When relocating office locations domestically or internationally, organizations must ensure the safe passage and management of more than just their physical assets and hardware.
The complex cybersecurity obstacles before, during, and after an operational overhaul can outnumber the physical difficulties of getting operations moving. On the digital side, failing to maintain proper cyber hygiene can disrupt operational consistency and pose several regulatory compliance concerns, which no organization wants to endure.
A lack of cybersecurity awareness and training has often been attributed to small businesses being overly exposed to malicious actors and threats. To prevent an attack from escalating into an operational hazard, it’s prudent to exercise proper cyber hygiene before a move has even been agreed upon.
With that in mind, whether migrating locations domestically or establishing new facilities overseas, it’s important to recognize the security considerations they could face on the digital side. Consider these incumbent or future concerns and the proactive steps you can take to safeguard your assets, data, intellectual property, brand integrity, and consumer trust.
Asset Discovery and Risk Assessment
Before any physical movement begins, organizations need a comprehensive understanding of their digital footprint. This includes comprehensive documentation of all network components and integrations, from switches to personal IoT (Internet of Things) devices. Most corporate premises will have smart building monitoring systems and asset management solutions that work with any incumbent hardware.
However, to enhance security in an office building, surveillance systems, the presence of on-site guards, and a comprehensive assessment will be necessary to prevent unauthorised access and security breaches. Security should also incorporate cataloging digital assets, cloud-based data storage locations, servers, and backup systems and processes.
Organizations with sensitive and high-profile intellectual property (IP), assets, product prototypes, supporting information, research, and tests must be mindful of document security at rest and in transit. If such information were unveiled without proper protocols, it could breach product embargoes, invalidate non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), and disrupt research and development (R&D) tax credit claims, potentially opening organizations up to litigation.
Assess each critical system and device thoroughly, especially if they require minimal downtime. Devices and software that are expected to be running constantly will need to be regularly validated, patched, and managed, the processes of which can be entrusted to automation. However, human oversight and supervision are vital, particularly during a corporate relocation. Therefore, whether you’re overseeing an on-site hotel project management system overhaul or an entire infrastructure upgrade from a team of 30 employees merging into a larger office with a headcount twice as big, every component must be thoroughly tested, updated, and integrated. Any vulnerabilities must be identified, fixed, and monitored to ensure compatibility and security.
Network Security and Infrastructure Planning
Securing network infrastructure during transition requires careful consideration of temporary and permanent security measures. Implementing strict segmentation policies to isolate systems during the move is recommended to prevent unauthorized access when systems are most vulnerable.
Seamless and compliant data migration to new on-premise servers is vital for organizations leveraging public, private, or hybrid cloud infrastructure. The same can be said if moving from an on-premise environment to one in the cloud. The important pre-migration checks involve reviewing provider agreements, validating security controls, and updating access control policies to reflect the new network while upholding the same hygiene as the incumbent.
Data Protection and Privacy Compliance
Maintaining compliance with various regulatory frameworks during relocation is essential.
While some are transient across industries and geographical borders, such as GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations), PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard), and SOX (the Sarbanes-Oxley Act), others are more sector-specific, such as HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and TISAX (the Trusted Information Security Assessment Exchange).
Compliance becomes a highly intricate and complex procedure for whatever standards and regulations apply to your industry when moving data between different jurisdictions or when dealing with data that moves between different security systems.
Access Control and Identity Management
Reviewing and securing access to critical data becomes more vital when it is in transit from one location to another. Restricting access to only the relevant personnel ensures the safe journey of critical data, allowing informed decisions to be made without excessive interference.
In a relocation context, implementing strict segmentation policies and controls to isolate systems during the move and ensuring that any temporary contractors working on migrations, for example, cannot reach a certain level or uncover intricate metadata will be vital. Updating access credentials, certificates, and security keys or tokens to reflect new network configurations and locations will also prove incredibly important.
The salient point is to maintain zero-trust principles during any transition, whatever its complexity or scale.
Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery
Organizations will always want to preserve their long-term resilience throughout any relocation period. While careful decisions will have been made well before any move, for example, to confirm the suitability of a new architecture, network bandwidth, server space, and so on, sometimes results can vary. Organizations will want confirmation and validation that they
Testing and validating backup systems (system configuration and data backups) before, during, and after relocation will provide peace of mind. In case of any failures during the transition, establishing clear system recovery procedures will be made easier with the help of defined recovery time objectives (RTOs) and recovery point objectives (RPOs). Business continuity and disaster recovery plans must be kept safe, as will compliance certificates, cybersecurity policies, and important technical documentation, which must be safeguarded at every touchpoint. However, they must be updated to reflect new network configurations, security controls, and any location-specific restrictions.
Key Takeaways for Corporate Relocations
Executing a successful commercial relocation is far from easy. It involves a series of comprehensive technical investigations and measures to validate the stability and suitability of your new environment. Organizations have many assets and systems to maintain while ensuring continuity and compliance, and it may seem like a tall order. Still, with the right partnerships, it can be made infinitely easier.
One key ingredient to successfully navigating a premises move is to treat it as an opportunity to enhance your security posture and firm up your controls rather than view it exclusively as a risk management exercise. This allows organizations to emerge from a transition in a better place, with reinforced infrastructure and policies that meet their current needs and future challenges.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in this and other guest author articles are solely those of the contributor and do not necessarily reflect those of Tripwire.
