Critical Infrastructure – Physical Security for the Protection of Critical Infastructures

The Challenge

Critical Infrastructures (CRITIS) are defined as organizations and facilities that are of high importance to the functioning of the community because their failure or impairment would result in significant supply shortages or threats to public security. This includes e.g. energy and water supply, transportation, but also healthcare. It is essential that the operation of critical infrastructures is guaranteed at all times.

Physical Security and IT Security must be guaranteed

Critical Infrastructures (CRITIS) are defined as organizations and facilities that are of high importance to the functioning of the community because their failure or impairment would result in significant supply shortages or threats to public security. This includes e.g. energy and water supply, transportation, but also healthcare. It is essential that the operation of critical infrastructures is guaranteed at all times. Special requirements are placed on the infrastructure of the CRITIS operators in terms of availability and security. With the IT Security Act, the German legislature obliged CRITIS operators some time ago to take effective technical and organizational precautions to prevent and track security incidents. However, it is not only cyberattacks that must be avoided, but also physical attacks on the critical infrastructure.

This can only be achieved by security and monitoring systems which have to interact optimally in case of an event.

With WinGuard, Advancis offers an open integration platform that provides a perfect solution for a wide range of requirements with a multitude of interfaces and functions.

Available and secure Infrastructures

Public life depends on functioning infrastructures and institutions. Operators of critical infrastructures must be provided with high-performance and reliable solutions. The multitude of technical systems used in the CRITIS environment places high demands on the flexibility of a Physical Security Information Management Platform. The operator or personnel in the security center can also often be a neuralgic point. Here, an open integration platform offers a reliable and easy-to-use solution, as instead of working with different single systems of different manufacturers (such as fire alarm system, perimeter protection, CCTV, access control), the operator only has to work with a unified user interface to control all systems. With WinGuard, the sum of the individual systems becomes a homogeneous overall system which ensures a fast and secure reaction to events including all related information.

Integration of Third Party Systems

WinGuard supports CRITIS operators in distinguishing important alarms from false alarms and daily routine or maintenance notifications so that the operator can better manage the information overload. A direct coupling to incident management systems is easily possible, ensuring a fast and coordinated intervention of emergency and rescue forces in emergency situations.

Flexible and scalable

Due to dynamically changing requirements for the protection of critical infrastructures, an integration platform must also be flexibly configurable and extendable so that the operator is prepared for the future. With individually customized modules for the required functions as well as the possibility of a freely scalabe extension of the overall system, WinGuard always offers the suitable solution for most diverse requirements.