SecuriThings blog

SecuriThings and Paladin Technologies Announce Partnership - SecuriThings

securithings — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 06:21:57 GMT

The partnership enables Paladin customers to gain end-to-end visibility and control over their physical security devices, ensuring they run reliably and securely over their entire lifecycle.

SecuriThings and Paladin Technologies – the premier complex systems integrator in North America – have announced a partnership. This partnership will enable Paladin customers to manage and secure their physical security infrastructures more effectively and efficiently, with the SecuriThings Enterprise Solution.

How Paladin Customers Will Benefit From This Partnership

With SecuriThings, Paladin customers can gain end-to-end visibility and control of their physical security devices throughout their life cycles, as well as the management systems and network dependencies upon which their devices rely. Key features include automated operations such as firmware upgrades, password rotations, certificate management, remote device restarts, end-of-life planning and more. Customers can also leverage root cause analysis, Smart Alerts and reports to detect, diagnose and resolve operational issues rapidly and efficiently, using real-time data.

“We are excited about our partnership with SecuriThings. Their solution provides our clients with advanced capabilities to manage devices and systems across all physical security platforms,” said Paladin’s EVP Technology Josh Cummings. “As cyber threats increase, it becomes even more important to have a clear picture of the health of our security systems.”

With these powerful capabilities, Paladin customers can reduce asset downtime and costly truck rolls, protect their devices from cyber threats, and achieve full visibility and compliance with IT policies and standards.

About Paladin

Paladin Technologies has emerged as one of the largest complex systems integrators in North America. As a leader in the design, deployment, optimization, management, and maintenance of communication and digital networks, Paladin can meet the needs of clients on an international scale, while providing local support. Paladin has offices coast to coast and 950+ talented and committed professionals dedicated to custom-crafting and installing technology solutions for companies requiring Network Infrastructure, Audio Visual, Fiber Optics/OSP, Structured Cabling, Integrated Security, Unified Communications, and more. By working with the leading, proven, and most reliable technologies on the market, Paladin has positioned itself to be your single point of contact for accountability and best practices when managing your building technology systems.

For more information contact us at info@securithings.com

Are You Overpaying to Maintain Your Physical Security Devices? - SecuriThings

Ari Soffer — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 06:21:55 GMT

It’s not hard to see why many organizations are willing to pay serious money to maintain their physical security devices. Given how reliant today’s organizations have become on connected devices to keep them safe – and given the physical and cyber risks they can face when those devices aren’t maintained properly – their are good reasons to invest in the maintenance of physical security devices.

The problem is that it’s still common for organizations to rely heavily on manual processes to maintain their devices, even though doing so is not cost-effective and often results in unnecessary, costly maintenance expenses. This, despite the fact that many maintenance tasks can actually be done remotely and in an automated way.

As a result, there is a widespread problem of overpaying to maintain connected physical security devices. And what about your organization? Are you overpaying to maintain your physical security devices? This post will help you answer that question. If you are overpaying, there are concrete steps you can take to start cutting your costs.

And if you’re not overpaying, then count yourself fortunate to work for an organization that has achieved (or is well on its way to achieving) an enterprise-ready approach to physical security device maintenance.

Manual device maintenance = unnecessary costs

If your organization is like most others, it relies on manual procedures to conduct routine maintenance steps for its physical security devices, such as rotating passwords and upgrading firmware. And many organizations check on the operational status of their physical security devices manually, rather than monitoring them automatically.

While both monitoring and routine maintenance are critically important, the manual approaches that many organizations still rely on for these steps are needlessly expensive. Simply put, if you’re paying to maintain your physical security devices without streamlining their maintenance through automation, then you’re likely overpaying.

That’s the case no matter whether you rely on your own team members or external technicians for these processes. Whether you’re paying employees or contractors, taking a manual approach to these aspects of physical security device management means you’re shelling out for professionals’ work time instead of automating these processes.

In addition, conducting these steps manually creates room for human error, which can result in unnecessary device downtime. That brings us to a second major way many organizations get stuck overpaying to maintain their connected physical security devices.

Resolving device issues inefficiently, often on-site

Device downtime is a widespread and serious risk in the world of physical security. It can occur due to a variety of issues – some of them occurring within organizations’ connected devices, and some of them occurring in related assets and systems such as a network switch, power supply, or video management system (VMS).

When you detect that some of your physical security devices have temporarily stopped working properly, it’s important to address the underlying issue as quickly as possible. The problem for today’s organizations is that it’s common to send technicians to diagnose these issues on-site and then try to resolve them manually.

If this is your approach to addressing most technical issues surrounding your physical security devices, the unfortunate reality is that you’re wasting money on unnecessary work. In fact, we have found that roughly 70% of truck rolls occur in situations in which the device downtime could be resolved by simply restarting the devices remotely.

In addition, it’s common for organizations to waste valuable work time because they don’t know whether downtime is caused by an issue within a physical security device or a related asset within the IT network. This can result in lengthy, frustrating round-robins between IT and physical security, as it’s often unclear initially which department is responsible for resolving a given issue. And a lack of efficient communication, coordination, and collaboration between physical security and IT teams (as well as other stakeholders) can result in wasted work hours.

Taking on unnecessary risks

As expensive as it can be to maintain your physical security devices manually, the price of not managing those devices properly can be much higher – and not only in terms of direct impact on dollars and cents. If you’re relying on manual processes to keep your physical security devices running consistently and securely, it’s important to beware of the possibility of human error. And without real-time alerts notifying you of technical issues that arise, the status quo could put your overall security posture at risk.

