Physical Security Issues
One common security truism is "Once you have physical access to a box, all bets are off." This is a good beginning assumption for this section. If an attacker has physical access to a computer, router, switch, firewall, or other device, your security options are amazingly limited. Networking devices, with few exceptions, can have their passwords reset by attaching to their console port. Hosts can be booted with a special floppy disk or CD-ROM designed to circumvent most host security on the device.
This book does not cover physical security issues in detail. Topics such as disaster recovery, site selection, and so on are not discussed at all. However, as a network designer, you must know where you are relying on physical security to augment or support your network security. There are some rules you can follow to improve your security:
• Control physical access to facilities.
• Control physical access to data centers.
• Separate identity mechanisms for insecure locations.
• Prevent password-recovery mechanisms in insecure locations.
• Be aware of cable plant issues.
• Be aware of electromagnetic radiation.
• Be aware of physical PC security threats.
The rest of this section examines these seven areas.
Continue reading here: Be Aware of Electromagnetic Radiation
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