Offsite Facilities

Threats to physical security come in many forms including natural disasters, emergency situations, and man-made threats. All possible threats must be identified in order to perform a complete and thorough risk analysis and to develop an appropriate and effective control strategy. Some of the more common threats to physical security include

1. Fire: Threats from fire can be potentially devastating and lethal. Proper precautions, preparation, and training not only help limit the spread of fire and damage but, more important, can also save lives. Saving human lives is the first priority in any life-threatening situation. Other hazards associated with fires include smoke, explosions, building collapse, release of toxic materials or vapors, and water damage.

Fire requires three elements to burn: heat, oxygen, and fuel. These three elements are sometimes referred to as the fire triangle. Fire suppression and extinguishing systems fight fires by removing one of these three elements or by temporarily breaking up the chemical reaction between these three elements: that is, separating the fire triangle. Fires are classified according to the fuel type, as listed in below

Data center audit or site review is one of mandatory activity during IT audit process. But most of IS auditor forget key activity that should be checked during the process. Here is simple audit checklist to be used:

1. Policies & Procedure
• Have computer center operating policies and procedures been written?
• Are they sufficiently descriptive in detail to guide the organization and operation?
• Do data center personnel aware to the policies and procedures?
• Are they kept up-to-date?

2. Personnel
• Are data control center personnel and operators' assignments rotated?
• Is an operating log maintained to record any significant events and action taken by the operator?
• Is the operator log inspected daily by management?

3. Incident handling
• Do the computer room operators know exactly what to do when the different types of fire emergencies occur?
• Do the other personnel know exactly what to do when fire emergencies occur?