TO BETTER ENSURE A SECURE FACILITY, implement the following basic guidelines:
Communication
Talk to staff, owners, vendors and tenants about cybersecurity. Remember that “we never thought about this” has not proven to
be an effective legal defense in big liability cases.
Document your cybersecurity plan and make sure it gets on the desk of everyone who needs to know. The risks of digital breaches are big enough to warrant a formal, written plan.
Rehearse not only the procedures you put in place, but also the reasons why you are using them. This will make it easier to answer inevitable questions.
Technology
Use what you have in the way it is meant to be used. Modern software is generally secure as long as you use individual logins, rather than shared ones. Make sure only authorized staff have accounts.
Install upgrades for everyday software programs, and tell your tenants to do the same. Most of these include security updates, and a building is only as secure as its most vulnerable access point.
Insist on encryption for Wi-Fi, disk drives and anything else that holds valuable information. Passwords work—but only when everyone uses them.
Protocol
Be aware of the digital systems in use by every party in a building, especially those that link to key areas like accounting and maintenance.
Be proactive with owners, vendors and tenants. Explain the rationale for your security procedures and adopt a testing schedule to verify their effectiveness.
Be consistent when dealing with visitors, technicians, dismissed employees and anyone else who has (or has had) legitimate access. Follow established protocols every single time you grant or revoke access.
Shared from BOMA Magazine.