For starters, a manual approach to maintaining your physical security devices could leave you at risk of having excessive, undetected downtime. As physical security teams become increasingly dependent on their connected devices, they need to take seriously the risk that a device could be down at the time of a major security incident. That’s what happened during the 2022 shooting attack at a Brooklyn subway station, underscoring how high the stakes can be.

Additionally, relying on manual maintenance could leave your physical security devices vulnerable to cybercriminals eager to hack into them. That danger is becoming increasingly costly, with the average data breach in the U.S. now coming with a price tag of $9.48 million, according to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report 2023.

It’s also important to keep in mind the legal and reputational damage that can result from a physical or cyber incident. With consumer privacy increasingly protected by law, it’s crucial to avoid scenarios that could make your customers’ sensitive information accessible to criminals.

Finally, there’s the cost of lost business that could result from a security incident or from certain types of device downtime. Various kinds of cyber and physical crimes can disrupt an organization, resulting in lost work time and lost opportunities – a risk that increases when physical security devices can’t be counted on to run properly and securely. And when connected devices such as access control systems have downtime, they can potentially leave organizations temporarily unable to open their locked doors or gates.

So, are you overpaying to maintain your physical security devices?

When looking to evaluate whether you’re overpaying to maintain your physical security devices, one strong indicator of waste is a reliance on manual processes to do things that could be automated.

If you’re paying employees or external technicians to conduct routine, proactive device maintenance manually, you could save money by automating those processes. If you typically pay for on-site, manual work to resolve technical issues that arise, you could save money by resolving many of those issues remotely, automatically, and (if relevant) in bulk.

And most importantly, if you’re counting on employees or contractors to conduct these steps manually, you’re taking the risk that human error could result in unnecessary downtime or leave you vulnerable to cybercriminals. Not only could those dangers have financial, reputational, and legal consequences for your organization – but they could put the safety of your employees, customers, and guests at risk.

So, is your own organization overpaying to maintain its physical security devices – and if it is, what can you do about it? You can start to answer these questions by taking SecuriThings’ enterprise-readiness self-assessment. Not only will it shed light on how far you’ve come toward realizing the full benefits of automation, but it will help you improve your physical security device maintenance. And if you are currently overpaying, you’ll receive valuable insights that can help you stop.

The 7 Pillars of Cyber Security for Physical Security Devices - SecuriThings

Ari Soffer — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 06:21:52 GMT

Modern physical security devices are more powerful and effective than ever - but also much more vulnerable to a wide variety of potential cyber attacks. As a result, physical security teams today are expected to ensure their devices are cyber protected, in-line with IT standards.

Given the enormous potential costs of vulnerabilities in your physical security devices, what practical steps can physical security teams take to ensure maximum protection against hackers and other cyber threats?

The following are seven key pillars to achieving cyber protection for your physical security devices.

#1 Asset Mapping

Before you can secure your physical security devices, you need to know what devices are on your network in the first place. To put it simply: you can't protect what you can't see.

Asset mapping is the process of discovering, identifying, and documenting all physical security devices within your infrastructure. This includes gathering critical information such as device type, model, firmware version, IP address, and physical location. By having a comprehensive understanding of your device fleet, you can better monitor and manage the security of each device. Making this information accessible will have a lot of benefits beyond cybersecurity as well, helping to reduce downtime and other issues.

This information is usually available somewhere – the challenge is consolidating all of it from different vendors in one, easily-accessible location, as excessive silos impede device visibility even when the information is technically available.

Steps for Effective Asset Mapping:

Create an inventory: Ensure you have a record of all physical security devices connected to your network.
Consolidated view: Work to consolidate your view of all devices in a single place, to avoid silos which make monitoring far more difficult.
Regular updates: Maintain and regularly update the asset map to reflect any changes in the device landscape.

#2 Vulnerability Management

Identifying and managing vulnerabilities in your physical security devices is crucial for preventing cyber attacks. This involves regularly scanning for known vulnerabilities and suspicious activities, assessing potential threats, and ensuring this information reaches the right people as soon as possible. By proactively identifying vulnerabilities, you can take steps to mitigate them before they are exploited by cybercriminals.

Steps for Vulnerability Management:

Real-time scanning: Use vulnerability scanning tools to detect weaknesses in device firmware and configurations, or suspicious device behavior.
Threat intelligence: Stay informed about the latest threats and vulnerabilities reported by manufacturers and security organizations.
Alerts and reporting: Ensure all relevant stakeholders – including the IT/cybersecurity team – are updated in real-time of any potential threats.

#3 Firmware Upgrades

Firmware upgrades are essential for maintaining the security (and functionality) of your physical security devices. Keeping firmware up to date is a critical aspect of device security, helping to protect against known vulnerabilities.

Manufacturers regularly release updates to patch vulnerabilities and improve performance, yet all too often physical security devices are left operating on old or obsolete firmware due to the difficulties in regularly upgrading firmware at scale. Some studies have shown that up to 70% of physical security devices are running outdated firmware.

Steps for Firmware Upgrades:

Regularly check for updates: Keep tabs on manufacturers' websites to know about firmware upgrades as soon as they're available.
Compatibility checks: Ensure new firmware versions are compatible with your management systems and other network components.
Bulk upgrades: Implement tools and processes for remotely updating firmware on multiple devices simultaneously to streamline the process.

#4 Device Hardening

Device hardening involves configuring your physical security devices to reduce their attack surface and enhance their security posture. Hardening your devices helps to close potential entry points and makes it more difficult for attackers to compromise your systems.

The physical security technology ecosystem is significantly more complex than the IT ecosystem in this regard. Nevertheless, while the specific hardening policies may differ across manufacturers, the process will usually follow a similar pattern.

