Tailgating: The Definitive Guide

Tailgating: What is it, how harmful is it, and how to prevent it?

Tailgating is one of the most common types of physical security breaches. It refers to an event when an unauthorized person follows an authorized person to access a secured area. The simplest way to understand tailgating is to imagine a situation where an employee is politely holding a door for a colleague, and an outsider rushes in.

If you have understood what tailgating refers to, it will be easier for you to understand how it is perceived in the world of cybercrime.

What is Tailgating in cyber security?

Tailgating is a simple, low-tech physical hack compared to complex hacking methods. It means the outsider exploits the entry point to enter a restricted area with malicious intent.

A security company SACS’s research suggests that 78 percent of respondents did not have a plan to deal with an incident of tailgating. However, they said they would take an active stance if something happened. This indicates that there is massive scope for improvement and risk mitigation. Prevention is better than cure.

Here is a step-by-step guide to preventing tailgating attacks.

Understanding the psychology:

In tailgating, the outsider tricks the authorized person into believing that he is also an authorized person but needs help accessing the restricted area.

• Employees, out of courtesy, keep the doors open for those coming behind. Intruders use this situation as an opportunity to access the restricted area. This is one of the most common types of tailgating when the tailgater walks behind employees as they open doors.
• Expecting deliveries or couriers at the workplace is quite common in the era of e-commerce. The perpetrator might pose as a courier or delivery driver to breach the restricted area.
• What will you do if you see someone coming behind you with his hands too full to open the door? Of course, you instinctively want to help them as a gesture of kindness. Well, this is one of the strategies intruders use.
• In large organizations, it might happen that employees may not recognize each other despite working for the same company. Tailgaters are often found to claim that they forgot or lost the ID card so that someone else provides them access to the office using their card or temporary entry pass.
• As technology evolves, intruders also use it for their own benefit. For example, several tailgaters are found to use a thermal camera to scan the entry pass number and misuse it later.

The organizations likely to fall prey to tailgating are:

• Those having a large number of employees and heavy footfalls.
• Companies working with multiple subcontractors.
• Employees receive deliveries or couriers in a large number every day.
• Sometimes, disgruntled ex-employees tailgate to inflict damage to the organization.

How harmful can Tailgating be?

After getting access to the restricted area, the tailgater may carry out several malicious activities. This includes stealing or viewing sensitive information, damaging premises, exploiting user credentials, inject malware into the IT ecosystem, to count a few.

Possible consequences of Tailgating:

• Some tailgater can create mayhem on the premises by severely injuring one of your employees, who might be his family member, ex-spouse, or a friend to whom they seek revenge.
• They can steal hard drives, phones, raw materials, computers, or expensive items that might cost you dearly. Stolen hard drives and servers give them access to your precious data.
• If the perpetrator is a media person, they can eavesdrop on the sensitive conversation and record confidential procedures. Then they can sell this to media houses for a handsome amount, putting your and your organization’s reputation at stake.
• A competitor might also be a tailgater. In such a situation, they might access sensitive information that might be used against you. The perpetrator can also insert malware into the device to inflict further damage.

How to prevent Tailgating attacks?

Organizations can prevent tailgating attacks in four simple steps. Since most tailgating attacks are carried out accidentally, staying alert about the surroundings is the first way to avoid them. However, it might not be possible all the time. Therefore, companies can spread security awareness to prevent such attacks.

Most organizations believe they could prevent tailgating with guards, barriers, and access control points. However, tailgating incidents suggest that these are not enough. You must equip your system with a robust cybersecurity tool to handle such attacks.

Here are some preventive measures for tailgating attacks;

1. Training and Awareness

Acknowledging the importance of cyber security, several organizations have started training their employees about digital security best practices such as password hygiene and phishing emails. Alongside, they should also give importance to physical safety.

A straightforward way to do so is to hold training and make the employees aware of how tailgating damage your business. In addition, it is crucial to make them understand their role in curtailing such attacks.

Organizations can also seek experts’ help in designing security awareness programs.

2. Introduce social engineering

Most employees are unaware of social engineering attacks. Therefore, they become catalysts of tailgating attacks unknowingly. Thus, making them understand how real-world tailgating incidents occur is essential.

They should be trained to look out for suspicious behaviors and activities in their surroundings to blow the whistle before they damage.

3. Add layers to physical access security

In most companies, employees enter the premises using a smart card. However, successful tailgating attacks indicate that this is not enough. Organizations need an extra layer of physical security. Adding turnstiles at the entry points is a brilliant idea. Companies with larger premises and multiple businesses on different floors demand even more robust physical access security. Badges and ID cards add one more layer to the organization’s security.

4. Video surveillance

It is challenging to monitor large office premises. However, using advanced technology solutions, organizations can install CCTV cameras at multiple entry points. It helps monitor suspicious activities, and in case of an incident, it helps identify the perpetrator. In addition, smart cameras are available in the market that can compare video footage with facial scans of employees and contractors to spot intruders.

Tailgating is accidental, but it can be harmful. Therefore, an organization must consider it a severe threat and take enough security measures to curb the same.