As far as securing an area goes, fences are a great foundation. They create the first line of defense and a powerful visual deterrent for criminals looking to go where they&#;re not supposed to be. But they&#;re not infallible. Fences can be climbed, cut, torn down, or tunneled under. You can fortify them with stronger steel, make them higher, or add barbed wire, but they still might fail you one day. And unless you immediately know when someone has breached that perimeter, a fence is hardly more than a decoration. Fences need a little help, and a perimeter intrusion detection system can fill that role. But what is a perimeter intrusion detection system? And how does it protect you?
With competitive price and timely delivery, Raycom sincerely hope to be your supplier and partner.
As the name suggests, a perimeter intrusion detection system&#;aka PIDS&#;is a system of sensors that detects an intruder whenever a fence or wall is climbed, cut, or otherwise disturbed. It provides a failsafe for what is already a decent obstacle.
Proper perimeter protection should use the 5 &#;D&#;s of perimeter security, starting with the outermost boundary and working in:
Perimeter intrusion sensors provide better protection than fences and barriers alone. Along with a comprehensive security system, a PIDS is typically deployed around a high-security environment. The most common spots are prisons, military bases, airports, and government buildings. And, increasingly, around businesses, residential properties, and more.
A perimeter alarm system can range from low- to high-tech. For a simple analog example, picture a tripwire attached to a bell. A more advanced solution would be something like the seismic sensors that detect vibrations of the earth. No matter the type, they alert you to intruders breaching your outer perimeter before they have a chance to tackle your inner perimeter (doors, windows, and so on). Think of it as an early alert system that gives you time to intervene, call authorities, strengthen inner defenses, and so on.
The U.S. Army divides PIDS technology into several different categories. But let&#;s dig in a little deeper.
The end goal is the same, but PIDS can take one of several different forms:
Most PIDS are barrier-mounted, attached to a fence or wall, while some are ground-based or below-ground (these do not require a physical barrier). What works best depends on your location and specific needs.
Next, let&#;s examine a few of the most common and practical perimeter intrusion detection systems.
Title
Security cameras on the property&#;s perimeter&#;either motion-activated or live streaming&#;are an affordable and user-friendly PIDS. These allow owners, site supervisors, security personnel, or any other stakeholder to keep a watchful eye on the outer boundary.
To be effective, a security camera system needs live video monitoring.
Another great low-cost solution, motion-activated floodlights eliminate the cover of darkness, increase the risk of getting caught, and grab attention when flicking on in the middle of the night. They leave nothing hidden.
As you&#;d expect, would-be intruders want nothing to do with them.
Not the most subtle option, an electrified fence delivers a non-lethal shock to anyone that touches it. What&#;s more, it can trigger an alarm when it administers that shock or if the fence is cut or disturbed.
This option might be too intensive for open-to-the-public businesses and residential properties that want to welcome guests during parts of the day. So choose wisely.
Passive infrared (PIR) sensors detect motion along a perimeter. They measure the infrared light&#;heat energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation&#;coming from objects within their field of view.
Any change is interpreted as a movement by a person or animal, triggering an alarm. PIR sensors have an effective range of roughly 10 meters and may produce false alarms because of natural temperature changes.
These sensors require at least one transmitter and one receiver. The transmitter shoots out an invisible beam of infrared light aimed at the receiver. If nothing is in the way, the receiver &#;sees&#; the beam. However, if a person walks through or stands between them, they interrupt the beam and trigger an alarm. Many homeowners have a similar setup on their home garage door to prevent it from closing when something is in the way.
Obviously, you need clean and direct sightlines between the components for the system to operate in the first place. These sensors are susceptible to false alarms from animals, heavy fog, and the like. AIR sensors have a range of up to 200 meters.
Microwaves are yet another type of electromagnetic radiation with shorter wavelengths than radio waves, hence the &#;micro-&#; prefix.
These waves use radiolocation, which is similar to the echolocation used by bats and dolphins. An emitter sends microwaves out, they bounce back off objects in the area, and they are then interpreted by a receiver. In this way, they can detect not only movement but direction and speed as well via the Doppler effect.