Steps for Device Hardening:

Disable unnecessary services: Turn off services and features that are not required, such as FTP and discovery protocols like Bonjour and UPNP.
Change default settings: Replace default passwords and settings with secure alternatives (e.g. enable HTTPS).
Network segmentation: Isolate physical security devices on a separate network segment to limit the potential impact of a breach.

#5 Password Rotations

Regularly rotating passwords on your physical security devices is a critical measure to prevent unauthorized access. Default or outdated passwords can be easily exploited by cybercriminals, for example through brute force dictionary-search attacks. By regularly updating passwords, you can significantly reduce the risk of unauthorized access to your devices.

Steps for Password Rotations:

Enforce strong password policies: Ensure all passwords meet complexity requirements.
Regular password rotations: Ensure passwords are rotated across all devices at regular intervals, such as quarterly or biannually.
Synchronize with the management system: Ensure all password changes are also reflected in the devices' management system (e.g. VMS), to avoid outages.

#6 Certificate Management

SSL and 802.1x certificates are essential for securing communications between your physical security devices and other network components. Proper certificate management ensures that data transmitted is encrypted and secure, and helps to maintain the integrity and confidentiality of your physical security device communications.

Steps for Certificate Management:

Install SSL certificates: Ensure all devices use SSL certificates to encrypt data transmission.
802.1x authentication: Implement 802.1x authentication to control network access and enhance security.
Regular renewal: Keep track of certificate expiration dates and renew certificates before they expire.

#7 End Of Service Planning

Replacing outdated physical security devices before they reach their End Of Service is also critical to ensuring they are protected against cyber threats. A device that has reached its end of service (EOS) will no longer receive any support from its manufacturer. This means that no more bug fixes and vulnerability patches will be made available – leaving such devices exposed to cybersecurity risks (as well as more likely to malfunction and directly compromise your organization's physical security).

Steps for End Of Service Planning:

Check manufacturer websites: Ensure you know the end of life and end of service of all device makes and models in your fleet.
Set clear organizational policies: Stay ahead of the curve with clear policies to replace devices before they reach end of life/service.
Future planning: Avoid last-minute budgeting issues by spreading device replacements over the years, based on the aforementioned policies.

Prevent Your Physical Security Assets from Compromising Your Organization's Cybersecurity

By following these practical steps, physical security teams can significantly enhance the cybersecurity posture of their devices, protecting them from potential cyber attacks.

While cyber security is a constant battle, prioritizing these cybersecurity measures ensures that physical security devices do not become vulnerabilities within the broader network, thereby safeguarding the entire organization's operations and data.

For an in-depth analysis of the cyber risks facing your physical security devices, and how to overcome them, download The 7 Essentials for Cyber-Protecting Physical Security.

How Will the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark Impact Physical Security? - SecuriThings

Elle Tzur — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 06:21:47 GMT

The Biden-Harris Administration recently made waves in the world of cybersecurity when it announced plans to roll out a new certification for IoT devices meeting specific standards for cybersecurity. The announcement marked an important step towards greater governmental involvement in addressing the cybersecurity risks that can stem from connected devices, including physical security devices.

While it remains to be seen how exactly the new, voluntary certification – the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark – will impact physical security teams once it's up and running, it shows that the U.S. government is increasingly taking action to address cyber risks. Following the publication of a new National Cybersecurity Strategy document earlier this year (which noted that "many of the IoT devices deployed today are not sufficiently protected against cybersecurity threats",) the certification is the latest major indication that the U.S. government is putting its money where its mouth is. It also follows steps taken late last year and early this year by the FCC and TSA to address serious cybersecurity concerns.

But in some ways, the announcement provided more questions than answers. While statements from the White House and the FCC made it clear that the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark is intended to help both consumers and manufacturers of physical security devices, neither said explicitly whether the certification is also intended to meet the needs of organizations with large fleets of physical security devices. And with the specific standards required for a product to receive the certification still unclear, it remains to be seen how those standards will affect the challenge of hardening and maintaining organizations' physical security devices over time.

Given those questions, it's important for physical security professionals to pay attention to how plans for the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark develop going forward. Here is a look at some of the key questions, concerns, and takeaways to keep in mind for any organization looking to make sure its physical security devices don't compromise its cybersecurity.

Regardless of new standards, ongoing device maintenance is still critical

These new standards will certainly help ensure more secure devices. For instance, the White House's announcement specified that one of the requirements for the new certification is that devices will come with unique, strong passwords right off the shelf. Requirements like that can help to ensure that even if an organization doesn't actively manage its physical security devices, their default settings should reduce the level of risk that they present.

But even if a device comes with a unique and strong password, it is important to rotate that password regularly. Even if it comes with firmware not known to have any cybersecurity vulnerabilities, it is important to upgrade its firmware as necessary – particularly since new vulnerabilities are constantly being discovered. And even if new devices are far more secure than existing ones, organizations still need to address the issues that could affect the devices they already have.

In short, while the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark should help reduce cyber risks stemming from physical security devices, it won't reduce the importance of operationally managing those devices regularly.

Raising the bar for cybersecurity

As the recent announcements from both the White House and the FCC make clear, the primary goal of the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark is to raise the overall level of cybersecurity in the U.S., given that the IoT is taking on an increasingly important role in consumers' lives. Achieving that goal requires adhering to higher cybersecurity standards – not only by buying and selling products that are protected from cyber threats, but also by operationally managing those devices adequately over time.

For manufacturers of connected devices, it seems that this is an indication that keeping up with the competition will require keeping cybersecurity in mind when designing, producing, and marketing products. And given that the announcement of the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark is part of a larger trend towards increasing governmental involvement in addressing cybersecurity concerns (including those relating to IoT devices), device manufacturers could well face additional developments in the future that push them to focus even more on cybersecurity.

