Every day seems to bring news of yet another new cyberattack or exploitation tactic capable of crippling the world and putting organizations out of business. AI-enabled attacks. Encryption-busting Quantum Computing. And so on.

Naturally, organizations are increasing budgets and investing more in advanced technology to defend themselves from these ever-evolving threats. Yet, there is one facet that organizations often overlook while building their digital fortress: physical security.

As organizations focus intensely on protecting their digital infrastructure with mechanisms such as next-generation firewalls and zero trust architecture, they often underestimate risks in their physical environments.

Remember: One bad actor accidentally allowed into the wrong area can wreak havoc on banks, hospitals, water plants, factories  – just about any organization with critical data or essential service functions.

This gap is precisely why physical security testing has become a crucial part of a modern, comprehensive defense strategy. Without it, even the most advanced cybersecurity measures can be rendered ineffective.

The Departmental Silo - "Bits" and "Bricks" Don't Talk

Most organizations have a serious communication gap between the teams that protect the “bits” – the IT professionals – and the teams that protect the “bricks” – the guards, facility staff, and physical security personnel.

While the “bits” team focuses on the digital wall, the “bricks” team takes care of the badges, cameras, and access points. The gap lies in the fact that all an organization’s sensitive data ultimately lives on hardware, and that hardware lives in a physical space. When these groups work in isolation, they create blind spots that can be exploited by attackers.

This lack of collaboration between IT teams and physical security teams can cause threats to go unnoticed and incident response to be delayed. A purely technical mindset assumes attackers only exist on wires and the network, when in reality, they could walk through the front door in a technician’s uniform. Physical security testing exposes these vulnerabilities.

Why Organizations Should Worry

In the current threat landscape, organizations focus more on securing the technological aspects than the physical security aspects. But why is physical security so important to reflect upon?

According to Verizon’s Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), physical actions consistently account for a significant percentage of data breaches over the years, especially in healthcare and government sectors where physical records and hardware are more commonly used.

In a busy hospital, for example, think of how easy it could be for a tablet to go missing from a workstation or for someone to leave a sensitive document unattended on a printer machine. Scenarios like this can lead to serious exposure. DBIR reports often highlight that physical security is a low hanging fruit for attackers, remaining one of the easiest, most overlooked entry points.

How Physical "Hacking" Actually Works

Physical hacking does not involve breaking into hi-tech systems, it simply requires finding the path of least resistance. Some ways attackers do this are:

• Tailgating/Social Engineering: Remember the etiquette of holding the door open for the next person to walk in? We’re trained to be polite by holding the door for someone whose hands are full, letting a person slip in behind us, or waving someone through to avoid inconveniencing them. It sounds pretty normal right?

But this exact instinct is what attackers exploit. They get past physical security defenses simply by hacking human politeness. By arriving at the perfect moment behind an employee, the attacker relies on courtesy to override security protocols. A single act of politeness can grant an attacker access to restricted areas without ever needing a badge.

• The "Unsecured" Hardware: Hackers can also pretend to be guests to enter lobbies, waiting rooms, or other publicly accessible areas where they look for open network jacks. From there, the hacker can plug in a tiny device that connects their computer to the organization’s internal network. Once planted, the hacker can later access the organization’s internal data as if they were sitting right inside the premises.
• Eyes-On Stealing: Attackers can pose as a customer in a coffee shop and sit next to an employee who is busy working on their laptop. They can then use a high‑resolution camera to capture login credentials as they’re entered onto the screen. Another tactic is for attackers to disguise themselves as maintenance staff and discreetly photograph sticky notes with passwords, sensitive papers left on printers, or documents sitting on desks. These simple “glance‑and‑go” attacks require almost no technical skill but can yield highly sensitive information.

Physical Security Tests Organizations Can Run

Organizations should conduct physical security testing to validate whether processes truly work in practice. Here’s a breakdown of what tests organizations can conduct to test their physical security:

Tailgating

This is one of the oldest, and still most effective, techniques. An ethical hacker/tester follows closely behind an authorized employee into a work area pretending to be distracted, on a call, or carrying boxes to look occupied. The goal here is to try bypass the badge system or other controls in place by relying on an employee’s natural inclination to be helpful. Tailgating tests highlight the importance of “badging in” every time someone passes through the physical access control area, even when it feels impolite to deny someone entry.

