The best password in the world
A company has the strongest passwords money can buy. But the server room door is propped open with a chair. Anyone can walk in and carry out a hard drive.
Digital locks do not help if the real door is open. Security has a physical side too. It covers doors, rooms, spare copies and your own habits at your desk.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can compare physical security measures and choose a sensible backup plan.
Key words
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Physical security | protecting rooms and equipment you can touch |
| Biometrics | using a part of your body, such as a fingerprint, to prove who you are |
| CCTV | cameras that record what happens in a place |
| Backup | a spare copy of your data in another place |
| Full backup | a copy of everything |
| Incremental backup | a copy of what changed since the last backup of any kind |
| Differential backup | a copy of what changed since the last full backup |
| Off-site | kept in a different building |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Starter: what you already know
Have a go
Starter: what you already know
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
Protecting rooms and buildings
The aim is to keep the wrong people out of the places that hold equipment and data, such as the server room. Measures work in layers. Each one slows a person down or shows they were there.
Locks keep a door shut. Card entry lets in only people with a card and records who came. A passcode on a keypad is cheap but can be shared. Biometrics check a fingerprint or a face. CCTV records. Security staff check people. Alarms warn when a door is forced.
Comparing physical measures
| Measure | Good point | Weak point |
|---|---|---|
| Lock and key | Cheap and simple | Keys get lost or copied |
| Card entry | Can be switched off if a card is lost, and keeps a record | A card can be lent to someone else |
| Passcode | Nothing to carry | Can be shared or watched |
| Biometrics | Hard to lend or lose | Costs more, and can fail |
| CCTV | Puts people off and gives evidence | Records after the fact and needs someone to look |
| Security staff | Can judge and act | Costs a lot and can be fooled |
| Alarm | Warns at once | False alarms |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Check
Have a go
Check
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.