The government's goal of raising the bar for cybersecurity makes sense, given the growing threat of cybercrime. Less than a week after the announcement of the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark, IBM published its 2023 Cost of a Data Breach Report. That report found that the average data breach globally now costs $4.45 million – up from $4.35 million in 2022, and 15.3% higher than it was in 2020. It also found that data breaches in the U.S. are the world's most expensive, with an average cost of $9.48 million. Those findings and others underscore the magnitude of the risk facing any organization whose physical security devices are compromised by cybercriminals.

That makes it especially important not just to harden physical security devices initially, but to maintain them in an ongoing way. This involves taking steps such as rotating passwords, upgrading firmware, and managing certificates as necessary. While many organizations find these steps to be so time-consuming as to be unfeasible at scale, taking an automated approach can enable them to perform these tasks both efficiently and reliably. By automating the operational management of their physical security devices, they can ensure that critical maintenance steps are taken regularly, protecting those devices from the risk of a cyberattack.

In other words, while the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark aims to ensure that new IoT devices are secure, in practice keeping organizations' physical security devices secure over the long haul – both reliably and efficiently – requires automation.

How can you consistently ensure that your physical security devices are functioning, fully-compliant and protected from cyber risks? For a detailed breakdown of what it takes to achieve those goals efficiently, check out The Guide to Enterprise-Ready Physical Security

Natural Physical Security Threats: Europe’s Blackout Lessons - Securithings

Ari Soffer — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 06:21:41 GMT

The April 28, 2025 power outage across Spain, Portugal, and southern France left 55 million people without electricity for up to 18 hours, revealing critical infrastructure vulnerabilities. This unprecedented blackout disrupted hospitals, transportation, and banking systems, demonstrating how natural physical security threats can instantly cripple regional operations. Organizations should learn from this catastrophic event to improve their resilience against similar threats.

This article examines five key lessons from Europe's blackout and provides specific, actionable strategies to strengthen your security infrastructure. You'll discover practical approaches to protect your systems from power-related vulnerabilities and maintain critical functions during extended outages.

April 2025 European Power Blackout

Timeline of the April 2025 Blackout

On April 28, 2025, at approximately 12:15 PM CET, the first signs of grid instability appeared across northeastern Spain. Within 27 minutes, cascading failures had spread throughout the Iberian transmission network, ultimately affecting 55 million people across Spain, Portugal, and parts of southern France.

The outage affected approximately 85% of the Iberian Peninsula's electrical infrastructure, making it the most extensive European power failure since the 2006 European blackout.

Major cities including Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, and Toulouse completely lost power by 2:00 PM. Local emergency generators activated in critical facilities, but many exhausted their fuel reserves by midnight as the outage continued. Full restoration took up to 18 hours in remote regions, with the last areas regaining power around 6:00 AM on April 29.

Root Causes and Technical Failures

According to preliminary findings from the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E), the blackout stemmed from two major disconnection events that resulted in the sudden loss of 15 gigawatts of power. Investigators point to failures in the high-voltage interconnections between France and Spain as the initial trigger.

The escalating frequency of extreme weather events across Europe has placed unprecedented stress on aging power transmission infrastructure never designed for such conditions.

While authorities ruled out cyberattacks, the investigation revealed that several key transmission substations lacked adequate protection against voltage fluctuations. The rapid growth of renewable energy integration has also created new stability challenges that traditional grid management systems struggled to handle during the crisis.

Immediate Impact on Essential Services

Healthcare facilities: Hospitals in Barcelona reported that 23% of backup generators failed to activate properly, compromising patient care in critical departments.
Transportation networks: All metro systems in affected cities shut down immediately, stranding thousands underground. Air traffic control relied on emergency systems, forcing the cancellation of 1,240 flights across the region.
Security systems: Approximately 68% of networked surveillance cameras went offline after their uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) depleted, creating security gaps at critical facilities.
Financial systems: ATM networks failed completely, while point-of-sale systems collapsed once battery backups drained, forcing businesses to return to manual transaction processing.

Local authorities struggled to coordinate emergency responses as communication networks degraded, highlighting how interconnected modern infrastructure magnifies the impact of natural physical security threats.

3 Critical Vulnerabilities Exposed by Natural Physical Security Threats

The Iberian blackout laid bare significant security system weaknesses that many organizations had previously overlooked.

Power Grid Interconnection Weaknesses

The April 2025 crisis revealed how excessive dependence on centralized power distribution creates single points of failure. The European power grid's interconnected nature, while efficient under normal conditions, magnified the initial failure across borders with frightening speed.

Most critical security infrastructure lacks adequate protection against cascading power failures.

Following power failures across Barcelona's financial district, a significant majority of buildings lost access control capabilities within 90 minutes, despite having battery backups supposedly rated for several hours of operation.

The problem stemmed from energy consumption patterns that differed significantly from manufacturers' specifications. Security cameras, access controllers, and alarm panels operating at higher power draws during emergency mode depleted battery reserves faster than expected. Interconnected systems meant that when one component failed, it triggered failures in others—a vulnerability rarely addressed in security planning.

Backup Power Inadequacies

The extended duration of the blackout exposed critical shortcomings in backup power systems. Many organizations discovered their generators and UPS systems were inadequate for sustained outages.

Testing revealed that many backup power systems had not been load-tested at full capacity, with fuel reserves calculated for theoretical rather than actual consumption rates.

