Page 10 - Security Today, March/April 2025

C R I T I C A L I N F R A S T R U C T U R E
be seriously breached if these cabinets are easy to break into or
inadvertently left unlocked.
What might come as a surprise is how doors on these cabinets
are still latched with a standard mechanical lock and key, just like
they have been for decades. These obsolete locks are still vulner-
able to being compromised and have keys that are more likely to
be lost or fall into the wrong hands without a trace. It doesn’t take
much to imagine the potential havoc that could unleash.
The good news is more U.S. departments of transportation
are switching to intelligent cylinder locks and keys for control
cabinets. Products like Medeco XT, for example, are simple to ret-
rofi t and easy to program through web-based software to grant,
revoke and schedule access.
Although the XT lock is offl ine, software can connect to the
intelligent key either physically or by BLE to generate audit re-
ports for verifying which technicians or contractors have accessed
a cabinet as well as its lock status history.
Learn how well this solution is working for the Virginia De-
partment of Transportation.
Solutions like HES 630REL Series powered locks go a step fur-
ther by featuring online connectivity to check a cabinet’s lock status
in real time and a motor drive for instant remote locking if necessary.
Some state DOTs also have hub stations, which could be con-
sidered mini-data centers. These are usually 20’ x 20’ unmanned
buildings with server racks and network gear that connect to
various traffi c cabinets in a region. Their remote locations also
require solutions like those from
HES, not only for a building’s exterior locks but also for the
server racks inside.
Just as vital are unmanned power generation and distribution
sites such as solar and wind farms and electric utility substations.
Too many of these critical locations and their control equipment
spaces are also still only secured with a basic mechanical lock and
key; some even with just a padlock. The same goes for EV charg-
ing station hubs, wastewater processing sites, gas pipeline control
cabinets, and cell tower hubs.
Just think of the hundreds of thousands of cell tower sites
throughout our country. Like traffi c light intersections, most people
do not realize that each of them also has an enclosure housing vital
equipment that needs robust safeguarding from vandalism, theft,
and ultimately, the loss of communication that we depend on for
everything from sharing a baby picture to an urgent call for help.
That is why it is amazing to learn how keeping our critical in-
frastructure safe and secure simply boils down
to keeping its vital components under the most
trustworthy and intelligent lock and key and ac-
cess control solutions.
Guerry Bruner is the program manager, ITS/
Unmanned Infrastructure Solutions.
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