Whitepaper: Managing Dynamic Access Conditions

Securing Critical Infrastructure in a Connected World

Managing a dynamic workforce, especially in critical infrastructure organisations that can be spread out over large geographical areas, can at times feel like trying to out manoeuvre Magnus Carlsen – with so many moving parts (people) and on top of that a maintenance schedule to adhere to, site and system upgrades, and the daily ‘fire’ that needs putting out. What we will demonstrate in this whitepaper is that no matter how complicated your systems may be, how spread out your assets are, or how entrenched your organisation is in their ways, physical security is changing at lightning speeds and sometimes it takes a few good strategic Chess moves now to ensure your organisation is ready for the next 25 years.

There are a myriad of challenges when operating in one of the 15 industries that are now deemed as Critical Infrastructure by the Australian Governments Department of Home Affairs. These challenges extend beyond access control or more broadly security. The implications of a major malfunction will put thousands of lives at risk. So, while many organisations are in pursuit of connected devices in real time to address the complete change in working culture – no doubt accelerated due to the COVID-19 pandemic – these devices can also present opportunities for cyber criminals, as failure to adequately protect the credentials of any access point from networks down to the least obvious HVAC, can offer an easy path for attackers to wreak havoc. A balance must exist between safety of an organisations network and the flexibility of providing access credentials for employees and contractors. As this whitepaper demonstrates, the mechanical master key systems that have long been used in critical infrastructure organisations are unequipped to address the many convergences across this industry, such as regulatory requirements with flexible workforces, and physical and cyber security.

While physical and cyber security are at times converging (just look at a typical hard wired access control system) the benefits of having a physical security system that has all the features of a hard wired system with the simple operation of a mechanical master key system, whilst providing virtual real time access control even in remote areas and without being on your network, will severely reduce the risk of it being compromised. EKA CyberLock is this hybrid system, an electro-mechanical master key system, that has been at the forefront of the latest technology since its inception in 1999 and that has secured over 2 million access points across 50 different countries with a variety of different sites such as water hatches and pits, telecommunication towers, electrical substations, commercial buildings, roadside cabinets, airports, data centres and many more places. One of the common themes amongst all these different sites is simply put as, ‘it doesn’t matter where the lock is, electronic access control is possible.’