Redefining Perimeter Security with Unified Solutions and Emerging Technologies

Physical security strategies have traditionally focused on securing the perimeter – and with good reason. The goal is to stop dangerous elements or intruders from gaining access to an internal environment. As physical security evolves, the perimeter remains a vital concern.

For large-scale environments, like airports and critical infrastructure sites, securing the perimeter is made more complicated by size. When an organization has limited awareness of its entire perimeter, it is more susceptible to intrusions that can lead to physical security breaches and cyber-attacks.

“Many organizations are now asking how they can effectively protect their perimeter and prevent breaches,” says Cheryl Stewart, industry marketing specialist at Genetec, Inc. “The answer is to deploy a unified security system and then incorporate new technologies as part of a more comprehensive perimeter strategy.”

Stewart joined Genetec in 2019 as an industry and applications marketing analyst focusing on airports. Her role now includes the entire critical infrastructure vertical as a whole. Her main responsibilities include developing goto-market strategies that include conducting market research and analysis to better understand the needs of critical infrastructure end users across the globe.

Stewart provides an overview for assessing an organization’s perimeter security with the goal of incorporating modern technology for improved access control.

Good perimeter security requires a layered approach. Conceptually, it is easy to think a facility has a single perimeter that must be secured. Traditionally, securing the perimeter meant deploying a security system that would be triggered when a person or entity touched the fence line. This approach oversimplifies the reality of today’s perimeters as most facilities now have multiple, overlapping perimeters, each with its own rights of access, risk profile, and operational requirements.

As a result, an organization cannot rely exclusively on any one sensor or analytic to detect intrusion. They need to build a layered approach to perimeter security that ensures all is not lost should one method fail. A layered security installation employs a combination of sensor technologies to create more than one active line of defense.

Recent innovations in security technology allow security personnel to redefine perimeter security by giving them the ability to look beyond the fence line and get more specific about what they should be monitoring and how. These innovations make it possible for organizations to detect potential unauthorized intrusions beyond the perimeter by implementing a multi-layered approach that involves a variety of technologies, including heatmaps, intrusion detection sensors like radars, LiDARs, lasers, and fence sensors, as well as video analytics cameras, access control and other standalone systems.

Unifying systems is key. When an organization does not unify its security systems and technologies on a single platform, and instead relies on vendor integration, it can create gaps in information or an incomplete view of the perimeter. To ensure these systems do not work in unconnected silos, it’s important to put a unified approach in place to cross qualify incidents and intrusion alerts.

A unified physical security platform helps connect the dots between the data collected by these different systems to provide the situational awareness necessary to keep facilities and people safe. The Genetec™ Security Center open-architecture platform, for example, enables organizations to unify video surveillance, access control, intrusion, communications, and automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) systems to better protect and manage the perimeter.

Through its RSA (restricted security area) surveillance module, a unified security platform can integrate with a growing array of RSA technology and devices, such as radar and laser-based solutions, to help security teams detect potential threats across wide areas. Automatically tracked on geographical maps, moving targets are intuitively displayed so that security personnel can assess and respond to threats in less time.

By presenting all breach information, threats, and potential intrusions together, a unified system enables operators to make critical decisions quickly. This enables organizations to deploy high-resolution cameras to capture clear, long-range images to complement perimeter

• Colorful Display 24/7

• 1/2.7" 5MP SmartSens CMOS Sensor

• 30FPS@5MP, 1620p (2880×1620)

• 2.8mm Lens

• True Wide Dynamic Range (WDR)

• Digital Noise Reduction (3DNR)

• True Day & Night Function with ICR Module

• Operating temperature: -40°~131° F (-40°~55° C)

• IP66 Weatherproof detection. The system can be configured in such a way that the first line of perimeter detection at the fence prompts alerts that will trigger these cameras to automatically pan-tilt-zoom into target areas for visual identification. The video surveillance footage will then be sent directly to the security monitoring center or the security director’s smart phone for immediate verification and response.

Managing these devices and alarms directly from an integrated mapping system can further help operators quickly pinpoint other nearby cameras to get a broader view of the situation. By combining perimeter detection, highresolution cameras, and location mapping tools within a unified platform, an organization can improve response times and minimize the risk of breaches going undetected.

Identifying potential threats is critical. The early identification of potential threats at the perimeter gives security operators time to prepare a response and take any necessary action. By proactively extending security using LiDAR technology and seismic sensors, security personnel can monitor movements and watch for potential intrusions outside the fence line. But knowing that something is about to breach a secure perimeter doesn’t tell you whether a threat is real or how serious it is. Sensors could be detecting a cat, a person, or a car. The ability to see who or what is approaching a perimeter helps security personnel make the right decisions about threat levels, as well as what actions need to be taken. Assessing an incident at a fence or other restricted area is made easier when security personnel have eyes on the scene. By classifying threats visually and pulling relevant data from multiple systems, security personnel can identify if an intrusion requires immediate action. Using filtering features, security teams can also also filter objects (humans vs. animals, for instance) in different zones to reduce nuisance alarms. Effective video surveillance, using high resolution cameras and infrared, enables security operators to evaluate an incident, determine what is happening, and then identify the actions necessary to respond to the situation.

As part of the assessment process, security personnel can also use ALPR (automated license plate readers) to scan vehicles to help identify an intruder’s threat level. For example, if a plate is on a police hotlist, security teams would know to alert the police and respond with greater caution.

Physical Identity and Access Management Systems (PIAMS) add another layer to the process by connecting access control to business systems, including human resource directories. This interconnectivity allows organizations to automatically assign or remove access to restricted areas based on corporate policies. As employees leave or change roles within an organization, their access to sensitive areas can be adjusted to reflect changes in the HR directory or other linked systems.

The importance of managing all that data. As organizations deploy more and more sensors at the perimeter, they increase the amount of information coming in. This can become overwhelming for security personnel, especially when they must actively monitor all the input from these sensors to identify specific threats. A unified security system that supports greater automation can help. Automated alerts, alongside digitized standard operating procedures (SOPs) that guide personnel stepby-step on how to respond to events, can help ensure possible threats are identified, investigated, and resolved in a timely and consistent manner across different shift patterns and individuals.

In some cases, a potential security threat can be difficult for a person to spot. For example, an operator might not be able to connect the dots between a contractor unexpectedly entering a restricted area and a device going offline. But a unified security system could easily correlate those events and quickly flag them, automatically alerting the operator to investigate further.

The ability to fuse event data is also important for ensuring perimeter security. Operators must understand events as they occur in order to make informed decisions based on threat levels. A unified security system provides greater situational awareness for operators by fusing together reports and alerts from all modules currently running on the platform. This is critical as it allows an emerging situation to be seen from all parts of the system as a single event rather than a series of separate incidents.

“When it comes to protecting the perimeter, you need to a layered approach that will allow you to extend security beyond the fence line,” says Stewart. “By selecting a unified system that can incorporate a wide variety of new technologies, you can better secure your facilities today and in the future.”

Learn more at www.genetec.com.