Counter Terror Gazette

Security Technology and the Fight against Terrorism

02 Oct 2011

By Peter Löffler, Head of Life Cycle Security, Siemens Building Technologies

The horrific attacks of 11 September 2001 in New York, and those in Madrid in 2004 and London in 2005, naturally led to a major change in the requirements demanded of security technology in combating and dealing with terrorist threats. Before that time, the focus of the industry was on generating alarms quickly and efficiently whenever any incident occurred. The aftermath brought about a demand for smart solutions, driven by the desire to prevent attacks but also the need to deal with any event as effectively as possible should it occur.

Conventional security systems still generally comprise of electric fences, barriers and checkpoints, surveillance systems, command centres and video recorders – for the evaluation of events after they have occurred. Some security solutions, however, now combine video with incident and emergency management with the aim of optimising security by way of an integrated command, control, decision-support and communication platform. These systems are not only able to monitor a site, manage the call-taking of responding security personnel and dispatch and administer resources on a daily basis but also, more importantly, able to do all of this in the heat of an emergency situation.

Getting the balance right

However, as terrorist tactics escalate and we find ourselves dealing with perpetrators willing to kill and die for their cause, it is evident that we need to be proactive in developing new technologies. Wherever it is possible, we need to anticipate likely new threats so that the means for dealing with them are developed in a timely manner. Achieving the balance of enhancing security procedures sufficiently to protect people and property, while safeguarding the right to privacy and individual freedom, is also a major challenge. A really effective defence is more a matter for our counter-terrorist intelligence agencies rather than just for the security technology industry.

Current technology can only make a difference in very specific scenarios without encroaching too far into the everyday civil liberties that we all take for granted. Terrorists might detonate an explosive device outside the secure area of an airport, train station or anywhere there are significant numbers of people. Yet, if continuous monitoring of the external environs of these facilities was to be effectively implemented, normal life would be completely disrupted. Similarly, if we recognise that the German rail system carries more passengers in a day than Lufthansa does in a year, we also have to appreciate that you cannot simply adopt the measures of an airport security checkpoint and apply it to the rail network. Developments in technology will undoubtedly have a role to play here – more sophisticated explosives detectors, improved metal detection and monitoring behavioural patterns are all amongst them. Individually they can help, but working together they can significantly increase the probability of success.

Technology to support the human element of security

In the development of today’s intelligent security technology, the United Kingdom is playing a leading role. There are, within the City of London for instance, an estimated 800,000 video cameras monitoring the streets around the clock. This is the greatest number of police security cameras per square metre of any city in the world. Though not all of these cameras are “intelligent”, the installed base that they all constitute has the potential to be developed into a networked system providing situational awareness of the whole city. In the United States a great deal of investment has also gone into intelligent security. But it is Israel which is leading the way in research spending, particularly into video analytics, the practice of using computers to detect, analyse, track and classify the activity of people and vehicles as they move through a site. Video analytics already commonly deployed includes perimeter violation, automatic number plate recognition and the monitoring of human movement and behaviour.

One reason current security measures are sometimes ineffective is the overall cost – particularly in terms of the man-hours involved with conventional video surveillance, where no intelligence is built into the technology. After only ten minutes of watching traditional CCTV images on six to ten screens for instance, the concentration of the average security guard is already dropping. After a total of only thirty minutes, attention will have fallen much further. Operators then need a lengthy break before they can resume monitoring activities with their original focus. With a system like that covering London, where there are 800,000 cameras, 8,000 teams each comprising six people (two people per 8-hour shift) would be required to cover twenty four hours efficiently – that’s 48,000 operators!

It is obvious that, to ensure effective ‘round-the-clock’ surveillance of images, solutions are needed to improve the way that video images are analysed. This is where the video analytics referred to earlier can assist. Over wide or diverse sites, surveillance systems that process various notifications make more sense than one that simply triggers an alarm when a barrier is breached. Modern-day, ‘intelligent’ surveillance systems can monitor numerous independent parameters, placing them within an overall context in order to create an overview of situational awareness. Human intervention is still required to determine whether an alarm should be triggered but it can be based on a much more thorough appreciation of the situation.

Surveillance technology featuring intelligent video analytics operating over a wide area is available for the continuous and reliable protection of critical infrastructure, using intelligent policy zones and virtual barriers. It combines camera and other sensor input and displays the entire protected site on one screen. It can detect, track, and classify activity in real time, enabling the operator to see exactly what is happening throughout the site as it occurs. By detecting or even anticipating incidents, it increases proactive security. Open architecture enables it to run on standard hardware and software, plus it can be modified to meet changing needs. It easily accommodates site-specific conditions and varying security levels in accordance with threat levels or evolving government mandates.

Online vulnerability

The threat to power supplies and other vital control systems is one that worries many security experts. One of their greatest fears is that technology will be compromised via internet hacking’ as many institutions have little or no encryption technology in place. This has led to a call for power supply systems to be disconnected from the internet in order to eradicate the risk. However, the main problem seems to be, not that the firewalls defending our power plants are unable to offer adequate protection, but rather that many operators fail to make full and effective use of the software and systems that they already have at their disposal. Even today, there are many instances where computer systems are compromised, not by remote hacking, but by files unwittingly introduced to the system by the operators themselves on memory sticks, for example. There is a need therefore to create a more appropriate mindset and the real will to establish a culture in which operators take the security threat seriously and treat the systems on which they work with the utmost care.

Integration to a single platform is key

But, above all, integration is key to facing the challenges to security posed by terrorists. The centralised management of multiple disciplines such as video surveillance, perimeter protection, intruder detection and access control, along with building technology systems (fire detection and alarm systems and emergency call systems), as well as communication systems, has long been possible. The consolidation of these sub-systems into one platform provides security managers with real situational awareness, streamlined operations, faster dispatch co-ordination, whilst greatly improving efficiency and reducing risk and cost. The move to open standards for networked, physical security products worldwide is already bringing about greater inter-operability between security products, systems and disciplines. The integration and flexibility brought about by these open standards should also help overcome the legacy issues of systems. It will soon be normal practice to enhance existing security systems with technological upgrades as they emerge, without the need to completely replace system hardware at great expense each time.

Ongoing research

However, ultimately we have to accept that the threat to our open and ‘free’ way of life will never be completely eliminated. It is part of the remit of the security industry to continue in its task of responding to threats and anticipating possible future scenarios. This requires a mix of research and development as well as the means to ensure that new technologies are actually delivered and implemented. The activities of universities are hugely important precursors to commercial research, with many of academia’s projects typically resulting in new mathematical methodologies or models. It is then the job of industry to take those concepts and use them in the development of successful new and cost-effective security solutions to assist in the ongoing fight against terrorism.

READ ON>>>