2024-04-22 19:14:38
In a world where threats are becoming more sophisticated, companies like Genetec have focused on strengthening the perimeter security of large companies in the energy sector in a unified way.
Energy companies around the world have experienced an increase in intrusions that affect their operations on several fronts. From wire theft to vandalism and sabotage, threats to the security of energy facilities are becoming more frequent and more sophisticated.
In Colombia, the theft of copper cables has become a chronic problem that affects several regions of the country and that not only causes serious inconvenience to the citizens, but also causes significant financial losses to the companies that provide these services. For this reason, the authorities have increased the number of operations against these crimes. In the month of March, six people dedicated to stealing cable worth 25 million pesos were captured in Dosquebradas, Risaralda. These individuals posed as workers from a telecommunications company to carry out the robberies.
This situation arises since the extraction and sale of this material has become a lucrative business that feeds organized crime networks, thus leading to many people putting their lives on the line for input. Currently in Colombia, a kilogram of this metal is valued at approximately 9.5 dollars, that is, between 35,000 and 40,000 Colombian pesos.
Energy security teams face the unique challenge of protecting a wide and diverse geography, ranging from electrical substations to power plants and corporate buildings. Perimeter security provides a robust first line of defense by establishing physical and technological barriers at the boundaries of a facility, enabling early detection, prevention and rapid response to potential threats. It is therefore important that businesses in the sector commit to implementing tools that guarantee the integrity of the facilities and provide continuity to operations in the face of increased threats.
Good perimeter security requires a layered approach
Conceptually, it is easy to think of a facility as having a single perimeter that needs to be secured. Traditionally, securing the perimeter meant implementing a security system that activates when a person or device touches the fence line. This approach simplifies the reality of today’s perimeter, as most facilities now have multiple overlapping perimeters, each with its own access, risk profile and operational requirements.
As a result, an organization cannot rely solely on a sensor or analytics to detect an intrusion. They need to create a layered approach to perimeter security that ensures all is not lost if one method fails. A layered security installation uses a combination of sensor technologies to create more than one line of active defense. Some of the technologies used can be heat maps, intrusion detection sensors such as radars, LiDAR, lasers and fence sensors, as well as video analytics, cameras, access control, among others.
Collecting systems is the key
When an organization does not unify its security systems and technologies into a single platform and instead relies on vendor integration, it can create information gaps or an incomplete view of the perimeter. To ensure that these systems do not operate in isolation, it is important to implement a unified approach to cross-qualify events and intrusion alerts.
A unified security platform helps correlate the data collected by these disparate systems to provide a complete picture of the situation, necessary to keep facilities and people safe.
According to Jhayr Gómez, sales director for the northern region of Genetec in Colombia, “Genetec™ Security Center open architecture platform, for example, offers organizations the ability to unify a number of key systems, including video surveillance, access control, intrusion protection, communications and vehicle license plate recognition (LPR), all designed to strengthen and optimize management of security perimeter.
Through its restricted area monitoring module RSA, Security Center It integrates various detection and monitoring devices into a unified interface, concentrating all security operations in a single central point. “Through automated tracking on geographic maps, moving targets are intuitively displayed, allowing security personnel to assess and address threats more effectively.”
By presenting all intrusion and potential threat information together, a unified system allows operators to make critical decisions quickly. For example, organizations can deploy high-resolution cameras to capture clear, long-range images to complement perimeter detection. The system can be configured in such a way that the first line of perimeter detection on the fence generates alerts that will activate these cameras to automatically make movements in the target areas for visual identification. Video surveillance images are sent directly to the security monitoring center or security director’s phone for verification and immediate response.
Managing these devices and alarms directly from an integrated mapping system can further help operators quickly identify other nearby cameras to gain a broader view of the situation. By combining perimeter detection, high-resolution cameras and location mapping tools within a unified platform, an organization can improve response times and minimize the risk of breaches going undetected.
When it comes to perimeter protection, take a layered approach that allows you to extend security beyond the fence line. By choosing a unified system that can incorporate a wide range of new technologies, users will be able to better protect their facilities today and in the future.
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