Aug 13, 2026 · 25 min · 9 segments
In this episode of InfoSec Insider, George Ryan and Jack Woods, both Consultants at URM, provide expert advice and guidance on how organisations can maintain the physical security of their…
Jack WoodsGuestGeorge RyanGuestAnnieHostso today we're going to be talking about physical security um so my first question for you guys is in a world obsessed with cyber threats are organizations underestimating physical security
uh yeah i would say yes they are i think physical security threats probably don't get as much media coverage as cyber security threats so i think that's probably where the main focus lies but unfortunately physical security is quite important as well because if someone can gain access to your physical site it means that they can often potentially bypass some of the technical controls that you might put in place so they could steal the devices access unattended systems plant rogue equipment that kind of stuff try and obtain sensitive information from the site itself if you've got whiteboards if you've got documentation lying around that kind of thing might be able to obtain information that way as well so while it is while cyber security threats are really important and it does get a lot of attention i do think that yeah physical security is underestimated
yeah i think definitely and it's um it is amazing isn't it how far you can get with just a high vis jacket and a hard hat
um i don't know if anyone recalls it was the louvre wasn't it well they just pretended to be construction workers and okay they weren't steaming cyber but it's dead easy to get things yeah and that's the thing
like when we because we um whenever i go whenever i go to site to visit clients and things like that obviously generally you sign in at reception but then it's a case of whether or not they come to collect you from the site reception or whether you can just walk around willy-nilly whether they hand out passes that have your picture on them and say that kind of this person must be escorted at all times or whether they can go around the site unescorted that kind of thing so it is interesting when you go and visit sites and there's different controls in place I was at a site on Wednesday and I got given a green pass which meant that I'd could walk around unescorted.
But they operate, the organisation that run the site operates kind of a badge system for that.
So green is escorted, red is unescorted, and blue is if you work there but you forgot your pass, which is always good to really single out those people, make it obvious to them that they're forgetful.
so today we're going to be talking about physical security um so my first question for you guys is in a world obsessed with cyber threats are organizations underestimating physical security
uh yeah i would say yes they are i think physical security threats probably don't get as much media coverage as cyber security threats so i think that's probably where the main focus lies but unfortunately physical security is quite important as well because if someone can gain access to your physical site it means that they can often potentially bypass some of the technical controls that you might put in place so they could steal the devices access unattended systems plant rogue equipment that kind of stuff try and obtain sensitive information from the site itself if you've got whiteboards if you've got documentation lying around that kind of thing might be able to obtain information that way as well so while it is while cyber security threats are really important and it does get a lot of attention i do think that yeah physical security is underestimated
yeah i think definitely and it's um it is amazing isn't it how far you can get with just a high vis jacket and a hard hat
um i don't know if anyone recalls it was the louvre wasn't it well they just pretended to be construction workers and okay they weren't steaming cyber but it's dead easy to get things yeah and that's the thing
like when we because we um whenever i go whenever i go to site to visit clients and things like that obviously generally you sign in at reception but then it's a case of whether or not they come to collect you from the site reception or whether you can just walk around willy-nilly whether they hand out passes that have your picture on them and say that kind of this person must be escorted at all times or whether they can go around the site unescorted that kind of thing so it is interesting when you go and visit sites and there's different controls in place I was at a site on Wednesday and I got given a green pass which meant that I'd could walk around unescorted.
But they operate, the organisation that run the site operates kind of a badge system for that.
So green is escorted, red is unescorted, and blue is if you work there but you forgot your pass, which is always good to really single out those people, make it obvious to them that they're forgetful.
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