Security Measures (physical)

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hAppy

Gawd
Joined
Jun 29, 2005
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624
Hey guys. My dad owns a Insurance company with 4 computers and 4 LCD displays. The displays may be a good eyecatcher for thieves, the computer setups are not worth much, but I would like to take some precautions and purchase a couple of security cables or something to lock down 3 monitors and 1 machine.

Can you guys show me some cheap, but good quality cables that will do the job. Any help would be grately appreciated! Thanks.
 
The first thing I would do, is see if the monitor itself has a specific place for a security cable. Some monitors have this. Then its basically like locking a bike. You can eaither attach it to a very heavy thing, or bolt it to something heavy.
 
I haven't looked for a specific hole or anything. I just jumped to the thoguht that I'd string it through the base or something. Either way I need to tie down one of my computers.
 
Where in the office are the computers located? Where in relation to windows, doors, and other entrances?

What other physical security measures are in place? Is there an alarm system linked to the police? Video cameras? Biometric access devices?

I ask this to get a better idea of what security measures are currently in place. Physical security measures like cables and locks will only deter casual thieves. If someone breaks in at night and there is limited physical security throughout the rest of the facility something like a cable lock will not be much of a deterrant. It's better than nothing, but still not good enough- if someone were to break into an office with no alarm system, easily defeated door or window locks, no video surveillance, and limited protection on the computers and monitors (a cable), they would have no problem at all breaking the lock and getting away with it.

The problem you will encounter is that the cost of securing the computers effectively will quickly become too high for justification. When it comes right down to it, the physical computers themselves are cheap- you need to consider whether the data on those computers is valuable enough to justify spending good money to lock them down. Unless you take a "defense in depth" approach you will end up losing money on the cost of the locks AND losing money from the theft of the machines if a determined intruder gets it in his mind to steal your equipment.

There's really nothing short of drastic measures to prevent this.. you could store everything in a vault at night or harden the physical security of the entire facility, but when it comes down to it an insurance agent probably won't need or want to do all of that. Save your money, don't bother with cable locks, and put some stickers on your windows and doors from ADT. Seriously, that will probably be more effective than cable locks.
 
Thanks for info. As far as I can see, there isn't much evidence of any security in the building. Picture this, the front of a building, in the middle of the buidling there is a walk way/hallway kinda thing. Inside the hallway my office is second room from the left side.

Basically the first form of security would be the building entrance. The second would be our doors. I don't know of any cameras or alarm system, no gates or anything to protect the front entrance. But as far as I can tell, it seems as if none of our business neighbors have any security of their own.

We're considering fake cameras or something, something that just intimdates potential thieves. The only thing valuable in here is the harddrive. Insurance will cover the rest of the items in the office, and there is nothing else anyone would want.
 
For the data, seriously consider investing in a tape or cartridge backup system. You can get an external model and then use it on all of the systems. The big consideration here is frequency of backups and where you store them. I would recommend doing, at a minimum, weekly backups and then store them in a bank vault or at home, so long as it's off site. This helps maintain the availability of your data in case one of the computers crashes or gets stolen.

Fake cameras will help so long as they are placed well and don't look too cheesy. I believe you can get ADT to do a basic office security system with 24X7 monitoring for about $100/month, give or take. Were someone to break into your office, an audible alarm would trigger, the monitoring folks would call, get your pass phrase, and verify that it was a false alarm OR if you don't answer the phone, or say the alarm should not have triggered, they will call the police. It's not a bad investment at all.
 
All good advice, but I think hAppy was just thinking of a quick fix ..... Something for like 10$ each monitor.

I don't know, I just did a quick google search (google is your friend) and found this website
http://www.computersecurity.com/main/products.htm
http://www.tryten.com/products/index.html

seems somewhat up your alley. I'm sure there are other more monitor specific things sold at other stores.

I'm not sure how much I like the "glue on" type of devices................ if you ask me, a good screwdriver will bypass that in a 3 seconds.

And please, for the love of all that is holy, avoid those classic "kriptonite bicycle locks" like (insert something bad here).
They are not good security, take it from me.
http://www.engadget.com/entry/7796925370303347/


~Hope this helps
 
Thanks for the help. I will avoid those kriptonite bike locks haha. I don't believe in investing $20-30 for a glue on lock., that's just not very reassuring, kinda like trying to glue your car to the ground.
 
personally my rigs are protected by a pack of dogs
they would of course lick to death any intruder but they dont know that :p

low tech can sometimes work
like epoxy \ weld \ bolt components to a plate then bolt the plate to a desktop with keyed bolts like for car mags, I doubt they brought the tools to deal with that or had the opportunity to lookaround under the desk

pain in the butt to move around day to day, in fact you basically cant without new holes
 
As WarGoat well said: It is the data on the PCs that are the most valuable thing in a business...

If you secure the LCD displays and someone breaks in, they will soon find out they can't steal the LCDs, get really ticked off, then destroy the LCDs with a quick jab to the front with the crowbar they used to bust through the window.

You must deter this crime before it happens... it is the only way...

Steve Qualls
Security Specialist
www.BioMetAccess.com
 
Thanks, the whole idea is to keep them from winning. As long as they don't win, we don't lose. I rather blow up my own car rather then have some guy have it. Thanks for the info. My dad went ahead and bought the alarm system for his store. You know the one where it sends a alarm to the police station, I don't know how effective it is, but it's a start.
 
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