Implementing a Data-centric Approach

Reducing costs is as equally important goal in operating an enterprise

A company is much more complex than an IT department or a number of buildings. It is always evolving and adding more servers, buildings and systems, and therefore, obtaining more risk, costs and threats. As COOs look at the multitude of objectives across an organization, they need to evaluate how to increase profits, manage risk, or provide a cost-effective route for improving processes, managing incidents, or securely operating an enterprise.

To manage risk, organizations must manage people and the systems they utilize. Using a dashboard to manage system intelligence will identify behaviors, reduce costs and mitigate risk. How does an organization accomplish this? How can security managers and CLevel executives understand how applying a data-centric approach can eliminate data silos, combat convergence of IT/OT and reduce the multitude of risks an organization faces?

First, an organization must determine the types of data to collect to help protect business and mitigate risk. To best protect assets, people and infrastructure, it’s best to collect access control, video, visitor management, case management, burglar/fire, BMS and IT data. Companies normally collect much of this type of data, but don’t use it to make good business decisions. Analyzing the data to centrally manage business will help organizations become more efficient.

Once the data is collected, organizations must:

  • Eliminate silos and analyze data simultaneously
  • Centrally manage the data
  • Improve efficiencies based on new information learned

Organizations must use this information to not only operationalize their business to improve processes and meet compliance, but to best protect their people, property, and assets. Streamlining all data into one dashboard using a data-centric approach will narrow the gap between physical and cyber security and help predict behavior and patterns.

Key Issues with Collecting Data

Interconnectivity. Most of the systems and sensors do not talk to one another and have different device standards.

Information Overload. A typical dashboard can only show so much information and the human brain can only assimilate and sort through so many inputs at one time.

Large and unstructured data streams pose challenges; Hard to understand and recognize patterns in the data. Some of which can be overwhelming in volume and unstructured.

Turning data into intelligence requires a combination of elements. Within a security framework, using a deliberate posture and roadmap to understand the interacting systems and use cases is key to driving better outcomes. Ultimately, the key systems need to lie within the overall security apparatus.

Case Study, Digital Realty

Digital Realty supports the data center, colocation and interconnection strategies of more than 2,300 firms across its secure, network-rich portfolio of data centers located throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Digital Realty’s clients include companies all over the world, of all sizes, ranging from financial services, cloud and information technology services, to manufacturing, energy, gaming, life sciences and consumer products. By implementing a data centric approach, they were able to streamline operations, while offering a more consistent, qualitative and cost effective solution to their customers across their portfolio of data centers.

Here are some key results:

  • Implementing a self-service visitor process decreased the risk associated with manual access assignment, reducing man hours by 60 percent.
  • Reviewing the combined visitor and alarm activity periods, provided an opportunity for an 18 percent annual reduction on guard service requirements.
  • System growth translated to 24 percent increase in support services. Digital Realty used data to validate the anticipated increase in workload.
  • Excessive alarms resulted in response complacency. The data collected justified changing Design Engineering Guidelines and operating procedures. Now responses to actual events are consistent, providing a more secure environment and streamlined operation.

Adopting a data-centric approach helps organizations reduce costs, mitigate risk and meet compliance. Customers can reduce costs by operationalizing existing security infrastructure on a global scale, reduce manual processes that are labor intensive, repetitive and error prone, and future proof investment by enabling new technology.

Organizations can mitigate risk by standardizing their security processes, and ensuring the right people, places and authorizations are in place.

Implementing a data-centric approach will help companies meet government, organizational and industry regulations. They can monitor infractions and enforce security policies and rules, while creating automated reports and audit security procedures.

This article originally appeared in the August 2017 issue of Security Today.

Featured

  • New Report Reveals Top Trends Transforming Access Controller Technology

    Mercury Security, a provider in access control hardware and open platform solutions, has published its Trends in Access Controllers Report, based on a survey of over 450 security professionals across North America and Europe. The findings highlight the controller’s vital role in a physical access control system (PACS), where the device not only enforces access policies but also connects with readers to verify user credentials—ranging from ID badges to biometrics and mobile identities. With 72% of respondents identifying the controller as a critical or important factor in PACS design, the report underscores how the choice of controller platform has become a strategic decision for today’s security leaders. Read Now

  • Overwhelming Majority of CISOs Anticipate Surge in Cyber Attacks Over the Next Three Years

    An overwhelming 98% of chief information security officers (CISOs) expect a surge in cyber attacks over the next three years as organizations face an increasingly complex and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven digital threat landscape. This is according to new research conducted among 300 CISOs, chief information officers (CIOs), and senior IT professionals by CSC1, the leading provider of enterprise-class domain and domain name system (DNS) security. Read Now

  • ASIS International Introduces New ANSI-Approved Investigations Standard

    • Guard Services
  • Cloud Security Alliance Brings AI-Assisted Auditing to Cloud Computing

    The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining standards, certifications, and best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment, today introduced an innovative addition to its suite of Security, Trust, Assurance and Risk (STAR) Registry assessments with the launch of Valid-AI-ted, an AI-powered, automated validation system. The new tool provides an automated quality check of assurance information of STAR Level 1 self-assessments using state-of-the-art LLM technology. Read Now

  • Report: Nearly 1 in 5 Healthcare Leaders Say Cyberattacks Have Impacted Patient Care

    Omega Systems, a provider of managed IT and security services, today released new research that reveals the growing impact of cybersecurity challenges on leading healthcare organizations and patient safety. According to the 2025 Healthcare IT Landscape Report, 19% of healthcare leaders say a cyberattack has already disrupted patient care, and more than half (52%) believe a fatal cyber-related incident is inevitable within the next five years. Read Now

New Products

  • A8V MIND

    A8V MIND

    Hexagon’s Geosystems presents a portable version of its Accur8vision detection system. A rugged all-in-one solution, the A8V MIND (Mobile Intrusion Detection) is designed to provide flexible protection of critical outdoor infrastructure and objects. Hexagon’s Accur8vision is a volumetric detection system that employs LiDAR technology to safeguard entire areas. Whenever it detects movement in a specified zone, it automatically differentiates a threat from a nonthreat, and immediately notifies security staff if necessary. Person detection is carried out within a radius of 80 meters from this device. Connected remotely via a portable computer device, it enables remote surveillance and does not depend on security staff patrolling the area.

  • Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden Door Controls has relaunched its CV-7600 card readers in response to growing market demand for a more secure alternative to standard proximity credentials that can be easily cloned. CV-7600 readers support MIFARE DESFire EV1 & EV2 encryption technology credentials, making them virtually clone-proof and highly secure.

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.”