physical security controls. The integration of these systems is happening because of the reduced cost associated with running security systems over existing IP networks.
