IT Baseline Protection Manual - The Information Warfare Site

Safeguard Catalogue Infrastucture Remarks
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S 1.31 Remote indication of malfunctions
Initiation responsibility: Head of IT Section: PBX officer; IT Security
Management
Implementation responsibility: Administrators
IT equipment and support devices requiring no, or only infrequent,
intervention by a human operator are often located in closed and locked rooms
(e.g. server room). As a result, malfunctions which, during their initial stage,
do not yet produce an effect and can be easily remedied will be detected too
late, mostly on account of their impact on IT systems. Fire, malfunctions of a
UPS system or failure of an air-conditioner are some examples of such
"insidious threats".
Remote detection provides for earlier discovery of such malfunctions.
Nowadays, many devices on which reliance has to be placed without the
possibility for constantly testing or observing them, are provided with remote
indication of malfunctions. The respective technical possibilities range from
simple contacts through which a warning lamp can be switched on to
computer interfaces with the pertinent software package for current operating
systems. Often it is even possible through such interfaces to ascertain the
current operational status of the connected devices and thus to take timely
action to counter any failures.
Additional controls:
- Do the persons alerted by remote indication know which measures to take?
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IT-Baseline Protection Manual: Oktober 2000