Common Threats to Routers and Switches - Physical & Mitigation

Common threats to routers and switches can be such as Hardware, Environment, Electrical and Maintenance.

In the context of a Hardware threat, in order to prevent physical damage being easily done to a router, eg: a break-in, there should be protection in place that will limit such damage. The server room should be locked up to prevent unauthorised access. The room itself should be secure, meaning that there should only be one way in or out and there should not be any entry via the ceiling, raised flooring, air vents, windows. All staff who enter the room should also be logged and there should be security cameras installed for real time monitoring of the equipment.

An Environmental threat, such as fire, can also be mitigated, by having the proper temperature control as doing so would reduce the chances of a server being overheated and thereby causing a fire. In order to do so, there should be a positive air flow to ensure that heat does not build up easily and in the event of fire, there should be fire detection systems and also fire containment measures to suppress it and prevent further damage. The equipment should also be properly logged and monitored on a hourly basis to ensure that everything runs and operates as it should.

A threat involving electricity is actually one that does not. The problem here would be that there is not enough supply of electricity to run all the equipment. Hence, there would be a need for a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) as well as generator sets, backup power sets to keep the place running. All these in addition with a preventive maintenance plan as well as remote alarming and monitoring would serve as a good mitigation towards electrical threats.

Maintenance related threats would be severe to a company in anyway, especially if the hardware are cluttered and not organised. As this would all the more make the problem harder to find and rectify. To alleviate such a problem, neat cable runs should be in place as well as the proper labelling of critical cables and components. As doing so would help track the root of the problem. There should also be stock spare parts for the critical sections of the hardware available as well as controlled access to the console ports. ESD or electrical software distribution procedures should also be in place to allow for a good mitigation of maintenance related threats.