High Security Systems

Modern security systems in a high-profile facility can consist of thousands of connected devices. The sheer scale of detection systems can make them difficult to maintain. Having a centralised software application to monitor all of the devices means a 24/7 health status of the scheme can be displayed to operators and people responsible for maintenance.

Exploiting intelligence to create warnings

If a camera stops producing a video signal or the usual scene activity changes dramatically, the system can automatically highlight this to an operator as soon as it happens rather than when the operator next looks at the relevant camera. If a detection device does not operate at least once in a given period of time, the system can create an alert for a maintainer so that the scenario can be checked. The alternative is to either wait for the next routine maintenance activity or for a real threat event to go undetected with potentially disastrous consequences. 24/7 monitoring of central devices also allows for the detection of a ‘corridor of opportunity’. In a security system, this is when two or more lines of defence are inactive (and thus vulnerable) in a layered approach. It is common practice to have two different detection technologies on a perimeter to increase the probability of detection. Similarly, good practice dictates having CCTV to provide video verification of alarm events in any given zone.

A corridor of opportunity would be created if two of these three systems failed simultaneously. This would create a significant weakness on the perimeter so providing opportunities to breach the system. A corridor of opportunity would also occur if multiple lines of defence were to be ineffective throughout a facility, creating a weak path or ‘corridor’ to a protected asset.

Big data and trend analysis

The ability to automatically aggregate and correlate large data sets results in the further benefit of ‘trend analysis’ which has the potential to predict the next security event. Access to so much data allows the identification of common events across time and location. Patterns can be extracted through trend analysis to foresee and mitigate threats.