Authority Simulation

In this method the tester dresses up as a technician, contractor, or maintenance worker and claims to be responding to an emergency, making an employee feel they must let them in urgently. Under pressure, employees often waive normal procedures to avoid being the reason something falls out of place. The goal here is to show aggression due to the emergency and try to move past the front desk without having to show a valid ID or log into the visitor system. The attacker can even go to the extent of telling an employee they will report them to higher authorities for slowing them down to make the situation seem more urgent. This test exposes how easily perceived authority can override protocol.

Lost USB (Baiting)

This is one of the easiest ways for a tester to bypass all technological barriers by exploiting human curiosity. The tester drops a USB with a juicy, irresistible label such as “Confidential Layoffs,” or “Acquisition Details.” The aim here is to take advantage of an employee’s curiosity, making them pick up the USB and plug it into their computer.

While many organizations have sensitive, air-gapped systems that outsiders can’t reach through the Internet, if an employee falls for such baiting attacks, they may unknowingly create a bridge and carry malware into highly protected systems. Real‑world malicious USBs can open remote shells, download malware, or install backdoors within seconds. The repercussions could vary, but testing this is important to show employees that random USBs can never be deemed safe. They should abide by a critical rule: If IT didn’t issue it, it never gets plugged in.

Trash Diving

Discarded documents can be a goldmine. Papers are often torn, not shredded, and thrown into bins. Testers use trash bins to gather internal information such as employee names, roles, contact information, itineraries, project details, and more. These scraps can arm attackers with the context they need to craft persuasive social‑engineering attacks.

This test highlights employees’ poor disposal habits and reinforces the idea that any sensitive information, unless shredded and turned into confetti before throwing away, can be a security risk paving the way for bigger attacks.

"Empty Desk" Audit

In this test, the tester walks through the office to look for unattended desks with passwords on sticky notes, unlocked workstations, or sensitive documents left out in the open. The objective here is not to embarrass employees but to surface small oversights that could render technological defenses useless.

This test helps to validate whether employees are following a “clean desk” policy and shows that real hackers don’t need to be intelligent coders to get access to an organization.

Why do physical security tests?

The point of these tests isn't to get employees in trouble. It’s to show them that security is everybody’s business. When a staff member stops a maintenance worker and asks to see their ID, they shouldn't feel like they are being difficult, rather, they should feel as if they just saved the organization from a potential breach.

Building a Truly Resilient Posture

To build a strong, resilient security posture in today’s landscape, organizations must have holistic security testing plans in place. Here is how physical security testing can be integrated into your organization’s existing processes:

1. Red Team Ops: Ensure red team tests include physical security testing to identify whether someone can gain physical entry into office premises. If they get in, see if they can plant a rogue device or grab sensitive files.
2. Policy vs. Reality: Most organizations have a physical security policy in place that covers “no tailgating” and “clean desk” policies. Physical testing shows whether employees are actually following these policies. These tests validate policy adoption and identify whether there are changes needed in the company’s culture.
3. Hardware Audits: Physical security testing reminds organizations to disable unused network ports in public areas and to ensure server rooms aren't just locked but are also alarmed and monitored.

Physical Security Testing Wrap-Up

An organization can invest in the most secure, advanced technological setup on the market, but it won't matter if someone can physically access your environment and move across your digital fortress. It takes just one unchallenged visitor, one unattended device, or one act of misplaced trust to undermine all of the time, money, and resources used to build a strong digital wall.

The true strength of a security program lies not only in its technology, but also in its people and the physical safeguards that protect the very hardware those digital defenses rely on. Physical security testing closes the gaps that firewalls and software can’t reach.

By integrating physical testing into your security strategy, you build a culture capable of defending your digital fortress from both the threats on the network and the ones walking through the door.

Reference:

1. https://natlawreview.com/article/insider-threats-climb-are-costly
2. https://www.varonis.com/blog/cybersecurity-statistics
3. https://www.proofpoint.com/us/resources/threat-reports/human-factor-social-engineering