An investigation into smart technology measures to ensure cities can offer their citizens a good quality living environment
by Kathy Holoman and Aaron Kuzmeskus, Schneider Electric Integrated Security Solutions
Supply chains and the transportation networks that support them reach more corners of the earth than ever before. Unfortunately, security threats that have become increasingly more sophisticated and widespread have followed suit. The implementation of intelligent security management solutions can play a significant role in ensuring business continuity, efficiency, safety and profitability. At the same time, such solutions can also deliver unanticipated business benefits that transcend the scope of traditional security.
Smart security provides effective protection for people and assets at various points during transit. Intelligent security capabilities also help mitigate risk and liability, ensure regulatory compliance, and guarantee business continuity. Intelligent solutions provide economic benefits: decreased capital expenditures (CapEx) in new construction and reducing operational costs (OpEx) over time. Such solutions also deliver unanticipated business benefits that drive profitability by transcending the scope of traditional security.
Different environments
Both supply chain and transportation environments require efficient throughput – 24/7 flow of people and goods. Smart security plays a crucial role in assuring effective protection and business continuity in each. There is a different focus in the security needs of these respective environments, however. In a supply chain scenario, restricted areas are established and the people who interact within them are known – having already been identified and authenticated. In this case, the main variable that security management personnel monitor is objects (goods in transit). Conversely, in a transportation network, public areas are trafficked by thousands of unknown individuals at work or in transit. Many carry luggage or personal property. Therefore, in this instance, security involves monitoring two variables-people and objects.
Supply chain
In a supply chain environment, intelligent security can serve a number of crucial functions. First and foremost, it helps lower the propensity of loss or theft of goods in transit, significant contributors to increases in rising commerce costs. Because supply chains involve goods, vehicles, points of entry, points of exit, storage and transit cycles in between, intelligent security addresses all of these vulnerability points. Supply chains that involve ground transportation incorporate measures that help protect people and goods. Fleet management capabilities keep transit vehicles, operators, and passengers “in sight” and protected at all times, for example. Mobile track and- trace features and integrated GPS tracking enables monitoring of transit vehicles and their points along routes during various stages of the journey. GPS systems also are effectively employed by many companies that transfer goods by train or by ship. Both of these environments share two unique concerns. In rail yards and shipyards, the first consideration is loss prevention, which a combination of traditional intrusion detection and GPS systems can address. The second is perimeter security – and in the case of many international shipyards – border security. Smart security solutions incorporate biological and radiological sensor technologies or other capabilities designed to detect the potential importation of dangerous substances. Within these and other types of supply chain facilities, intrusion detection systems offer layered protection against unauthorized entry. They provide inherent intelligence to minimize the potential for false alarms. Fencing and other physical barriers that can withstand tough external environments also can be included as part of an integrated security solution.
In the case of facilities, Personal Identity Verification (PIV)-compliant access control systems prevent unauthorized entry to restricted areas, while the second security measure typically monitors the unoccupied areas of the facility such as a roof or attic space. It cannot be turned off by an individual user, but its sensors in the occupied areas are shunted by the disarming of the primary system during hours of normal operation. Video surveillance, intrusion detection, RFID asset tagging attached to pallets or packages and other capabilities also help secure goods in a warehouse. Pallets of merchandise may be tagged with dates as to when the goods should be moved. A motion detection alarm activates if goods are moved prior to the scheduled date and time.
Airports
Although airports are a ‘transportation environment’, they also are an integral part of at least three kinds of supply chains – two legal and one illegal. First, for corporations, airports serve as a transit hub in shipping goods from one location to another. Second, airports serve as their own supply chain. Their infrastructure supports the management of goods such as food and disposables that are necessary for air travel. Third, and much more difficult to monitor is the covert drug and other illegal export/import trafficking that winds its way through airport systems. Illegal goods are transported on-or worse yet in-travelers and in cargo. The first two categories in airport supply chains encounter similar challenges. Statistics show that an inordinately high percentage of deliveries made to airports involve repeat visits by the same vehicles and same delivery personnel. Smart security can extend a different level of trust to accommodate repeat customers and deliveries.
