The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported that U.S. airlines and foreign airlines serving the United States carried an all-time high of 932 million passengers in 2016, 3.8 percent more than the previous record high of 897.9 million reached in 2015. This leaves airports with an ongoing and very specific security challenge.
To operate smoothly and keep safety as the utmost priority, airport security teams must manage localized, detailed processes in addition to a diverse environment of technologies like access control, identity management, mass notification, video surveillance, internal communications and business intelligence. As air travel continues to increase along with the ongoing concerns of terrorist attacks and overall safety, airports must have a security platform that is flexible, mobile and intelligent to create a strong base for airport security and efficiency.
Airport security is complicated. It is rapidly evolving and requires officials to plan for a diverse set of scenarios, from terrorism and hijacking to active shooters, theft and fraud. In the face of such daunting security challenges, airport officials require best-in-class technology that can integrate seamlessly with the facility’s other systems to create true situational awareness.
Here are four considerations for airlines and airport operation centers to consider when building on their security system to boost situational awareness.
Centralize Your System
Airport environments are unique and expansive, making them anything but simple to secure. The numbers prove this, as airports spend billions on aviation security each year. However, although security technology can automate and improve certain functions, it can often become increasingly complicated.
In order to have a true 360-degree view of operations, airports should be operating through a centralized platform that creates a common operating picture across security systems, building management systems, and IT systems—all of which are major components to keeping an airport running smoothly and securely.
With the deluge of data from sensors, cameras and other devices being received in the security operations center, it can be hard to determine which alerts are false alarms versus real threats. In other words, the overwhelming amounts of data has the ability to obscure important trends or flagged risks. This is a weakness in a security program that a Converged Security and Information Management (CSIM) platform addresses.
CSIM software is a force multiplier especially for organizations with a large physical footprint because the software geospatially aligns information and assets into a single user interface. CSIM has five core areas of functionality: it collects, analyzes, verifies, resolves and tracks information. Its rules engine and workflow tools give management the ability to pre-determine what data should be correlated and what should be filtered out. CSIM software uses filtering rules based on time, location, duration, frequency and type. This controls the data being received, pulling out and highlighting exactly what operators need to be aware of and respond to with ease.
Tailor Your Plan
Having a solid approach to risk management means being prepared for handling a variety of scenarios including insider threat, a health crisis, hurricane, earthquake, act of terror, cyber-attack and intellectual property theft. Financial losses due to a security incident can vary widely and it can be challenging to calculate in advance the financial impacts associated with loss of productivity, loss of customer business, legal fees and reputational damage.
It is imperative that organizations recognize a crisis quickly so that the appropriate corrective actions can be implemented immediately. CSIM software makes this possible through an open architecture platform that uses a browser-based interface to share information.
Some facilities may have more than 1,000 doors and cameras to monitor. Managing all of these can require manual configuration with set protocols for each respective sub-system. With CSIM, a single rule automatically configures and applies the required action to end-devices, saving valuable time and money. Operators and decision makers can control multiple and disparate systems and sensors, prevent access to unauthorized areas, achieve real-time visibility to operational malfunctions or malicious threats and effectively monitor geographically dispersed assets.
Decrease Response Times
A converged security platform provides the ability to manage situations in real-time. CSIM works especially well to enhance security for widely dispersed assets because it leverages a mobile application. First responders, supervisors, IT staff and senior executives with authorized credentials can access CSIM from anywhere via mobile device for faster alerting and response to pertinent information.
CSIM displays responses to situations based on real-time data to help facilitate responses and ensure standard operating procedures are followed and that everything is documented in real-time so it can be reviewed later on. Responders can also visualize geographically where incidents are happening and drill down into layers of rich information, including building plans and video.
Go Beyond Security
While a CSIM platform is vitally important for security, airports can use the platform to enhance other areas of operations, public safety and increase cost savings. Airports are able to achieve operator training efficiency like never before because employees are trained on one system, which integrates numerous sub-systems. This also means employees become proficient on the platform faster and their consistency and accuracy is enhanced. This helps organizations leverage additional life out of existing or legacy security equipment rather than having to “rip and replace” their technology investments. A common example is integrating both analog and IP video systems into the new platform. Often, what begins as a security platform evolves into being utilized by other areas within the airport, opening up to other possibilities.
CSIM allows airports to gather individual and community needs based on data gathered from video footage and sensors, wait times in security lines based on time of day, increasing efficiency at the gates through loading and unloading times, and more. Not only does this provide added safety features in new construction, but it can also lead to a greater understanding of what needs to be improved from an efficiency standpoint. This in turn increases employee and customer satisfaction.
As IoT capabilities expand, data will be collected around patterns, preferences and even energy usage within the airport. This will empower airport personnel to make faster decisions with less room for error, especially when time is of the essence. This feature will also allow maintenance workers to know exactly which systems require maintenance and may eliminate the need to routinely make in-person inspections of systems that are fully functioning. This translates to more efficient staff, decreased costs and safer airports.
In the ever-growing and expanding market of airline transportation, decision makers can address security challenges head on by implementing a converged security approach that can seamlessly integrate with the facility’s other systems to create true situational awareness.
James Chong founded Vidsys in 2005 with its transformational security and information management software platform, and he currently serves as CEO. In his past role as CTO, his vision for developing a highly-specialized product-driven business led to the development of several industry-leading software applications. James has over 20 years of management and technology experience, making him a world-class subject matter expert in software, IT, video surveillance, security, and complex systems.
