Examining Convergence

Merging worlds of physical security, IP networks will open opportunities

• By Bob Beliles
• Mar 05, 2007

THE convergence of physical security and IP networks opens up opportunities for security operations personnel to better protect assets and people. But to take advantage of the opportunities, security operations must do away with fear, uncertainty and doubt that often surround running physical security on a IP network.

Myth Busters
Myth 1: The network will get overloaded. Network bandwidth limitations represent one of the greatest mythical arguments against convergence. In reality, many physical security system devices, such as access control badge readers, consume a negligible amount of bandwidth. The technology requires, at most, a few kilobits per second on a LAN, which can support 10,000 times that amount of traffic.

When it comes to surveillance video, even the modest Ethernet switches used by millions of small and medium-sized businesses can support thousands of MPEG4-compressed video streams. If an organization has numerous cameras, there is a good chance it will use even larger and faster Ethernet switches, which can support tens of thousands of video streams.

Transporting video to or from a remote location using a WAN is more challenging because bandwidth is less plentiful across longer distances. However, it is significantly more feasible than using an analog-based CCTV system. Video compression helps minimize bandwidth usage, as does reducing frame rate and resolution. In addition, IP network equipment offers quality of service mechanisms that can be used to prioritize event-driven and latency sensitive video.

Myth 2: Placing physical security information on the network will leave it vulnerable to the masses. The switches and routers that form the basis of IP networks already segment network resources, allowing and restricting access to confidential data based on employee and other profiles. That capability is what prevents most people from accessing their companies’ confidential human resources and financial databases using corporate networks. Security operations can take advantage of the same segmentation methods to restrict unauthorized employees from viewing video surveillance data or files.

Myth 3: Surveillance and security data will be prone to computer viruses and hacks. The worry is justifiably a cause for concern. However, many incidents are a result of poor password management or simply not using security features built into network devices. When network security best practices are used, the information transmitted remains secure. Consider financial networks, banking and stock transactions secure.

Myth 4: The IT department will take over. If this were the case, human resources, finance, sales, manufacturing and almost every other networked application user group would cease to exist. Physical security will continue to exist regardless of what box or wire type is used for prevention and monitoring. Will you really miss troubleshooting a connectivity problem or performing general system maintenance? These mundane tasks can be performed by the IT group, which already handles them for other departments.

Facing Facts
Fact 1: Network devices bring higher system uptime to physical security. IP networks provide redundant transmission links and special protocols that allow failover, or a backup device, to instantly take over the operations of a device that fails. The networks also can send real-time notifications of connectivity loss to security operations personnel. The attributes help keep security applications available with a high degree of resiliency, giving users more time to focus on the safety and security of an organization’s assets and people.

Fact 2: Convergence offers greater authorized accessibility to security video and data. Safety and security monitoring and alarm/event notification are no longer limited to a local central operations center. By using various network security features, users can retrieve video and receive event notifications from anywhere with network access using a variety of wired and wireless devices, even cell phones. Users also can provide first responders with access to critical security information during an event, allowing for much more effective collaboration.

Fact 3: Convergence drives greater interoperability for best-in-class security. While many analog physical security devices use vendor-proprietary signaling running through a disparate infrastructure, IP devices are more open and standards based. So, multi-vendor, best-of-breed security installations can be built based on what is deemed appropriate. IP gateways, such as encoders and decoders, even allow hybrid analog and IP security applications to be deployed. As a result, network becomes the platform for communication and collaboration between physical safety and security applications, along with devices and users. Physical security convergence will drive down the cost of deployments.

Fact 4: Convergence enables tight integration between security and other systems. While video and access control applications are an obvious integration opportunity, at some point, fire alarms and other safety systems benefit from information generated by the access control application. For example, the employee’s badge swipe or other credential verification event can be used to light the path from entry to the employee’s office and turn on the heater, rather than activating lights and HVAC fans on an entire floor for power conservation during weekends and holidays.

By tying physical security access control and its logs into network access authentication and enforcement systems, a company can set a policy that all employees must badge-in or provide other credentials at a building’s entrance to gain electronic access to network resources and gain physical access. When the network becomes aware of an individual’s physical presence in a building, physical security policies and posture become another layer of defense for network security. As a byproduct, unauthorized entry/tailgating into buildings also can be curtailed when every employee has to swipe their badge to obtain network access.

The use of video surveillance by new user groups also is enabled through convergence. Physical security operations, such as retail loss prevention, can provide retail store management with access to live and recorded video. Users can monitor the length of checkout queues and redeploy idle sales associates. Dwell times in front of displays, customer and vehicle counts and traffic flow can be analyzed by merchandising and other groups. Network convergence transforms physical security systems into business tools.

Converged physical security provides greater alignment with organizational goals and represents a new business tool—not just an operational expense item. Networked physical security not only offers greater flexibility to security operations personnel, it makes them more productive and allows them to focus on the core responsibility: protecting assets and people.