Bridging the Gap: How Government Agencies are Unifying Physical & Cyber Security

Government agencies at all levels – federal, state, local, tribal, territorial – are wrestling with ways to improve physical security through, and in collaboration with, cyber assets. This intersection of physical security and digital surveillance in government – often called cyber-physical security convergence – represents the merging of traditional facilities protection with digital IT and OT (operational technology) networks and AI tools.

By linking smart cameras, biometric access points, and IoT sensors, agencies can create unified threat detection that monitors real-world environments while compiling vast amounts of trackable, searchable data. Some cities and counties, for instance, have created real-time crime centers (RTCCs). Healthcare facilities and educational institutions, intelligence agencies, even social services agencies, also are exploring how to combine physical and cyber security.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the components of both physical and cyber systems used for facility access and security
• Review tools that can work with these disparate elements to create a unified surveillance and security system
• Outline ways that real-time crime centers have pioneered the use of data, including images, to anticipate, prevent, and solve criminal activities