Goods traveling through air cargo and freight terminals also must be addressed. Today, nearly all of the cargo that is loaded on passenger planes is screened. In addition to X-ray, many other specialized technologies are used to detect dangerous chemical, biological or radiological explosives. If cargo appears questionable, then it is inspected by hand. Illegal import/export, a third category of activity in an airport supply chain represents a myriad of detection and safety problems. With drug smuggling, money laundering, importing or exporting of controlled substances, animals, artifacts and more plaguing airports today, security personnel must rely upon many methods of detection. Technology can alert operators of many issues.
Technology that detects links between unusual travel patterns and points of origin or debarkation is a first line of defense. Human intervention – careful observation by security personnel – is a second. Security officers must carefully monitor behavior for unusual actions, erratic movements or certain visual signals that offer clues that a person may be attempting the smuggling of illegal goods. Detention is a next line of defense. In the case of suspects who may have ingested illegal substances, observation (via an operator or video surveillance) provides not only behavioral information that may reveal the nature of the substances and the timing of ingestion, but also surveillance provides an irrefutable record of the incident for use at criminal proceedings.
Ports
Ports represent another unique transportation environment that includes a constant flow of cargo, vessels and people. A smart security solution must provide visibility and protection not only for the facilities, cargo containers, vehicles and other things that comprise land operations, but also to water, to incoming vessels and to seaside areas that contribute to port operations. Centralized control, elaborate surveillance, access control, video analytics, sonar and radar, biometrics, and perimeter control comprise a best of breed solution that keeps a port safe without hindering the flow of cargo. All of these security components must comply with government rules, regulations and initiatives and meet local law enforcement agency requirements. Wireless intelligent video surveillance can monitor activity on land. This ranges from tank farms and rail yards to equipment storage areas and loading docks.
Surveillance helps reduce cargo theft and pilfering. Video also helps secure the seaside, protecting ships on waterways. Radar, sonar, and thermal imaging help control the seaside perimeter, while anti-vehicle controls protect areas on land. License plate recognition helps operators monitor parking areas and vehicular movement in and out of the premises. ‘Object left behind software’ provides alerts from the video management systems of potential threats or suspicious behavior. Nuclear detection and x-ray scanning are employed to monitor cargo and protect against terrorist activity. In highly secure areas, advanced biometrics provides heightened access control. In addition, badge and credentialing systems enable operators to limit individual access to secured areas based on job function or hierarchy in the organization. Integration of various disparate security systems provides the possibility of a single control platform. From this dashboard, operators can access real-time actionable information and make informed decisions based on facts.
Mass transit networks
Mass transit networks include bus, rail, bridge, and tunnel systems as well as commuters, employees, and facilities. Many of these transit systems cover miles of territory and serve as the primary entry and egress routes for all major metropolitan centers. Therefore, the variety of security threats that can be encountered is vast — from violence, vandalism, graffiti, and theft to personal robberies, car theft, hijacking and terrorist activity. Smart security solutions for mass transit networks address problems such as these and provide the capability to scale as the reach of the networks grows. A best of breed solution employs wireless mobile video surveillance to monitor activity inside vehicles, as well as fixed systems under bridges, in tunnels, in parking areas, and on platforms.
Security cameras serve not only as a deterrent, minimizing the potential for graffiti, theft, and other illegal actions, but also as a mechanism to record incidents when they do occur, and aid in the identification of the perpetrators. Integrated analytics detects incidents, records the events, and can even automatically dispatch police and emergency services. Mobile video and DVR archives enable access and documentation to surveillance history for research, evidence, and compliance purposes. Intelligent traffic systems quickly detect traffic jams, accidents or even traffic violations. Such systems also can be integrated with license plate recognition applications for a greater level of protection. Emergency response capabilities are also crucial in a mass transit environment.
Security master plan
A security master plan for transportation or supply chain environments is a crucial foundational element for effective protection and higher return on security investment. It is necessary to ensure that security stakeholders of all types – internal and external – have immediate access to intelligent actionable information at the right time about any given threat or incident.
Command and control
In a critical infrastructure, a smart security environment integrates disparate security systems onto one IP-based IT backbone and enables the solution to be managed by a single control platform. Integrating multiple disparate security technologies onto a single comprehensive IT network drives more effective security protection.