Is Our Telecomm Infrastructure Secure?
High-tech options can help solve industry's unique problems
- By Andy Hilverda
- Jul 11, 2008
The events of Sept. 11, 2001, and the 2005 hurricane
season emphasized U.S. dependence on an
effective national telecommunications infrastructure.
Telecommunication companies are a critical part of
America’s infrastructure and key to securing the homeland
in times of emergency. Reliable, resilient communication
services can provide the bridge between emergency
responders, firefighters and law enforcement for
cohesive emergency management.
Security is paramount to the telecommunications
industry, but companies face unique challenges in
implementation because of the way they are structured.
Companies must secure their networks while
managing hundreds of properties over geographically
widespread regions. Understanding who has access
rights and when they exercise those rights is essential
to securing operations.
Unmatched Challenges
The ongoing problems in managing remote, isolated
sites are more related to vandalism and theft than terrorism.
With the tremendous increase in the price of copper
and other metals, substations and equipment rooms have
become prime targets for thieves. Keys are being duplicated,
and companies have no idea how many keys they
have out in the field. Thieves gain access to equipment
rooms to steal expensive network switches so they can
sell them outside the United States. Cabling is stripped
for metals and sold on the open market.
There also are serious access control issues for owners
of rooftop antenna-site equipment rooms with multiple,
co-located wireless carriers sharing the different
subdivisions within a room. All have their own technicians
coming and going. Maintenance people for the
building’s physical plant also need access rights.
In some situations, there may be a CCTV system in
place, or independent security cameras at the entrance to
the building. However, in most cases, no system has
been implemented for identifying who is accessing the
different subdivisions within the equipment room.
Owners have no idea how many “lost or missing” keys
are still out in the field or how many keys are being used
for criminal purposes.
Remote cell tower sites face similar problems, but
their vulnerability is heightened by their isolation. Once
again, owners often have no system in place for tracking
the cell and switch technicians who visit their sites and
have no level of control over the keys issued. Another
concern is that most sites include a padlock on the gate,
one or two doors on the equipment room and a door to
the structure that houses the generator. Often, each type
of door hardware and padlock is of a different make and
manufacturer, which only compounds the problem of
key control.
These are some of the troubling problems that confront
companies in developing a strategy for securing
their sites. As companies begin to tackle these issues,
they look for an access control system that offers high
security and flexibility. Most importantly, they look for
key control and an audit trail. Because they face an overwhelming
array of choices, costs and undefined benefits,
companies need to have a methodology in place for
pursuing a balanced approach to their security goals and
a way of measuring the success of their efforts.
A security plan must be scalable to allow telecom
companies to control access to multiple facilities and
track multiple identities. Touching on some solutions
that are available today, here is an overview of technology
that might be considered for integrating into an effective
plan to manage site security.
High-tech Options
Entry door systems are available that use biometrics for
either authentication or identification. Until recently,
large biometric applications have been impractical
because of the cost of replacement hardware and installation.
And, a huge amount of memory is required to
store biometric templates.
Biometric technology is evolving with a wide array
of new products for single door and stand-alone solutions.
However, this technology needs to consistently
provide higher performance in products designed for
commercial applications.
Multilocation digital video security systems are a viable
option for surveillance of rooftop antenna-site equipment
rooms. As the technology has evolved, cameras have
become more compact and now are able to produce images
under limited-light conditions. There are a host of products
to choose from, and the task of researching choices may be
daunting—but they are certainly worth looking into.
When considering digital video, be aware that there
are limitations to bandwidth size, and video files are
often extremely large. Bandwidth and file size are closely
related. Digital signals of the images need to be
processed and transmitted over a network in a reasonable
length of time. The larger the video image, the larger the
bandwidth needed to transmit the image over the network.
When hundreds of cameras are installed over a
large geographic area, compromises usually have to be
made as to the level of image quality and the frequency
of reproduced images.
Emerging technology is bringing IP-based security
solutions for networked environments to provide collective
surveillance, access control and identity management
to large organizations. This convergent technology
incorporates IP cameras, IP video servers, video analytics
and security-explicit storage solutions. IP security
should be researched thoroughly to determine the cost of all the elements, including installation.
Are there dedicated funds for the installation?
Have administrative costs been considered
to efficiently manage the system
after installation? Is it the correct technology
for the immediate problems?
Advances in technology have brought
us wireless video verification. These systems
combine battery-powered cameras,
sensors and GPRS communication with a
central monitoring station. Video-verified
intrusion alarms are becoming more
practical as the costs of CCTV decline,
making them a more practical solution
for locally based security. Telecom site
owners can benefit from a wireless system
when there is an intrusion, quickly
determining whether the intrusion is nonthreatening
or more serious.
Key Control Issues
If key control and an audit trail are the
immediate concerns of most telecom companies,
what’s available to get control of
the keys? How can they control and audit
the comings and goings of subcontractors
and technicians who visit their sites?
“In working with telecom companies,
I see a hodgepodge of all types of padlocks,
door hardware and keys,” said John
Switzer, owner of Trevino Lock and Key
in El Paso, Texas. “Nothing is keyed the
same, and they have no way of quantifying
their security risks because of the
unknown number of keys in circulation.
Companies gain control over their keys
and have an efficient method of tracking
their technicians and subcontractors with
the CyberLock® electronic lock system.”
This system is unique in that it incorporates
the mechanical lock hardware and
padlocks already present at telecom sites.
The mechanical cylinders inside existing
locks are replaced with electronic cylinders,
all without hardwiring. The locks and
keys store an extensive audit trail so owners
can know when vendors visit their sites.
Verizon Wireless has implemented
the electronic lock system throughout
its facilities.
“We wanted better control over who
entered our buildings and a system that
would allow us to track key usage,” said
Jackie Johnson, manager of operations for
Verizon Wireless in the Carolinas. “With
the electronic lock system, we have
achieved that. Now we can track vendors
completing services and other functions.”
A subcontractor’s key can be programmed
to open multiple locks and padlocks.
In addition, a key can be set with a
period of time it will function before it
becomes inactive. The electronic lock system
supports a variety of methods for communication
between the hardware and software,
including the use of cellular PDAs to
program keys on demand in the field.
All of the solutions mentioned are certainly
very capable and can be integrated
into a cohesive plan for meeting telecommunications’
ever-widening security concerns.
With today’s advances in security
technology, organizations have the opportunity
to implement integrated systems
that provide physical
security, accountability,
and, most importantly,
key control.
This article originally appeared in the issue of .