Microsoft controls worldwide physical security operations from three sites

Stephen Withers
Saturday, 15 May 2010 17:25

Business IT - Security

What does business continuity mean to you? For Microsoft Global Security it can involve locking a door from the other side of the world.

One part of Microsoft Global Security's activities is monitoring physical security at the company's premises around the world. This is carried out from three Global Security Operations Centers (GSOCs), located at Redmond (USA), Reading (UK) and Hyderabad (India), each responsible for their geographical region

The previous approach was decentralised, people-intensive, and involved more than 60 different proprietary systems, inconsistent policies across locations, live video monitoring, VCR recording, and lots of paper.

In contrast, the GSOCs are centralised, automated, highly interoperable, and use generic hardware (notebooks are used so they can be quickly removed if a centre must be evacuated) off-the-shelf software, and digital video. The hardware standardisation means that any workstation can be used for any purpose, though in practice seats are associated with particular functions.

As you might expect, a wide range of Microsoft software is employed at the GSOCs, including Windows 7, Surface, SQL Server 208, Groove 2007, InfoPath 2007, Office Communicator 2007, SharePoint Server 2007, and Bing Maps.

For example, an attempt to enter a secured area with an invalid access card will generate an alarm. From the prioritised list of alarms, an operator can display a map of the affected location, watch live video from the relevant camera, view video clips from the time of the incident, open or lock doors, and more.

What happens when a GSOC can't operate normally? Find out on page 2.