Communication System Breakdowns

Security teams faced severe challenges when communication networks degraded, hampering coordination and response efforts. Cellular networks remained operational for only 4-6 hours before widespread tower failures occurred.

Radio systems that security teams relied on faced unexpected interference as buildings switched to emergency power, creating dead zones where guards couldn't communicate.

The most successful organizations had previously established clear protocols for communication degradation, including predetermined meeting points and manual check-in procedures when electronic systems failed.

Implementing Resilient Security Infrastructure

The Iberian blackout highlighted that robust physical security systems must maintain functionality even when primary power sources fail. Building resilience requires thoughtful architecture that anticipates and mitigates the effects of extended power outages.

Distributed Power Sources for Critical Systems

Relying solely on centralized power generation creates dangerous single points of failure for security infrastructure. Organizations that maintained security operations during the recent blackout typically employed distributed power approaches.

Facilities with on-site renewable generation coupled with storage maintain critical security functions significantly longer than those dependent solely on grid power.

The key lies in dedicated circuits that isolate security systems from general power loads, ensuring that limited emergency power resources prioritize critical security functions rather than non-essential services.

Redundancy Planning for Security Components

During the blackout, organizations with redundant security components experienced significantly fewer security incidents. Redundancy requires more than duplicating equipment—it demands architectural diversity.

When Barcelona International Airport lost power, their layered approach to redundancy allowed security operations to continue at substantial capacity while neighboring facilities operated at much lower levels.

Effective redundancy planning requires calculating mean time between failures for all components and implementing overlapping systems with different failure modes. For example, pairing network-based access control with standalone offline controllers ensures continuous operation when network infrastructure fails.

Organizations should also maintain mechanical backup systems for truly critical areas. During the outage, facilities that maintained conventional locks alongside electronic access control retained security integrity throughout the crisis.

Automated Failover Protocols

The speed and effectiveness of switching to backup systems proved crucial during the Iberian power crisis. Organizations with predefined, automated failover protocols maintained security operations with minimal disruption.

Graceful Degradation
The practice of designing systems to maintain core functionality during partial failures by automatically prioritizing essential services and temporarily suspending non-critical functions.

Implementing effective failover requires following these key steps:

Define priority zones: Map your facility into security tiers with descending importance levels, ensuring power resources flow to the most critical areas first.
Establish power thresholds: Create specific trigger points that activate predetermined responses based on power availability.
Automate load shedding: Configure systems to automatically disable high-energy security components in sequence when power reserves decline.
Test transition timing: Measure and optimize the speed of transition between primary and backup systems under realistic conditions.
Document manual overrides: Create clear protocols for security personnel to manually activate backup systems if automation fails.

Government security agencies suggest that facilities conducting regular tests of their failover protocols experience fewer security breaches during actual power disruptions compared to those testing less frequently.

Proactive Solutions for Mitigating Natural Physical Security Threats

Real-Time Monitoring and Alert Systems

When power fluctuations began across Spain, organizations with advanced monitoring capabilities detected early warning signs before complete failure occurred. This critical time advantage allowed security teams to activate contingency plans and preserve core functions.

During the April 2025 blackout, facilities using real-time monitoring detected power anomalies an average of 17 minutes before complete failure, providing crucial preparation time.

Modern monitoring platforms continuously track power quality, network performance, and device status across distributed security infrastructure. These systems can identify trends that precede failures and trigger automated responses based on predefined thresholds.

Automated Maintenance for Critical Infrastructure

Regular maintenance significantly impacts how security systems perform during crises. Organizations that automated their maintenance processes showed markedly better resilience during the blackout.

Manual maintenance routines often fail to keep pace with modern security system complexity, creating hidden vulnerabilities that appear only during crisis situations.

Automated maintenance platforms handle critical tasks including firmware updates, security patches, password rotation, and performance monitoring. These systems ensure devices remain in optimal condition to withstand abnormal conditions and recover properly when power returns.

Physical Security Enhancements for Data Centers

Data centers represent particularly critical infrastructure during power outages, as they maintain digital services essential for coordinating emergency responses. The most resilient facilities during the Iberian crisis employed layered physical protection strategies.

Defense in Depth
A physical security approach that employs multiple protective mechanisms working in concert rather than relying on a single barrier or system.

Successful data centers maintained security integrity through methods including biometric access systems with local authentication capabilities, overlapping surveillance coverage with battery-isolated cameras, and security personnel equipped with independent communication tools.

Centralized Device Management Platforms

Organizations using centralized management platforms for their physical security devices demonstrated superior response capabilities during the outage. These platforms provide a unified view of device health, enabling rapid assessment and targeted intervention.

Management Approach	Response Time	Recovery Rate	Security Continuity
Siloed Systems	45-60 minutes	67% after 8 hours	Multiple security gaps
Partially Integrated	20-30 minutes	82% after 8 hours	Limited functionality maintained
Fully Centralized	5-15 minutes	94% after 8 hours	Core security functions preserved

Centralized management solutions reduce response times significantly during critical incidents while improving recovery rates through automated remediation workflows.

These platforms maintain local caching of critical configuration data, enabling devices to continue functioning even when cloud connectivity is lost. They also facilitate rapid status assessment when power returns, helping security teams prioritize recovery efforts based on actual impact rather than assumptions.

Building a More Resilient Future Against Natural Physical Security Threats

Organizations that successfully managed this crisis shared several key features: distributed power systems, backup redundancies with mechanical alternatives, and management platforms that maintained local operations during network failures. These organizations implemented resilience not as theoretical planning but as practical necessity, regularly testing systems under authentic failure conditions.

True security resilience isn't measured during normal operations—it reveals itself only when systems are pushed to their breaking point by events like the Iberian blackout.

