Fundamental Facilities
Effective system integration ensures seamless operation of critical infrastructure.
- By Jason Oakley
- Sep 08, 2009
Technology from the security industry
fulfills an essential role
in protecting the nation's critical
infrastructure. This is defined by a
Homeland Security Presidential Directive
as physical and virtual systems that
are "so vital to the United States that
[their] incapacity or destruction would
have a debilitating impact on security,
national economic security, national
public health or safety." The age of
networked solutions and convergence
of applications enables technology to
provide broad-ranging capabilities to
secure these essential systems.
The country's infrastructure includes
power plants, water supply, telecommunications
systems, transportation systems,
emergency services, government
services, banks and financial systems.
Because these assets are so closely interconnected
and interdependent, the
failure of one could have a wide-ranging,
catastrophic effect that would put
the whole nation at risk.
In the same way that protecting each
facility serves to protect the whole nation,
each security component is critical
to the overall success of security systems.
Each video camera, card reader
and infrared sensor plays an important
role of protection—and each could
conceivably be the point of failure that
would undermine the whole system.
A Federal Plan
The nation's critical infrastructure faces
a combination of public and private
threats, suggesting a need for a shared
public and private response. An estimated
85 percent of the nation's critical
infrastructure and critical assets are
owned by private industry.
However, an attack on any part of
the interconnected whole is broadly a
concern to everyone—and certainly to
the federal government and the Department
of Homeland Security. Therefore,
a shared public-private response involves
not only facility owners but also
federal, state and local governments
working together. DHS' role is to facilitate
that cooperation, to enable sharing
of information across the various industries
and to establish best practices
for infrastructure protection.
Industry-specific information sharing
and analysis centers have evolved
to facilitate the flow of information on
threats, vulnerabilities, countermeasures
and best practices in the private
sector. In recent years, DHS has created
a grant program ($3 billion to date) to
finance security improvements to facilities
ranging from chemical plants
to mass transit systems and seaports.
Among the projects is a Buffer Zone
Protection Program to protect chemical
facilities, financial institutions, power
plants, dams, stadiums and other highrisk/
high-consequence facilities.
Insider Threats
The threat to the nation's essential systems
from insiders is a particular concern,
as evidenced by a 2008 report
titled "The Insider Threat to Critical
Infrastructures" from the National Infrastructure
Advisory Council. Among
the recommendations is the use of
stronger identity management tools
and increased employee screening by
owners and operators of critical infrastructure
facilities.
"Government should create a clearinghouse
resource for owner-operators
to assist in the assessment and mitigation
of their insider threat risks," suggests
the report. Possible technological
solutions to the insider threat are
"improved identity management technologies
and tools to create a strong,
persistent, portable and platform-independent
secure network and physical
access identify for workers. Improved
cross-platform insider threat data correlating
tools [can identify] anomalies
and insider threat-related behavior patterns
across heterogeneous IT systems
and physical access systems." The report
reiterates the need for partnership
and information sharing in the success
of critical infrastructure protection.
Tools for Critical Applications
The technical capabilities of the security
industry are playing a significant
role in protecting the nation. Central
to their effectiveness is the importance
of system integration to ensure all the
components of a system work together.
The role of a system integration company,
such as North American Video, is
to provide consultation, design, installation
and support services that employ
the latest developments in system technology,
all fully integrated to deliver
advanced security solutions on a system
scale. Among the many benefits of
these advanced solutions deployed by
NAV are the following:
Video that is everywhere you need
it. IP video isn't just the latest industry
buzzword; it also is a total transformation
of surveillance capabilities.
Wireless networks send video across
a campus setting or along city streets
from remote cameras. Video analytics
draws attention to events and incidents
that need to be addressed and saves operators
from having to stare for hours
at displays. Megapixel, high-definition
cameras are improving image resolution
and enabling fewer cameras to view
broader areas while maintaining critical
detail when there is a need to zoom in
on the action. Digital recording facilitates
the ability to locate video fast, and
digital storage preserves the images to
enable forensic investigation.
The ability to track who comes and
goes. We have seen the importance of
identity management as it relates to insider
threats, and the industry's access
control systems are increasingly combining
physical and logical applications
in an enterprise-wide system to manage
not only who can open what door,
but who can log into which computer.
Networking enables access control to be
tied into video systems, for example, to
provide an image of someone trying to
get through a door. Visitor management systems also are becoming more sophisticated
and more automated, and they
are often tied into the access control
system. The systems can be integrated
with lists of terrorists, predators and
other threatening individuals.
Integration at the highest levels of the
enterprise. Managers of critical infrastructure
need broad-based, high-level
information when they are managing
a complex operation, and modern networked
systems set the standard for
collecting volumes of data and turning
it into usable information at the enterprise
level. Not only are the security
industry's products networked across
physical security applications, they tie
into other enterprise systems to enable
even broader utility across multiple
business operations. Sharing information
within an enterprise can ensure efficient and safe operation while monitoring
the status of multiple variables
that are critical to success.
Port Security
Protecting the nation's ports has been
a top priority since Sept. 11, 2001, and
technology's role is an illustration of
both the industry's expanding capabilities
to protect critical infrastructure
and the enormity of the job at hand.
The ports handle millions of tons of
cargo that flow through the container
shipping industry. Disrupting one of
the ports could have a devastating effect
on the nation's economy.
Government funding reflects its level
of concern: millions have been spent to
date, and an additional $388 million is
available in 2009 to pay for improvements
in port security. These include
enhancing maritime domain awareness;
enhancing risk management capabilities
to prevent, detect, respond to and recover
from attacks involving improvised
explosive devices, weapons of mass destruction
and other non-conventional
weapons; training and exercises; and
Transportation Worker Identification
Credential implementation.
Federal grants have so far enabled
many of the ports to install the latest
security and surveillance systems,
from video analytics to RFID systems
that track containers. The ports
have led the way in the application of
video analytics to provide intelligence
that gives an alarm, for example, if
someone crosses a virtual tripwire at
the perimeter. Access control systems
perform well in the environment where
there is a combination of public and
private entities and complex scenarios
of who is allowed where.
The Sum of the Parts
Each component is critical to the success
of the integrated whole. This is
true in both the various facilities in the
nation's critical infrastructure and the
components that make up the security
systems that protect those facilities.
Also critical is the way in which
those components are joined together
into an integrated whole. Innovative
system integration enables the various
components of modern security systems
to work together to protect the
nation's critical infrastructure. Fortunately,
the industry
is up to the task.