A smart switch has the ability to monitor electrical levels and shut off power to a building in the event of power surge or other fault situation. The switch was installed on a wired network in a…

An air gap would physically isolate the switch from the network, breaking the cloud monitoring application the facilities department depends on and eliminating its intended operational function.

Smart switches and IoT devices are shipped with documented default usernames and passwords that attackers routinely attempt during reconnaissance, making default credentials one of the most commonly exploited vulnerabilities in networked devices. Changing the default password immediately closes this well-known attack vector and is a foundational hardening step for any internet or network-connected device, especially critical infrastructure equipment in a hospital environment. This control directly reduces the risk of unauthorized remote administrative access.

A Faraday cage blocks electromagnetic signals and is irrelevant because the switch operates on a wired network and does not use wireless communication that needs shielding.

A cable lock provides physical tamper resistance against theft but does not protect against network-based attacks or unauthorized remote login using default credentials.