BUSINESS SURVEILLANCE

Modern organisations use a range of smart physical security solutions to keep their people and assets safe – but it ’ s important that they also acknowledge that these security tools can be an entry point for threat actors to gain access to corporate networks . Christian Morin , Chief Security Officer and Vice President Integration and Cloud Services , Genetec Inc , outlines the steps enterprises can take to counter this threat .

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In my role as CSO and lead on cloud solutions here at Genetec , I was particularly interested to see the results of the survey related to cybersecurity . With the onset of the pandemic , concerns about cybersecurity increased around the world with many organisations exposing themselves to a greater number of attack vectors given the global move to prioritise work from home . All companies had to immediately contend with an increase in risk and needed to pivot quickly to reduce the likelihood of falling victim to cyberattacks

capitalising on the pandemic . What ’ s more , the cyberbreaches we were witnessing were also the result of a rise in state-sponsored cyberattacks , rather than alone threat actors .

In an industry where cybersecurity was not always top of mind , the results of the survey demonstrate that respondents are recognising that these cyberthreats are real and their physical security systems are a potential attack platform . We are seeing 67 % of respondents planning to prioritise the improvement of their cybersecurity strategy in 2021 which contrasts with what was reported in the Genetec worldwide State of Physical Security report released in late 2020 , where just 31 % of the 1,074 responding end-users were prioritising cybersecurity initiatives ( note : sample included Genetec end-users ).

Although this finding in the EMEA report is very promising , more needs to be done to ensure every organisation across the global physical security

Christian Morin , Chief Security Officer and Vice President Integration and Cloud Services , Genetec Inc

supply chain understands and acts upon the critical importance of privacy and security in the design , development , implementation and operations of security systems .

Cybersecurity threat to physical security systems

Physical security solutions are an entry point threat actors are using to gain access to networks of large and small enterprises . It might seem counterintuitive that physical security tools designed to keep people and assets safe can be the focus of a cyberattack but devices such as video surveillance cameras , access control readers and alarms panels are IoT devices . These devices are simply small computers that run software and that may contain cybersecurity vulnerabilities which can be exploited

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