Get a free system evaluation to discover how our physical security device management platform can help your organization maintain critical security functions during unexpected outages while automating the maintenance that keeps your systems resilient against the next inevitable crisis.

FAQs

How do natural physical security threats differ from cyber threats?

Natural physical security threats such as power outages impact actual infrastructure and can knock out electronic security systems regardless of how well-protected they are against cyber attacks. While cyber threats target information systems through digital weaknesses, natural physical security threats compromise physical entry points, camera systems, and alarm networks by cutting off their power or damaging their hardware components. This fundamental difference requires entirely separate protection approaches centered on backup systems, alternative power sources, and non-electronic fallback options.

What backup power solutions best protect against natural physical security threats?

Multiple smaller power generation systems combined with dedicated storage units provide better protection than single large generators. Security systems powered by on-site solar panels connected to dedicated battery banks have shown excellent performance during extended blackouts, as seen when several banks maintained security operations throughout the Iberian power failure. For maximum effectiveness, security systems should run on separate electrical circuits that ensure critical security functions receive power before less essential facility systems.

How frequently should organizations test their resilience against natural physical security threats?

Full system testing under artificial outage conditions should happen at least quarterly for essential facilities. These tests must include complete shutdown scenarios running 12+ hours to spot battery failures, communication breakdowns, and access control problems that only emerge during longer outages. Additionally, organizations should test individual backup components monthly to catch maintenance issues early, before they compromise the entire security infrastructure.

What physical security components typically fail first during extended power outages?

Network-connected security cameras usually fail first when network equipment runs out of battery power, typically 2-4 hours after an outage begins. Following this, access control systems requiring central authentication start malfunctioning as communication systems go down, then alarm systems drain their batteries quickly when running in emergency mode. Environmental monitors that regulate temperature and humidity in critical areas like server rooms often receive lower backup power priority, leading to additional failures when conditions become too extreme for equipment operation.

Getting Too Many Alerts About Device Issues? - SecuriThings

Elle Tzur — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 06:21:40 GMT

For any organization looking to make sure its physical security devices are running properly and securely, getting the necessary visibility is a critical step.

But as organizations gain that visibility, there's a risk that they'll actually get too much information. When they get too overwhelmed with information to be able to use it effectively, having more information can actually result in less visibility. Perhaps even more disruptive is the frequency with which they often receive that information. When teams receive too many (often irrelevant or duplicate) alerts about their devices or systems, those alerts become little more than annoying background noise.

That's largely because of alert fatigue, which occurs when team members get worn out and overwhelmed by the volume and frequency of alerts they receive. Alert fatigue is a serious challenge for physical security teams, often contributing to inefficiency, unnecessarily high costs, and real security risks.

To use their information effectively, physical security teams should tackle the problem of alert fatigue head-on. This post will explain how alert fatigue takes shape, the damage it can do, and how physical security teams can overcome it.

How alert fatigue develops in the world of physical security

One of the main reasons physical security teams suffer from alert fatigue is that they simply receive too many alerts. The huge quantity of alerts they receive can often make it difficult to quickly identify which alerts are worth paying attention to and which ones can be ignored. In many cases, that's because a single technical issue can result in numerous alerts that do not even identify the issue.

For instance, if a network switch goes down, resulting in downtime for twenty IP cameras, in some organizations physical security professionals will get twenty separate notifications about the cameras – with none of those alerts identifying the switch as the source of the issue.

Also adding to the problem of alert fatigue, it is common for alerts to be sent to too many employees, not just to the relevant professionals. For example, if a network switch stops working properly, in some organizations an entire physical security team could be notified – even though they're not actually the ones tasked with addressing this IT issue. Or, if a physical security device must be replaced because it is approaching its end of life, alerts could be sent to many professionals who are not responsible for replacing it.

It's common for many stakeholders to have some role in managing physical security devices, including both IT and physical security professionals (among others). As a result, without a reliable way of automatically identifying the most important recipients for any given alert, reining in the sending of alerts effectively can be virtually impossible.

This reality undermines physical security

What's wrong with having too much information? Isn't it better to have too much information than to be left uninformed?

A lack of information is certainly a major problem for many physical security teams, but getting too much information too often can similarly prevent them from providing the safety that organizations need. In large part, that's because excessive alerts can distract physical security professionals from more important work. Professionals who are busy dealing with irrelevant alerts are less available to deal with whatever other incidents arise.

And as mentioned earlier, being ceaselessly bombarded with too many alerts can prevent physical security team members from noticing those alerts that actually are relevant and important for them. If they know that most of the alerts they receive are irrelevant, they may pay less attention to all of them. A critical alert sandwiched between dozens of irrelevant alerts can be far too easy to accidentally overlook.

In addition to making it more difficult to deliver reliable physical security, alert fatigue can be a real waste of time and money. When employees spend much of their valuable (and expensive) work time on irrelevant alerts, it takes more work hours to accomplish the same tasks. As a result, excessive alerts can leave organizations paying more money for less actual security.

This leads to teams losing trust in their technology tools, which in turn causes them to waste budget in a more direct way: if physical security stops paying attention to alerts, they are essentially paying for a tool they aren't even using and don't trust.

A more efficient way of distributing information can reduce alert fatigue

To overcome the problem of alert fatigue, physical security teams and other necessary stakeholders (e.g. IT) should only be receiving precisely the information they need. This will result in both a far lower volume of alerts for each specific team member, as well as a much higher level of efficiency and shorter time-to-resolution when problems arise.

With the right technology configured in the right way, physical security teams can help make sure that any given alert is sent only to the most relevant team members. For instance, SecuriThings lets customers set rules governing which employees receive specific types of alerts.

