Intruder Has Gained Access to a Secure Essay

intruder has gained access to a secure place despite the said place having in place several security precautions such as code entry and CCTV. It is important to note that an intruder who succeeds in gaining access to a secure place can do just about anything he or she wants, from alteration to information theft to destruction.

Analysis of the Situation

While some organizational security precautions like code entry may make it difficult for outsiders to gain access to secure areas and/or equipment, such security measures can in some circumstances be circumvented by unscrupulous insiders. In our case, a number of factors could have eased or facilitated the intruder's access to the secure place.

The security cameras could have been unplugged or compromised.

The intruder could have used stolen code access data to gain access.

From the above, it seems highly likely that the intruder could have colluded with insiders at some point to obtain access privileges. In basic terms, an insider could be defined an individual who currently has, or has in the past had, any association with an entity. An insider could therefore be a current or former contractor or employee. This is the meaning of an insider that will be adopted in this assessment.

Likely Extent of Damage

The damage occasioned by the intrusion highlighted in this case could be mild or extensive. This is however largely dependent on the amount of time the intruder spent in the premises, and what exactly he or she did within that period of time. However, it is highly likely that:

1. Personally identifiable information of the company's clients could have been stolen.

2. Malicious software could have been installed on the company's machines.

3. The intruder could have downloaded sensitive data onto removable media.

4. Some organizational information could have been destroyed or disposed off.

5. Some physical property of the organization could have been stolen.

Findings

As I have already pointed out in the section titled "analysis of the situation" above, it is highly likely that the intruder managed to circumvent the control systems in place by colluding with insiders. According to Garcia (2007), physical protection alone is in most cases enough to deter outsiders working alone. In our case therefore, one could conclude that the security precautions in place, i.e. code entry and CCTV, would have been enough to deter an outsider working alone. It is for this reason that I conclude that to effectively defeat the security precautions identified above and gain access to a secure place, the said intruder must have colluded with an insider.

Insider-outsider collusion is one of the trickiest issues organizations have to deal with as they seek to guarantee the security of organizational resources (Garcia, 2007). In the words of Garcia (2007, p.29), "insiders may exploit their knowledge…