SAFETY AND SECURITY
WHY DATA CENTRES NEED TO RETHINK PHYSICAL SAFETY Brian Higgins, Founder of Group 77 – a security company that provides a full range of security assessment, planning, training, and consulting services – examines how AI, cyber-physical convergence, and rising environmental pressures are reshaping safety and security across modern data centres. Data centres have quietly become some of the most critical – and most risk-exposed – facilities on the planet. As AI and cloud workloads surge, operators are being pushed to rethink how they protect people, infrastructure, and the surrounding environment. Safety and security are no longer “support functions”; they’re central to uptime, compliance, and brand reputation. Modern data centres are moving away from siloed cameras and badge readers towards integrated, analytics-rich platforms. Recent industry reports highlight how AI, biometrics, and advanced video analytics are being utilised to transition from reactive incident response to predictive risk management, enabling the identification of unusual behaviour, tailgating, or abnormal patterns in real time.
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ADVANCED ACCESS CONTROL Among the key trends in data centre security is the use of biometric and multifactor access control at every layer (perimeter, building, data hall, cage) to combat credential theft and social engineering. Security cameras are now leveraging AI-enabled video analytics that can spot loitering, piggybacking through secure doors, or vehicles stopping where they shouldn’t be, and automatically notifying security operations. These tools also contribute to enterprisewide risk management, generating operational data used for capacity planning, SLA reporting, and incident forensics. These AI models require tuning, governance, and strong privacy controls, especially where biometrics are in play.
dcnnmagazine.com