There are several factors that could lead to a breach in the security of a data center. These could range from unauthorized physical intrusions to environmental disruptions to vulnerabilities in operational technology. Finally, like any other computing device connected to the internet, a data center is vulnerable to an array of cyber attacks such as distributed denial of service, remote access trojans, rogue hypervisors, malicious Docker images, and other forms of advanced persistent threats in which attackers could infiltrate your data center and remain there undetected for extended periods of time.

The aforementioned category of breaches is constantly mutating with attackers devising new means to gain unauthorized access to systems. It is therefore important to conduct thorough configuration reviews to identify and resolve any suboptimal configuration settings in the IT systems of your data center that could help attackers gain a foothold into your system.

We will conduct a comprehensive gap analysis and review of your data center against industry standards, which will yield a data center design validation (DCDV) report which will outline your current levels of compliance and the aspects that need to be addressed to enhance your security measures. The findings in this report will inform the creation of a defense model for your data center.

The defense model entails installing and maintaining properly configured firewalls; ensuring that data at rest and in transit is made unintelligible by using encryption; and implementing an intrusion detection system to block out malware. We will also help you establish strong access control measures so that exposure to sensitive data is limited on a need-to-know basis by users who have been authenticated. This reduces insider risk by maintaining a constant log of your data and resources. Our team will work with you to set up a security operations center that monitors and tracks access to network resources and sensitive data, thereby allowing you to assess and detect any anomaly or fraudulent activity in the data center. We will also carry out vulnerability assessments and penetration testing periodically or at any time there is a significant change to the system thereby uncovering vulnerabilities and preempting any risks.

We also have detailed cyber resilience checklists that review configuration settings of your appliances across different layers of the TCP/IP stack. We also recommend creating concentric walls of security around your critical assets in order to fortify them from attacks. GRM will also issue security advisories to ensure that the IT systems in your data center are always up-to-date with the latest software.

Containers and container orchestration technologies like Kubernetes also come with their own security challenges that could act as single points of failure for the entire data center. Our software and security experts will look for any vulnerabilities that could allow for remote code execution on the container, which could lead to root access of the underlying OS and compromise the integrity of the data center.

Different cybersecurity frameworks place emphasis on system hardening requirements, which makes it important to optimize the security of your data center so that you stay compliant with standards such as PCI DSS, HIPAA, ISO 27001, and others. Our experts will walk you through the legal landscape so that you are on top of regulatory requirements at all times.

In addition to helping you navigate the cyber threat landscape around data centers, we will also advise you on establishing protocols to prevent any physical intrusions and violations into your data center facility. Our experts will guide you on installing a well-designed network of CCTV cameras that would monitor your entire facility; and setting up access control devices with multi-factor authentication to prevent any unlawful intrusions. We will also scan your operational technology equipment for any vulnerabilities that could be exploited by bad actors to wreak havoc on your facility.

Our data center audits also entail advice on setting up effective redundancy plans and fault tolerance mechanisms to decrease the maximum tolerable period of disruption (MTPD) and ensure that critical services remain unaffected. Our experts will work with you to set up an effective business continuity management plan and an incident response team that is well-equipped to deal with the threats to your system, and in the event of a breach, follow the standard operating procedure to restore your system to a minimum-viable operating level, while the threat is eventually contained and neutralized.

At GRM Technologies, we approach data center security in a holistic way. Our cross-functional experts work with you to ensure that you meet and exceed compliance requirements and establish the necessary physical and technical controls to safeguard the integrity of your data center.