SecuriThings can also automatically identify when a single technical issue affects multiple devices, such as when a problem with the VMS or a network switch prevents numerous IP cameras from broadcasting properly. Then, it can use that information to send a single alert for the main issue at hand, rather than sending alerts for all of the affected devices. And because each alert includes critical details to help with root cause analysis, those who do receive alerts will be better prepared to act on them.

Not only can this kind of approach help prevent alert fatigue, but it can empower physical security teams to cooperate and collaborate more efficiently, both with each other and with their colleagues in different departments. That's why so many leading organizations across a wide variety of industries trust SecuriThings to manage, maintain and secure their physical security devices – and combat alert fatigue.

Alert fatigue is a serious and widespread problem in the world of physical security, but it's not inevitable. By using technology effectively, physical security teams can make sure that fewer alerts are sent, that they are sent only to the most relevant professionals, and that those alerts that are sent provide actionable information. This way, they can improve their overall physical security posture while preventing inefficiency – helping them achieve enterprise-ready physical security.

For a closer look at how to help your physical security team deliver more security, more efficiently, check out The Guide to Enterprise-Ready Physical Security.

Extreme Weather is Here. Are You Ready? - SecuriThings

Gleb Kapusto — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 06:21:39 GMT

Extreme weather is becoming more extreme. Flooding, wildfires, hurricanes, extreme heat/cold, blizzards, tornadoes, earthquakes – these threats are here, and these threats are escalating. A recent Harvard Business Review report found that from mid-2020 to mid-2022, fire threats were up 150%, and extreme weather risks grew by 61%.

The high price tag of extreme weather

The exact number of deaths due to these unprecedented events is difficult to quantify, but fatalities are often a part of the equation.

This new reality can endanger businesses. Example: Hurricane Milton, which swept through Florida in October 2024, put 1.9 million businesses at risk, according to Night Dragon's Physical Security Market Report.

There are also financial repercussions. This past year, the United States experienced 27 weather disaster events with damage costs of at least $1 billion each, resulting in an estimated total economic impact of $182.7 billion.

Concern about extreme weather is top of mind and isn't going away. A recent survey that identified the top risks expected to dominate the global agenda through 2027 found extreme weather event claiming the No. 2 spot. It's also expected to become the most pressing issue over the next decade.

What does this mean for physical security?

These environmental disasters can adversely impact an organization's physical security posture. Devices can stop functioning, permanently or temporarily, due to power and connectivity disruptions. An additional complication: Technicians may not be able to physically access devices, hindering remediation. Without safeguards like working IP cameras, surveillance systems, and sensors, the door is open for opportunistic crimes like trespassing, looting, and vandalism.

In the words of Noah Price, International G4S Academy Director: "Climate change and natural disasters pose a significant threat to a company's physical security operations. Most companies tend to be reactive, addressing security threats only after they've struck. It's business critical that CSOs [Chief Security Officers] anticipate potential threats and prepare for them. No action or just reaction is not an option."

Proactive physical security strategies are a must

What can organizations do before, during, and after a spell of extreme weather to protect their physical security devices?

Assess the risks

Which cameras, access control points, and alarms are most at risk from floods, high winds, or power outages? Use this information to fortify devices that could bear the brunt of extreme weather.

Stay on top of maintenance

Check your physical security devices on a regular basis. Keep firmware and software updated to prevent vulnerabilities.

Set up remote monitoring and remediation

You may not be able to get to your physical security devices. Remote capabilities can make all the difference.

Invest in backups

Don't forget to test your failover systems and make sure they're ready if need be.

Develop a recovery plan

Put strategies in place for quickly restoring operations and services. Having a clear chain of command can speed up response times during a crisis.

Train your team

Make sure your security and IT staff know the emergency protocol and their roles and responsibilities in a disaster.

Learn from each event

Every natural disaster is a learning opportunity. What did and didn't work? How can you improve next time?

Be prepared

It's important to spend time, resources, and money in preparation and recovery plans for extreme weather. As a recent article in Harvard Business Review points out, "The hurricane approaching your coastal HQ doesn't care that there's a recession looming." Don't bury your head in the sand – there will be more extreme weather events, and you want to do everything you can to keep your physical security devices up and running. Companies who invest now will realize the payoff later.

SecuriThings Announces Partnership With DH Pace Company - SecuriThings

securithings — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 06:21:38 GMT

Joint customers will benefit from full visibility into their physical security devices, as well as a wide range of automation tools to ensure device availability, compliance and cybersecurity – all from a single pane of glass.

SecuriThings has announced a partnership with DH Pace Company, a leading US system integrator. With this new partnership, DH Pace Company customers will be able to visualize, manage and secure all of their physical security devices and related systems from a single pane of glass, with the SecuriThings solution.

How DH Pace Company Customers Stand to Benefit

The SecuriThings Enterprise Solution enables customers to automate the management and maintenance of their physical security devices, management systems and related network assets throughout the entire device lifecycle. Key features include automated firmware upgrades, password rotations, certificate management, remote device restarts, end-of-life planning and more. Customers can also use root cause analysis and Smart Alerts to detect, diagnose and resolve operational issues rapidly and efficiently, while customizable reports and integrations with IT ticketing systems enable effective collaboration throughout the organization.

Among other benefits, SecuriThings enables physical security teams to reduce asset downtime and costly truck rolls, protect their devices from cyber threats, and achieve full visibility and compliance with IT policies and standards.

