Homeland Security Solution Feedback

[Secure Permagrin]

Hi, this is in no way an advertisment. so be kind and DO NOT move to the vendor section.

I work for an up and coming security company, we specialize in Perimeter Protection that utilizes Secure Fiber Optic Technology. My real intrest is input from security professionals (like you) about these products. The fiber fence and fiber optic cameras are fairly new products. Have you ever used them, heard of them. Do you love them hate them? im not here to advertise but more to get a feel from this community if they think there is opportunity for these products in homeland security.

If you want to review them and post your opinions on them in this forum, id appreciate it greatly and could gain a better perspective of our market with direct feed back from professionals such as you.

Please review this product for me and let me know if you like the concept and if you recognize where it could be usefull

Fiber Fence

thank you

-JS

[Curtis Baillie]

I'll leave it for now - and see what type of responses you get.

[Secure Permagrin]

how about you Security Consultant? Have you heard of this product, would you mind being the first to review it for me?

[Curtis Baillie]

how about you Security Consultant? Have you heard of this product, would you mind being the first to review it for me?

I'm an Independent Security Management Consultant. That means: I am non-product affiliated. If you would like to hire me to make an honest (It Is What it Is) assessment, let me know and I'll send you an agreement with my hourly rate.

Your big grin has been duly noted.

[Rooney]

I will reply in a pm. Please don't post information from my pm.

[SecTrainer]

It's always possible to say some things about any technology:

1. It can be defeated.

2. It has strengths and weaknesses.

3. It must be layered with other technologies that compensate for its weaknesses, and it's a double-win if this technology also compensates for their weaknesses as well (and such dual-complementary relationships are by no means a given.)

4. There are appropriate and inappropriate applications of this technology.

5. There are appropriate and inappropriate installation designs for this technology.

6. There will be an ongoing cost of ownership.

I looked at the website and didn't see a frank discussion of any of these issues, which would usually be presented in something like a white paper, but didn't see one. Perhaps I missed it.

[Secure Permagrin]

excellent feedback. I am having some writting done to adress these issues for our website, ill post back when they are uploaded.

[Bill Warnock]

Each and every facility is different and obtaining their electronic geological footprints are time consuming efforts as Sandia National Laboratory has published in article after article. One sensor phenomenology will work in one location and be a disaster in another. Sometimes it takes dual sensors at one part of the facility and different ones at another. And installation of CCTV is no small feat in of itself.
Enjoy the day,
Bill

[SecTrainer]

Each and every facility is different and obtaining their electronic geological footprints are time consuming efforts as Sandia National Laboratory has published in article after article. One sensor phenomenology will work in one location and be a disaster in another. Sometimes it takes dual sensors at one part of the facility and different ones at another. And installation of CCTV is no small feat in of itself.
Enjoy the day,
Bill

Of course, Sandia generally focuses on extremely high-security facilities.

[Secure Permagrin]

here is an article that was in government security news.

http://govtsecurity.com/mag/new_line_perimeter/

we have had a system installed there for quite a while now.

[SecTrainer]

here is an article that was in government security news.

http://govtsecurity.com/mag/new_line_perimeter/

we have had a system installed there for quite a while now.

There's a couple of things here that cause me concern, though:

1. The statement is made that installing Fiber Fence has "relieved the air base of the need to patrol" that 2-mile perimeter of fence, which protects 4 million gallons of jet fuel. With such assets, and their potential for enormous harm, this suggests the common error of placing undue reliance on any sensor (not just Fiber Fence). Sensors detect (sometimes). They do not delay, and fences themselves are notoriously poor delay elements. If the objective were to attack and detonate these assets, particularly if the attackers were of the "suicide" type, the error of substituting sensors for patrol would become sadly obvious. Even with the best, most reliable perimeter sensor(s), the nature of these assets would strongly suggest the ongoing need for all of these elements - delay (however poor), sensors (however imperfect) and patrol. I'm sure the ROI for the Fiber Fence, by eliminating patrol, looks very sweet, but ROI isn't everything, especially with such assets under protection.

2. The article mentions that the "Model 100" Fiber Fence system offers no distance calculation - just an alarm - with the statement that for smaller perimeters (such as a utility substation)such "location" information isn't necessary anyway.

Maybe so - if all you get is an alarm every few months. However, about the 14th alarm you get in a couple of weeks - perhaps kids are jiggling the sensor to generate alarms, or large birds are landing on the fence - you're not going to be very happy rolling a unit to scrutinize the entire perimeter of that substation to find the break (or, as would be more usual, to find that there is no break), which, in the case of fiber, may or may not be obvious to casual inspection, correct? At least, that's been my experience with fiber in the telecom/network domain.

[Secure Permagrin]

the fiber optic perimeter sensor (Mouse Trip) causes attenuation in the fiber and alerts the control unit that there is an event, triggering alarm notification. The sensor can be tweaked to over ride nusance alarms like birds and jiggling depending on how much monitoring is needed for the perimeter. The older 100 unit didnt offer event location but our more sophisticated Fiber Fence modelse do. They will pinpoint where an event is going down in a matter of seconds after it occers. Some of the advancements we've been making is to utilize the Strikzone software to direct or pull camera views that are watching where those mouse trips are positioned.

In no way do we suggest to eliminate patrol, we offer a multiplier to add an additional layer to monitoring, most perimeters that require security are very large, our solution works well with these as well as situations where there is a need for remote monitoring in utility industry.

We're doing more everyday, to optimize our products perfomance, i have been printing out everyones suggestionos and handing them into our R&D department. I would like to thank all of you for the input.