Page 32 - Security Today, November/December 2021

Act) compliant with well-established cybersecurity features such as secure boot, a trusted platform module and decryption keys that block nefarious code from being uploaded.
PERIMETER SECURITY
Depending on the type of utility, the perimeters can be large and may be in remote areas where network bandwidth may be limited. The challenge of protecting such utilities is complex and often requires multiple and varied solutions. Security measures require balance against efficiency and convenience for daily staff and shift changes, while contractors, especially those who travel to unstaffed areas of a site, may require temporary authorizations.
The perimeter consists of video and thermal surveillance cam- eras, motion sensors and lasers. Most cameras can deliver solid per- formance in daylight. It is more difficult for cameras when the light disappears. IR light is one answer, but most IR lights have a fixed distance of illumination and can make it difficult to discern details when color is lost. It is possible to choose cameras with extreme low-light sensitivity that can still provide reliable color information.
Cameras with a wide dynamic range (WDR of 120-150dB is ideal) that can consistently reproduce detail from shadows even in high-contrast lighting conditions are a necessity for many deploy- ments. Frames per second (fps) can affect WDR performance, so it’s important to find a balance between fps and lighting require- ments to deliver the WDR required without sacrificing smooth
motion capture. AI-based algorithms can also reduce image noise by identifying object motion and reducing blur in low light en- vironments. As camera resolutions go up, so does the required bandwidth to carry those images to a recorder, viewer or VMS.
Efficient codecs such as Hanwha’s Wisestream II compression technology and H.265 are used to transmit high quality images over 4G or LTE connections while minimizing infrastructure costs. Thermal cameras provide excellent long-distance perimeter cover- age, especially in low light conditions and bad weather. To maxi- mize coverage, multi-sensor cameras can be deployed which deliver multiple high-resolution images using a single PoE connection.
The ability for security systems to automatically hand-off posi- tional data to long-range, vari-focal infrared PTZ cameras with auto- tracking can deliver usable video at distances of 1600 feet, even at 0 LUX. AI-based technology has made significant inroads by being able to detect objects and focus maximum video quality on detected objects in a scene while scaling back encoding on the rest of the scene.
AI-based analytics can significantly reduce false alarms along perimeters and within a facility with object de-
tection, which never throws an alert for an ani-
mal or for wind-blown objects or shadows.
Michael Shipley is the business development manager, Buildings and Industrial OG&E, Houston, Hanwha Techwin America.
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UTILITY SECURITY