IT/OT Convergence: The Secret to Cyber Hygiene in Manufacturing - SecuriThings

Gleb Kapusto — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 06:21:37 GMT

The convergence of information technology (IT) and traditional operational technology (OT) – or physical systems – is a natural development in today's connected world. Exciting developments in the areas of AI, Internet of Things (IoT), and the cloud are transforming the way businesses operate. Convergence can help organizations work better, respond faster, and scale as needed. However, the reality is that it also creates more opportunities for cyber exploitation. The manufacturing industry has been particularly hard hit by bad actors in recent years.

Ransomware attacks on manufacturing: By the numbers

$17b in downtime since 2018
$1.9m price tag per day of downtime
11.6 days average downtime per attack

How is convergence playing out for manufacturers today?

Omdia and Telstra International partnered to survey 500+ tech executives across the globe on the convergence of IT and OT – how it affects their core operations, how they address cyber security challenges, and more. Key takeaways include:

80% percent of manufacturing firms experienced a significant increase in overall security incidents or breaches in 2024
Only 45% feel they are adequately prepared to handle cyber threats
Cyberattack resilience or availability issues cost individual firms between $200,000 and $2m

Given the enormous value of convergence, how can manufacturers unlock its potential while mitigating risks?

How to leverage the right tools for stronger cyber hygiene

Proactive planning and remediation are key for protecting physical security devices – and automation can help you make it happen. Use management tools to implement these seven steps for strong cyber security:

Map your assets
Update firmware – don't wait!
Identify and manage vulnerabilities
Harden your devices
Regularly rotate passwords
Manage SSL and 802.1x certificates
Replace physical security devices before they reach end of service (EOS)

Sounds daunting? It doesn't have to be. Adopt SecuriThings to do the heavy lifting. Learn more about our Cyber Protection module.

How a Logistics Company Bridged the Physical Security & IT Gap - SecuriThings

Ari Soffer — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 06:21:36 GMT

As countless organizations struggle to manage their physical security devices, their difficulties are often compounded by a significant information gap between their physical security and IT teams.

With the two teams struggling to share information and work together effectively, that gap can create expensive inefficiencies. More importantly, it can increase the chances of devices having prolonged and undetected downtime – leaving them inadequately hardened and maintained and, therefore, vulnerable to hackers and cybercriminals.

If your organization is struggling with this challenge, it's worth considering how a major North American logistics company successfully bridged that gap and gained control of its physical security device management. Working with SecuriThings, this company has significantly improved its security posture through automation and enhanced visibility, helping it stay safe from both physical and cyber threats.

Here is a look at the customer's success story, which sheds light on what all types of organizations can learn from this company to improve their own security.

The challenge: Juggling a large, highly diverse fleet of devices and systems

This logistics company's challenge of managing its physical security devices stems from its size and the complexity of its physical security ecosystem. It has 194 sites throughout North America, where it has deployed more than 2,500 physical security devices. These devices were produced by 11 different manufacturers and rely on 29 different management systems.

As the company struggled with an overwhelming physical security ecosystem, its ability to manage its physical security devices was hampered because critical device-related information was not reaching the people who needed it when they needed it.

This left the company exposed to both physical and cyber risks, as well as the danger of legal liability in case anything went wrong as a result of inadequate device management. It was also inefficient, expensive, and frustrating – making cooperation and collaboration between the company's physical security and IT teams especially difficult.

To streamline the management of its physical security devices, the logistics company started working with SecuriThings, gaining powerful automated capabilities and comprehensive visibility into the real-time status of its physical security devices and other network assets.

Bridging the IT-physical security information gap with SecuriThings

Working with SecuriThings has allowed the logistics company to address both physical and cyber risks more effectively while making sure that critical information about its physical security devices reaches the right employees at the right time.

One reason the insight provided by SecuriThings is so helpful is the way it sheds light on downtime and other technical issues that can sometimes arise. Not only does SecuriThings rapidly alert the company when these issues occur, but it automatically determines whether the source of a problem is within a physical security device or management system – or due to an IT asset (such as a network switch or router). In addition to assisting with root cause analysis, this approach makes it clear whether a given issue should be addressed by the company's IT or physical security team – helping both teams to address technical issues efficiently.

The company's approach to bridging the information gap between IT and physical security also helps it protect its physical security devices from hackers and cybercriminals. With SecuriThings automatically performing processes such as password rotations and firmware upgrades, the physical security team can easily ensure that its devices are compliant with IT standards for device hardening and maintenance. And because SecuriThings automatically notifies the company when it detects indications that a device is at risk of being targeted, the company's physical security and IT teams have an extra layer of defense against cyber threats – further helping them avoid a risky information gap.

Taken together, the company's results have improved its overall security posture and helped it steer clear of the risks of noncompliance and legal liability that can result from inadequately managed physical security devices. Not only has the company saved money by streamlining the management of its physical security devices, but it has avoided two key dangers: that a physical security incident could occur while devices are down and that a cyberattack could take advantage of vulnerabilities within one or more physical security devices.

Conclusion: Bringing physical security and IT together

As organizations struggle to manage their physical security devices properly, they often suffer from a lack of comprehensive, real-time visibility, which contributes to a serious information gap between physical security and IT teams. This can result in mutual frustration and finger-pointing, making it even more difficult for the two teams to work together successfully.

This type of information gap is a serious risk, but it's far from insurmountable.

This North American logistics company's success story illustrates the benefits that physical security and IT teams can enjoy when they combine automation and enhanced visibility with cooperation, collaboration, and information sharing. By using this type of approach to bridge the gap between physical security and IT teams, organizations of all types can significantly improve their security posture – helping them stay safe from both physical and cyber threats.

For a closer look at how to bridge the gap between physical security and IT teams, watch the on-demand video of a recent webinar on this very topic that we ran together with our partners at Salient.