Key Takeaways:
Working in cybersecurity, we often hear about the importance of protecting digital assets and data from cyberattacks. A critical aspect of security that is sometimes overlooked is physical security.
Just as we lock our doors at home to keep our loved ones safe, we need to secure our business premises. This protects sensitive information and assets. Physical penetration testing (pen testing) is the key to uncovering vulnerabilities in your organization’s physical security. For decades, system designers across the technology spectrum have acknowledged and intended for physical control to allow a path to regain access or take over a system.
Physical penetration testing is a crucial component of comprehensive security testing. Ethical hackers simulate real-world scenarios where an adversary targets your organization’s physical spaces. This includes data centers, banks, or office buildings. The objective is to identify exploitable vulnerabilities related to unauthorized access and sensitive data exposure.
When conducting a physical penetration test, experts emulate potential threats, just as a malicious intruder would. They assess everything from entrance and exit doors to the security of sensitive data storage. This data can be in a data center, on computers, or even in paper documents.
Threat actors are always thinking of creative ways to target individuals and businesses, trying to acquire personal information, login credentials, getting the user to download malicious software or other sensitive information. One of the most common trends today is social engineering.
Social engineering is pretending to be someone else to fool a person into revealing sensitive information, passwords, or other information that compromises a target system’s security.
Do not become a victim of social engineering by unwittingly giving out information to an unknown person. A skilled social engineer will convince you that:
Social engineering plays a substantial role in physical penetration testing. This is all about creating a credible pretext or situation to gain access. One common pretext is impersonating IT support and requesting user passwords. Another common one is posing as an employee who usually works in another area needing access to secured areas. A physically present attacker can steal or copy keys and badges, post misleading paper signs, or snap photos of sensitive information on whiteboards or sticky notes which are otherwise considered “safe” from digital attack.
Social engineering leverages human psychology, often eliciting emotional responses and encouraging individuals to overlook red flags. A helpful tool for attackers who go to places, as people trust and obey social engineers’ requests. A penetration tester will often use social engineering when conducting a vulnerability assessment or physical pen test.
A well-executed physical penetration assessment can uncover numerous security risks. Some of the most common vulnerabilities include:
The consequences of physical security breaches can be severe. They include:
To mitigate physical security risks, employees and security guards should be vigilant and aware of their surroundings. In many cases, it’s essential to trust your instincts. If you encounter a situation that triggers strong emotions, take a step back to assess its legitimacy. You should also familiarize yourself with your cyber security tools and any physical security controls your organization employs.
The frequency of physical security assessments depends on your organization’s specific circumstances. At a minimum, it’s advisable to conduct such assessments annually. However, you should also consider additional tests when:
A compelling real-life example illustrates the power of physical penetration testing. A medical services firm, known for its robust security measures, had never experienced a physical breach. That was until a skilled tester devised a pretext and gained unauthorized access to the internal network.
The tester posed as an employee from a different office and triggered the alarm by manipulating the outer door of a double-door “man trap” at the entrance. As several employees emerged to investigate, the tester provided the pretext of a remote employee whose badge was not working correctly. Employees were convinced to shut off the alarm, provide a visitor badge, and access to a conference room to work in the interim. Once inside, the tester obtained an additional visitor badge from an unsecured drawer at reception and returned the issued badge. This allowed the tester to return at will in the following days with full access to the facility, gain access to the internal network, and ultimately elevated/superuser access across the environment by leveraging internal pen test techniques.
This assessment exemplifies the importance of social engineering and how it can undermine even the most secure environments. The organization was fortunate that this was just a test, whereas a real-world attacker would have also been successful. It also highlights the significance of continually educating employees about physical security risks and the importance of escalating security events to proper personnel.
Physical penetration testing is a valuable tool for assessing and improving physical security measures. By conducting regular assessments and incorporating social engineering training, organizations can enhance their defenses against real-world threats. Many successful attacks depend on the circumstances at the point-in-time of the assessment and ongoing or repeated assessments are often likely to yield new results.
Remember that safety extends beyond digital data. Protecting your physical assets and information is just as crucial in today’s interconnected world. Want to see how your business stacks up to a penetration test? Contact us today.
Stay safe and stay secure!
Content provided by Bill Dean. Bill Dean is a Shareholder and service line leader in LBMC’s Cybersecurity incident response, digital forensics, electronic discovery and litigation support service offerings, and coordinates LBMC Cybersecurity’s resources and activities in the East Tennessee market.
