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Oil facilities pose target for terrorist attacks Alaska’s role in homeland defense: protect energy infrastructure — high-tech devices aid security plans By Steve Sutherlin PNA Managing Editor
Alaska must think about its role in homeland defense — protecting its energy infrastructure because of its importance to the economy, said Dan Vanlandingham, vice president Americas for EDS Energy Industries Group.
The world has changed since Sept. 11, Vanlandingham told his audience at Meet Alaska Jan. 25. Prior to Sept. 11, energy companies focused on natural disaster planning. Now they must have plans in place to deal with a terrorist attack, he said.
Before, utility companies were keyed to deal with single outages; now massive outages are a possibility. Rather than simply restoring services, companies must plan to save lives, and indeed to save the company in the event of major disruptions of services, destruction of facilities, or loss of key personnel.
“Energy assets are a target,” Vanlandingham said, adding that the danger of disruption extends to oil and gas companies, electric utilities, water utilities and mining firms.
The threat to energy companies can take many forms and the assets that must be protected extend beyond physical facilities, Vanlandingham said. Companies must safeguard intellectual assets – ie. key personnel — and cyber-assets: the logical and physical aspects of the firm’s information technology, and its financial data, he said.
Smart cards and radio frequency identification badges can be programmed to allow individuals access to only specific portions of the property, depending on necessity and the individual’s level of clearance.
The Department of Defense couples these devices with an online database that includes a variety of personnel related data. It is used for security and also contains medical and benefit information.
A smart card is designed to be swiped, but it can also be stolen. To prevent unauthorized access through false credentials, an automated personal recognition process based on biometrics can safeguard facilities, he said. Biometric devices can identify an individual’s unique characteristics, such as a hand, finger, iris, retina or voice.
RFID utilizes wearable transponders, which transmit a signal that can pinpoint the location of personnel within a facility at any time, he said. Recovery: Assuming the worst Each energy asset that could be a target should have a plan of recovery from attack, Vanlandingham said. In addition to carre for the injured, companies should have a plan to recover from personnel losses in order to resume vital services after an attack.
“The company must ask, ‘How do I replicate the skills and expertise of people lost or called to active duty in the event of attack?’” he said.
One solution is through communications, he said. A company can call upon “tele-expertise,” the reliance upon individuals at locations other than the affected facility.
Handheld mobile devices can be used on site by less-trained personnel to fill in for specialized personnel whose services have been lost. Technology can play a role in bringing together minds for planning. For instance, an Internet-based e-room can provide a forum to gather far-flung individuals into a discussion.
With today’s technology it is possible to transmit a person’s virtual presence to a remote location. In turn, an image of the classroom or audience can be projected back to the speaker so that the speaker can interact with the audience, Vanlandingham said.
Communication after a disaster must also be planned in advance, he said. A call center can serve to clear and forward messages to the appropriate levels of the company.
Finally, a company must plan in advance to ensure its supply chain in the event of a disruption, Vanlandingham said.
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