Compared to infrared sensors, they&#;re more expensive and more prone to false alarms. But they&#;re capable of covering a larger area and are not susceptible to weather conditions.
Simple and straightforward, vibration sensors detect and report vibrations outside of an acceptable range. Someone cutting, climbing, lifting, or shaking a fence will create vibrations. So, too, will someone trying to force their way in through a door or window.
Once a vibration meets the preset threshold, an alarm triggers. Vibration sensors can precisely locate an intruder.
Used on a fence or buried underground, fiber optic cable is a precise perimeter intrusion detection system. Typically employing vibration as the detection technique, fiber optic cable provides long-range coverage&#;up to 100 km per processing unit&#;with zero gaps.
The RaySense system, for example, measures the &#;Rayleigh backscatter noise signature in a fiber optic cable as pulsed light is sent into the fiber.&#; In doing so, it can detect vibrations along the entire length of the cable and differentiate between a breach, cut, climb, or non-threatening intruder such as a squirrel.
Installed along the length of a metal perimeter fence, a microphonic cable detection system analyzes noise patterns to identify an attempted intrusion. The Micalert system from RBtec, for example, has a maximum length of feet per processor. It boasts fast plug-and-play installation.
Precise calibration and system sensitivity are important for this PIDS to operate properly. A self-calibrating system is ideal.
For more information, please visit 3G-SDI optical transceiver.
As you may already know, a laser&#;which stands for light amplification by stimulated emission radiation&#;is an artificially created beam of light. The light waves travel in phases&#;peaks and valleys lined up&#;which allows them to stay very narrow, focused, and bright. The beam can also travel great distances without scattering.
Similar to the infrared perimeter intrusion detection system, a laser perimeter alarm consists of two components: a transmitter that emits a continuous laser beam and a receiver. As long as there is a clear line of sight, the distance between them is irrelevant. Anything passing between them will break the beam and trigger the alarm.
Though you might associate these sensors with their traditional use in tracking earthquakes, seismic detectors are becoming increasingly popular in both home and business security.
Consisting of multiple sensors buried underground and a processor, a seismic perimeter alarm system can detect footsteps and vehicles atop the protected area. The processor analyzes the acoustic signature of the event to identify an individual walking or a vehicle driving over the sensors and triggers an alarm based on your settings.
And because no barrier is required and the system is underground, it is virtually undetectable to the unsuspecting intruder.
These PIDS options offer powerful protection for your outer perimeter. But unless someone actively monitors the system, an alarm may be too late. Deep Sentinel is proud to offer proactive perimeter protection for businesses either in place of or in collaboration with other systems.
How? A surveillance camera system armed with AI monitors your perimeter and instantly notifies live security guards if someone is onsite. The guards assess the situation and engage with the suspect via 2-way audio, triggering a loud siren and notifying police if necessary.
Deep Sentinel prevents crime before it happens by offering affordable perimeter protection with live guards. Stop intruders well before they reach the front door with a perimeter intrusion detection system designed for the modern age.
A network intrusion detection system (NIDS) can be an integral part of an organization&#;s security, but they are just one aspect of many in a cohesive and safe system. They have many great applications, but there are also weaknesses that need to be considered. It is important to compare an NIDS against the alternatives, as well as to understand the best ways to implement them.
Intrusion detection systems are a lot like fire alarms. Just as a fire alarm detects smoke, an intrusion detection system idenitifies incidents and potential threats. They are incredibly useful for raising awareness, but if you don&#;t hear the alarm or react appropriately, your house may burn down.
While a firewall is there to keep out malicious attacks, an IDS is there to detect whether someone or something is trying up to suspicious or nefarious activity. When it detects something, it notifies the system administrator.
An IDS is a visibility tool that sits off to the side of the network and monitors traffic. It consists of a management console and sensors. When the sensors encounter something that matches up to a previously detected attack signature, they report the activity to the console. An IDS can notify security personnel of infections, spyware or key loggers, as well as accidental information leakage, security policy violations, unauthorized clients and servers, and even configuration errors.
