Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/31501
SECURITY SYSTEMS NEWS APRIL 2011 www.securitysystemsnews.com NEWS 15 GEEKS AND GUNS: PHYSICAL/IT CROSS POLLINATION TechSec keynoter Gareth Webley calls the social structure ‘challenging’ By Leischen Stelter DELRAY BEACH, Fla.—As elec- tronic technology becomes increas- ingly vital to physical security, there has been a growing need for collaboration between physical and IT security. But should corporations be striving to converge these two departments into one? Gareth Webley, chief information security officer for Eaton Corp., a $13.7 billion diversified power management company that pro- vides electronic components for the aviation and transportation sectors, said during his keynote address at TechSec Solutions here on Feb. 14 that there are a surprising number of synergies between these two departments. Before joining Eaton Corp. last year, Webley was the chief security officer of National City Corporation (now PNC), which was one of the largest financial holding com- panies in the country. During his tenure with NCC, Webley led the effort to consolidate security and IT. “In 2003, we were one of the first corporations in the country to bring together physical and IT security under one officer, which was myself,” he said. This organizational convergence resulted in some surprising syner- gies. Both departments dealt with assessing risk, developing policies, investigating and deploying tech- nology. “When we aligned under a common strategy we found there was not a lot of difference. It’s about protecting assets, response and managing risk,” he said. Webley said it was just a matter of finding those synergies and figuring out how to maximize efficiency. For example, physical security operators Miami Continued from page 11 cameras to go down, said Marc Whalen, regional sales man- ager, security division for NICE Systems, which provided the soft- ware platform for the port. “Every camera they have up is mission critical,” said Whalen. The port is also using NICEVision, which allows multiple users Web access to approved camera views. Current projects for the the port include a move to a new $7 million command center with a central video wall; an LPR system deployment that will alert operators of unapproved vehicles; and a mass notification system install. “We’re spending $3 million to have speakers put in throughout the port and we’re integrating with intercoms in our cruise terminals and parking lots so we can notify people if areas of the island need to be evacuated,” he said. SSN were fairly busy during business hours responding to alarms, but during the overnight hours there wasn’t much to do. “What we started doing was cross training operators to respond to firewall alerts and intrusion alarms on the electronic side,” he said. “They were similar responses. We realized the benefits and discovered that responding to a physical alarm or an intrusion alarm wasn’t all that different from responding to an attack on the network in terms of policies and procedures.” One of the biggest challenges in the effort to align IT with physical security was in the social structure of the organization, he said. This “geeks and guns” approach leant itself to an interesting working dynamic in the company and it took time for these departments just to learn how to talk to each other. “That cross pollination was key and we invested a lot of time in learning what the other dis- cipline did,” he said. SSN Gareth Webley Leading Megapixel the way in video Cutting-Edge Innovations Superior Performance Broadest Selection of Megapixel Cameras 1.818.937.0700 • ArecontVision.com made in the USA