What are security systems
Security systems are designed in order to protect tangible and intangible assets, movable and immovable, through the use of technologies which, thanks to the introduction of specific components and software, make it possible to monitor the status of the places to be preserved.
Specifically, when we talk about security systems, we are referring to access and presence control systems, anti-intrusion systems and video surveillance systems (CCTV).
The access control system manages access to certain rooms through the use of electronic devices such as badge readers or biometric readers, allowing you to monitor the entry and exit of authorized persons. This system can also be useful for authorizing vehicle access through the use of license plate reading cameras, for activating/deactivating other security systems, memorizing the transit of people or vehicles and forbidding entry in certain time slots.
Complementing access control systems are anti-intrusion systems, which consist of a set of devices capable of detecting attempts to violate a controlled perimeter. The modern anti-intrusion control units, which constitute the real “brain” of the system, allow to monitor the status of the places, any alarms but also to activate/deactivate certain zones remotely through the use of management software.
Intrusion detection systems can be divided into two categories:
• Detection systems for outdoors: they protect the external perimeter of the site through the use of sensors (microwave barriers, infrared barriers, buried sensors or sensors to be installed on the fence) which are chosen according to the area and the type of assembly that you want to do.
• Detection systems for interiors: intended for the protection of both the internal perimeter of the area (magnetic contacts installed on doors and windows, piezometric sensors) and the internal environment (volumetric detectors).
The CEI 79-3 standard defines the sequence of phases to be respected for the correct design of an anti-intrusion system, indicating the methods with which to carry out the risk analysis in order to be able to identify the correct degree of security for the protection of the site.
In association with the types of systems mentioned above, a video surveillance system (CCTV system) can be installed that is able to ascertain and evaluate events on the basis of visual information. These systems provide the personnel in charge of surveillance with both images of the perimeter (through the use of cameras positioned for tracking) and those of the premises to be controlled.
The design of security systems
The preparation of a project – outline proposals, detailed proposals or final proposals – foresees as a first instance a technical inspection, during which the state of the places, the customer’s needs, the points of vulnerability and any existing technologies to be integrated and/or substitute.
Based on the inspection, a risk analysis is carried out, through which the necessary level of safety can be identified. The drafting of the actual project requires a careful study of the places and the activities that take place inside them in order to identify the systems that will have to be installed both inside and outside the site.
The protection of places is, in fact, articulated on concentric levels, planning begins from the outside in and vice versa, identifying in particular any high-risk premises that need greater attention for the activities that take place inside or for the information contained therein. On the basis of the client’s needs, it is also possible to evaluate the use of an integrated alarm and event management system which allows the status of the systems to be checked through the use of applications for smartphones and tablets or through the use of client PCs positioned in the premises used for surveillance. This element becomes of fundamental importance especially for large structures that have a high number of components in the field and require punctual control of them. A network bound exclusively to the security systems allows the video streams of the cameras, the alarms and the signals of the various systems to be conveyed towards the management system.
LA SIA s.r.l., thanks to its specialized skills in the field of safety systems, is able to design this type of system both for industrial and commercial sites and for military-type areas having, in fact, developed the necessary countermeasures for raising the physical security standards for Leonardo S.p.A.sites, an international industrial group active in the Aerospace, Defence and Security sectors.
Respect for privacy right from the design stage of video surveillance systems
As known, on 25 May the EU Regulation 2016/679 (in short “GDPR”) came into force which, together with the legislative decree 101/2018 transposing the same, renewed the legislation on privacy.
One of the most relevant novelties of the GDPR, compared to the previous directives, is in the fact that it provides precise indications on the data processing architectures, which must guarantee the achievement of the data protection objectives.
This means that all operators are required, right from the design phase of video surveillance and access control systems, to comply with the provisions of the privacy legislation, thus guaranteeing the so-called privacy by design and privacy by default (i.e., “by default”).
In short, privacy by design and privacy by default require whoever develops a project, which involves the processing of personal data (such as video surveillance and access control in general), to introduce preventive measures (techniques, documentary and organizational) that are structurally capable of guaranteeing the security of data processing both from the moment in which the architecture itself is designed and for the entire duration of the processing itself.
As indicated by the GDPR itself, these measures could consist, among other things, in minimizing the processing of personal data, limiting both access to live or recorded images and the imaged area, introducing image encryption systems, offer transparency regarding the functions and the processing of personal data and allow the data controller to create and improve security features.
The one introduced by the GDPR is a real revolution, which affects data processing no longer only in the “operational” phase but extends to include the design and installation phase, making companies also participants in the data processing process who design the systems.
