How to Blend Your Physical Security and Cybersecurity Teams for OptimalProtection

By Brian Higgins

Organizations have traditionally treated physical security and cybersecurity separately

with different teams, tools, and leadership. But today’s threats blur those boundaries. A

cyberattack can unlock a secure door, while a physical intruder can steal data-rich

servers - and a carefully mastered social engineering attack can breach both digital and

physical safeguards in a single move.

A siloed security model simply no longer works. Forward-thinking leaders are embracing

a blended security team with physical security and cybersecurity experts working side-

by-side as a unified front. I’ve personally found that this strategy significantly

strengthens an organization’s ability to prevent, detect, and respond to threats.

Based on my experience, below are the steps to building an effective integrated

physical–cybersecurity team.

1. Start With a Comprehensive Security Assessment

Before merging teams or rewriting procedures, you need a clear picture of your

organization’s vulnerabilities - physical and cyber. A joint assessment will highlight

where risks overlap, such as access control systems that rely on network security, or

cybersecurity tools that depend on physical safeguards.

This assessment should evaluate:

•  Physical access controls and entry points

•  Surveillance coverage

•  Digital networks, authentication, and endpoint security

• Procedures for granting and revoking credentials

• Incident response procedures

• Monitoring practices

• How physical and cyber teams currently communicate

In conducting these assessments, I’ve found that gaps - and solutions - become more

obvious when both sides view these items in tandem. Bouncing experience and prior

events off each other shines a light on potential security pitfalls and how to address

them.

2. Establish Clear Leadership

A blended team benefits from clear direction - and often times a leader who manages

both sectors. Many organizations designate a leader specifically charged with unifying

and overseeing the two teams. It’s key, however, that this leader understand the

interconnection between cyber and physical risks and is empowered to make decisions

across both areas. Without strong governance, the team may fail to become a cohesive

unit.

3. Define Roles and Responsibilities

The blending of physical and cyber will only work if everyone understands their

responsibilities and how they support one another. So, you need to identify:

•  What physical security owns

•  What cybersecurity owns

•  What responsibilities will be shared

•  How information will flow between teams

Knowing purpose and directives will help the team expand the view of security beyond

the narrow lens of their own discipline.

4. Align Policies and Protocols

If the organization’s policies treat physical and digital security as unrelated functions,

the team will too. When blending your physical security and cybersecurity teams, you

should update your organization’s:

•  Access control procedures

•  Incident protocols

•  Credentialing and identity management

•  Monitoring and auditing processes

•  Emergency response procedures\

5. Conduct Joint Training Exercises

I’m a big proponent of training. You can have all the right procedures in place and

security can still fail because your team didn’t know how to implement them.

Cyber professionals need to understand physical vulnerabilities such as tailgating, blind

spots in surveillance, or poor access management. Physical security professionals need

to understand cyber risks that could undermine the systems they put in place, like

phishing, credential theft, or compromised devices.

Drills will better prepare the team to respond to hybrid attacks, identify cascading

failures, and report something that seems suspicious.

6. Continuously Evaluate and Improve

The blending of teams is not a one and done project. Threats evolve quickly and the

blended team must be ready to fend them off. Conducting routine joint assessments,

reviewing incidents, updating procedures based on new risks, and regular training are

key to having an integrated team that can provide optimal security.

I truly believe that organizations that embrace a blended physical security -

cybersecurity team now will be far better positioned to meet tomorrow’s challenges, and

are more capable of preventing the kinds of incidents that slip through the cracks when

security operates in silos.