Video surveillance for critical infrastructure
Hospitals or energy and water supply facilities: they are part of the critical infrastructure. Current crises are leading to a growing awareness of the need to protect it. Video surveillance is therefore used in many places. However, the camera technology used there must also be carefully checked for potential vulnerabilities to ensure seamless cyber security – so that the security solution itself does not lead to risks. These include hacker attacks, for example. In accordance with the Supply Chain Act, it is also important to take a close look at the manufacturers of the cameras themselves – issues that Video Guard has comprehensively considered and resolved.
Any act of sabotage in the area of critical infrastructure has fatal consequences. The attacks can be of a hybrid nature and relate to both software and the physical infrastructure. In this context, the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance and the Federal Office for Information Security emphasize the importance of considering digital and physical attack potentials together. In order to protect sensitive critical facilities, they are being increasingly monitored in many places – often with camera technology. This is because intelligent video analytics work much more efficiently than staffed security services and are also more economical.
Weak points of Chinese manufacturers
In Germany and internationally, targeted hacker attacks on surveillance cameras are on the increase. The products of one Chinese camera manufacturer in particular show a particularly large number of weak points. These cameras have so-called back doors through which both manufacturers and hackers gain access to the information recorded by the cameras and microphones. This allows you to change admin passwords and take control of the camera. This can expose protected security areas and confidential data. Manufacturers of IT products for critical surveillance are required by law to provide a guarantee that the product is protected against espionage, sabotage and terrorism. In many cases, however, it is questionable how seriously the respective manufacturer takes security gaps and reacts to them.
Prevent espionage cases
In this context, Video Guard is a proven and, above all, hacker-proof surveillance system. It includes a camera tower, software and a staffed alarm center. The cameras monitor the area to be protected and the software detects intruders, who are immediately reported to the staffed security control center. A specially developed, intelligent analysis technology is used. It uses a neural network and thus offers self-learning video analysis. The system analyzes the digital data autonomously and enables a notification to be sent within just two minutes. The optimized response times take account of the efficiency concept. In contrast to other systems, Video Guard stores the image material in encrypted form in the camera on site and, in the event of an alarm, also transmits it in encrypted form to the connected control center using the integrated detection software. Access to the images is reserved exclusively for trained control center personnel. The high-quality surveillance recordings are stored on German servers in compliance with data protection and compliance regulations. They comply with all laws and guidelines and are admissible as evidence in court if necessary.
Supply Chain Act taken into account
Another factor that speaks against cameras from Chinese manufacturers in camera surveillance is that they sometimes support the tracking of minorities on site via facial recognition. This aspect should also be taken into account in terms of the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act. “We considered this factor carefully when selecting the cameras that we integrate into our system. It is important to us that all components of the towers come from trustworthy sources and that human rights are respected during production. That’s why we mainly use cameras from Bosch. These do not allow any backdoors. This is an important factor that sets us apart from our competitors,” explains Jörn Windler, Managing Director of International Security GmbH and President Smart Surveilance. “With our camera technology and data security standards, we are aware of the hybrid attack potential and are therefore a predestined partner for operators of critical infrastructure.”
Hiding public areas
The mobile camera towers are up to six meters high and detect the selected surveillance area with three ultra-lowlight cameras each. Public areas are excluded by the software. The flexible switch-on and switch-off enables demand-oriented and safe operation day and night.
Video Guard efficiently and securely guards critical infrastructure facilities. The technology and software used are optimally coordinated and offer reliable protection against attack risks, such as those posed by hackers. All manufacturers of the individual components consciously act in accordance with the Supply Chain Act.
