Technology continues to advance rapidly, and with it has come a relentless escalation in digital attacks. Whether it be a multinational corporation, a government department or a humble local business, no one is immune to data breaches.Just this month, global tech giant Yahoo revealed a second major breach affecting over 1 billion user accounts. And in another attack that grabbed headlines this month, LinkedIn was forced to reset 55,000 Lynda.com customer passwords after a data breach in which hackers gained access to the information of millions of accounts.The fallout of a data breach can be devastating financially. Yahoo’s share price fell by 6.5% in the wake of its recent revelations and Verizon, which has offered to acquire Yahoo's Internet business for $4.8 billion, is rumored to be considering pulling out of the deal.Whether for commercial benefit, foreign intelligence gathering, or simple notoriety, hackers continue to attack with alarming regularity. To protect themselves, businesses adopt digital measures such as firewalls, anti-malware software, and intrusion detection systems.However, the facility in which data is stored should also be a critical part of any organization’s security strategy. After all, how secure is a network in an unprotected building?Modern data centers are hardening their infrastructure and implementing solutions with the power to counter a wide range of threats, both digital and physical.When choosing a secure colocation data center, these are some of the key factors to consider:

1. Physical Infrastructure: Facilities should be positioned at a reasonable distance from headquarters and other buildings associated with the same organization, and situated well back from main roads and high-risk areas like airports.

2. Access: Restricting access is key to data center security. Multifactor access control is becoming the standard way to control admittance to sensitive areas. Biometrics are popular due to their ease of use and effectiveness, but other options like access cards are still commonly used. Surveillance is essential to ensure all areas are free from unauthorized personnel, and monitored CCTV systems should be installed throughout the facility.

3. Redundancy: Implementing a second layer of protection in the event of infrastructure or personnel failure provides a significant boost to security. Power, cooling, network connections and onsite personnel are important elements to consider as part of a redundancy strategy.

As global threats intensify, some data centers are taking security to new levels. The Rockan facility, located in a former military site in Linköping, central Sweden, is one of the most secure data centers in the world. Rockan can survive an atomic blast and continue to function in a post-nuclear environment. The data center requires minimal energy for cooling, instead using the natural cooling properties of the rocks where the facility is situated.Another of the world’s most secure facilities, The Bunker (South East) in Kent, United Kingdom, is capable of withstanding a nuclear, biological, chemical and electromagnetic pulse attack. Situated thirty meters underground, with infrared CCTV, a 24 hour onsite security team and MOD trained guard dogs, The Bunker’s standards are what you might expect of a purpose built fortress.And the Perpetual Storage data center near Salt Lake City, Utah, is located within a granite mountain below 200 feet of solid granite rock. Both earthquake and flood-proof, the facility includes nuclear-blast-proof doors and armed security guards and is believed to “withstand any force known to man”.The exponential growth of web traffic and increased data reliance has driven the global expansion of data centers. With the ongoing threat of physical breaches and the regularity of digital breaches making headlines; data security is now a required cost of doing business in the modern era. Colocation data centers must continue to invest in advanced security strategies to stay ahead of the game and reassure service providers that their facility is secure.If you’re looking for more information on the security within global data centers or if you’d simply like to explore the facilities in your region, feel free to browse through Cloudscene’s online directory of 5,000+ colocation data centers.