In a survey that Genetec conducted with over 3,000 physical security professionals, cyber security was identified as the top concern among them.
Nearly half (49%) of the organisations surveyed activated an improved cybersecurity strategy this year, according to the research conducted from August 25 to September 21, 2022. In addition, more than a third of respondents (36%) said they plan to invest in cybersecurity-related tools to improve their physical security environment in the next 12 months.
When asked about the challenges faced when managing employee and visitor safety, more than half of the organisations selected cybersecurity as their main challenge. This was particularly evident for organisations with over 100,000 employees, with 62.3% indicating cybersecurity as their top challenge, compared to 52.1% for companies with under 100,000 employees.
Of the many capabilities related to cybersecurity and data protection deployed by physical security teams in the last year, cyber-hardening of physical security hardware and access control management was the most popular, with 40% of respondents implementing new measures targeting those capabilities.
“It’s reassuring to see physical security professionals prioritising their organisation’s cyber security posture,” said Mathieu Chevalier, Principal Security Architect at Genetec. “As the threat landscape continues to evolve, leading with a defence in depth strategy remains the best game plan an organisation can have. To stay on top of potential threats, businesses will need to put in place cybersecurity best practices and choose technology partners who offer higher levels of automation. They will also need to scrutinise their entire supply chain and demand continuous verification, rather than just hardening networks and systems.”
To help its customers be more cyber resilient, Genetec has developed features that are embedded in its security platform, Genetec Security Center:
· The Security Center Firmware Vault keeps cameras secure and up to date by alerting customers when updates are available, automatically validating firmware compatibility and allowing customers to push it directly to the camera from the platform. This helps to reduce the likelihood of falling victim to known vulnerabilities.
· StreamvaultTM appliances are cyber-hardened right out of the box. More than 200 security settings are preconfigured to protect every part of a customer’s infrastructure.
· The Certificate Management feature in Security Center 5.11 simplifies the task of managing certificates’ lifecycle, allowing users to keep their devices connected and running smoothly.
· The Genetec Update Service (GUS) alerts users to new product updates, allowing them to automatically download or install on their schedule, reducing the effort required to manage updates and be protected from attack.
· Finally, the Security Score widget is a dynamic hardening tool that checks the system’s security in real-time. It lays out guidelines and then monitors whether the different elements of the system comply.