An IPS is similar to an IDS, except that they are able to block potential threats as well. They monitor, log and report activities, similarly to an IDS, but they are also capable of stopping threats without the system administrator getting involved. If an IPS is not tuned correctly, it can also deny legitimate traffic, so they are not suitable for all applications.
An NIDS and an HIDS are complementary systems that differ by the position of the sensors: network-based (monitoring the ethernet or WiFi) and host-based, respectively. Because of this, their uses and deployment are quite different.
Network-based sensors have a quicker response than host-based sensors and they are also easier to implement. An NIDS doesn&#;t need to alter the existing infrastructure and they monitor everything on a network segment, regardless of the target host&#;s operating system. As they do not need software loaded and managed at the different hosts in the network, they have a lower cost of setup and ownership.
An NIDS can detect attacks that an HIDS will miss because it looks at packet headers in real-time. In saying this, an HIDS will also be able to pick up some things that an NIDS will miss, such as unauthorized users making changes to the system files. An HIDS monitors event and audit logs, comparing new entries to attack signatures. This is resource intensive, so your organization will need to plan for the additional hardware required.
Another benefit of an NIDS is that they detect incidents in real-time, meaning that they can log evidence that an attacker may otherwise try to erase. While the real-time detection abilities of an NIDS allow for quicker responses, they also turn up more false positives than an HIDS. Hybrid NIDS and HIDS solutions that combine aspects of both systems are also available and can be useful in different scenarios.
They Can Be Tuned to Specific Content in Network Packets
Firewalls may be able to show you the ports and IP addresses that are used between two hosts, but in addition a NIDS can be tuned to show you the specific content within the packets. This can be used to for uncovering intrusions such as exploitation attacks or compromised endpoint devices that are part of a botnet.
When an NIDS performs protocol analysis, it looks at the TCP and UDP payloads. The sensors can detect suspicious activity because they know how the protocols should be functioning.
An IDS analyzes the amount and types of attacks. This information can be used to change your security systems or implement new controls that are more effective. It can also be analyzed to identify bugs or network device configuration problems. The metrics can then be used for future risk assessments.
Because an IDS gives you greater visibility across your network, they make it easier to meet security regulations. You can also use your IDS logs as part of the documentation to meet certain requirements.
Because IDS sensors can detect network devices and hosts, they can inspect the data within the network packets and identify the services or operating systems that are being utilized. This saves a lot of time when compared to doing it manually. An IDS can also automate hardware inventories, further reducing labor. These improved efficiencies can help to reduce an organization&#;s staff costs and offset the cost of implementing the IDS.
An IDS does not block or prevent attacks, they merely help to uncover them. Because of this, an IDS needs to be part of a comprehensive plan that includes other security measures and staff who know how to react appropriately.
An IDS is immensely helpful for monitoring the network, but their usefulness all depends on what you do with the information that they give you. Because detection tools don&#;t block or resolve potential issues, they are ineffective at adding a layer of security unless you have the right personnel and policy to administer them and act on any threats.
An IDS cannot see into encrypted packets, so intruders can use them to slip into the network. An IDS will not register these intrusions until they are deeper into the network, which leaves your systems vulnerable until the intrusion is discovered. This is a huge concern as encryption is becoming more prevalent to keep our data secure.
The information from an IP packet is read by an IDS, but the network address can still be spoofed. If an attacker is using a fake address, it makes the threat more difficult to detect and assess.
One significant issue with an IDS is that they regularly alert you to false positives. In many cases false positives are more frequent than actual threats. An IDS can be tuned to reduce the number of false positives, however your engineers will still have to spend time responding to them. If they don&#;t take care to monitor the false positives, real attacks can slip through or be ignored.
An NIDS analyzes protocols as they are captured, which means that they face the same protocol based attacks as network hosts. An NIDS can be crashed by protocol analyzer bugs and also invalid data.
An IDS is only as good as its signature library. If it isn&#;t updated frequently, it won&#;t register the latest attacks and it can&#;t alert you about them. Another issue is that your systems are vulnerable until a new threat has been added to the signature library, so the latest attacks will always be a big concern.