1. Smart Associates, located in Alor Setar, Kedah, is a firm that provides management and financial services to individuals and small medium businesses. Each of its client has an account to store basic personal information on a server within the main office in Alor Setar. In addition, the firm also keeps information about investment of each client on a separate server at its data centre in Ipoh, Perak. This information includes the total value of the portfolio, type of investments, the income structure, and associated tax liabilities.

In the last few years, large commercial banks have started providing such services and competing for the same set of customers. Smart Associates, which prides itself in personal consumer relations, is trying to provide additional services to keep its current customers. Recently, Smart Associates has upgraded its website, which formerly only allowed clients to update their personal information, to allow customers to access information about their investments, income, and tax liabilities stored at the data centre in Ipoh.

Smart Associates believes that its main office in Alor Setar is situated in a secure location and the data is safely kept from physical intruders. This is because the server is housed in a room that has detectors for smoke and associated sprinklers. The room is windowless and has specialized temperature-controlled air ducts.

However, the management has started looking for other alternatives to place the server as the lease of the main office will be end soon. The management has so much concerns about the secrecy of the location and the associated security measures. Thus, the management is thinking of incorporating new methods of physical data protection. The firms auditors have also expressed their concern that some of the measures at the current location are inadequate and new alternatives should be incorporated.

REQUIRED:

Discuss FOUR (4) essential control features that contribute directly to the security of the computer server environment of Smart Associates .