Infrastructure security is the practice of protecting the physical and operational parts of a network that keep it running: switches, routers, cabling, power, racks, cooling, firmware, and the spaces they live in. It is not only about stopping hackers. It also covers preventing damage, theft, tampering, unsafe repairs, and outages caused by bad power or environmental conditions.
In cyber security, infrastructure is often the hidden point of failure. If a switch is broken, unplugged, drilled into, or improperly modified, it can interrupt both data and power delivery and take multiple devices offline at once. Attackers may target this layer by gaining physical access, sabotaging equipment, or disrupting power and connectivity. Defenders reduce risk with locked cabinets, access control, monitoring, backups, spare hardware, and controlled testing before reused gear is trusted in production.