In a recent interview with CNN, the Director of the Secret Service noted that his organization is increasingly focusing on the cyber security of the physical facilities visited by the President of the United States as part of its duty to protect him. This raises the fascinating question of just how much cybersecurity will become part of the physical security conversation in 2017.

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Imagine a major head of state on an official visit to a foreign country or even a visit by the President of the United States to another part of the US. Security forces go to great lengths to construct a physical security cordon and maintain exclusive control over who is able to enter that controlled space. Yet, the growing Internet of Things means that more and more the various objects in that controlled space, from the light bulbs overhead to the elevators to the fire alarms to the traffic cameras are all remotely accessible.

Imagine a foreign intelligence service that wanted to disrupt and embarrass a foreign head of state visiting another country. Today they might hack into the local police offices in the city being visited and monitor email accounts and document archives to locate official security plans and schedules for the visit to plant paid protesters holding large signs along the motorcade route. But, take this a step further and consider for a moment the new factor of the vast Internet of Things that envelopes that visit.

Those hackers could monitor all of the traffic cameras in the area to watch the head of state’s movements in realtime and monitor his or her schedule second by second. As he enters a building, the local CCTV cameras throughout that building could be used to surveil his movements and compile an intelligence list of everyone he meets with.

Yet, here’s where things get far more worrying.

When he steps on the elevator to change floors, those hackers could disable the elevator system and trap him, disrupting his visit and generating media images of him being helplessly dragged up a ladder to safety.

Or they could trigger the fire alarms or overheat a piece of equipment to cause a real fire and activate the sprinkler system, leading to images of a soaked and miserable leader cutting his visit short.

Given that most modern office buildings have switched to electronic access controls, those hackers could simply deactivate all locks across the building, instantly rendering the entire facility unsecured, doors flapping in the breeze and causing mass panic among his guards.

Or, they could move to paralyze the entire city, cutting power to every major building, while activating fire alarms across the city and manipulating traffic signals to cause massive traffic accidents and trap first responders helplessly across the city and preventing him from reaching his next appointments.

Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kalevleetaru/2017/01/13/when-cybersecurity-meets-physical-security/