Dependable integrated surveillance systems for the physical security of metro railways

Abstract

Rail-based mass transit systems are vulnerable to many criminal acts, ranging from vandalism to terrorism. In this paper, we present the architecture, the main functionalities and the dependability related issues of a security system specifically tailored to metro railways. Heterogeneous intrusion detection, access control, intelligent video-surveillance and sound detection devices are integrated in a cohesive Security Management System (SMS). In case of emergencies, the procedural actions required to the operators involved are orchestrated by the SMS. Redundancy both in sensor dislocation and hardware apparels (e.g. by local or geographical clustering) improve detection reliability, through alarm correlation, and overall system resiliency against both random and malicious threats. Video-analytics is essential, since a small number of operators would be unable to visually control a large number of cameras. Therefore, the visualization of video streams is activated automatically when an alarm is generated by smart-cameras or other sensors, according to an event-driven approach. The system is able to protect stations (accesses, technical rooms, platforms, etc.), tunnels (portals, ventilation shafts, etc.), trains and depots. Presently, the system is being installed in the Metrocampania underground regional railway. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first subway security system featuring artificial intelligence algorithms both for video and audio surveillance. The security system is highly heterogeneous in terms not only of detection technologies but also of embedded computing power and communication facilities. In fact, sensors can differ in their inner hardware-software architecture and thus in the capacity of providing information security and dependability. The focus of this paper is on the development of novel solutions to achieve a measurable level of dependability for the security system in order to fulfill the requirements of the specific application.

On synergies of cyber and physical security modelling in vulnerability assessment of railway systems

“…This equipment is normally used by maintainers and other authorised 20 personnel, but can be potentially targeted by unauthorised personnel through the same physical access points. Since trackside shelters and technical rooms are nowadays equipped with physical security and environmental monitoring devices, security threat analysis can be advantageously fed with both physical and logical elements [2]. 25 Nowadays, holistic modelling of complex systems is still a challenging research issue, being largely accepted that the more promising and scalable ap-proaches focus on modularity and composability (both in modelling and solving).…”

Design and Implementation of Enhanced Surveillance Platform with Low-Power Wireless Audio Sensor Network

“…Companies like EZWatch and VIGILANCE&SECURITY have developed wireless hidden cameras, night vision cameras, and high-resolution cameras for different scenes. Based on the surveillance platform, many researches [1][2][3] have been done on the smart monitoring through analyzing the captured video stream. However, these algorithms are often complex and easily affected by the lighting condition and obstacle.…”

“…There are many applications that significantly benefit from the present of video information, including environmental monitoring, health-care monitoring, personal security, law enforcement, and emergency response [1][2][3]. However, there exist many drawbacks only employing the video signal in the traditional surveillance system.…”

Autonomous UAV for Suspicious Action Detection using Pictorial Human Pose Estimation and Classification

“…Joyce et al [1] proposed a face detection system able to identify suspicious people by matching the face, and other personal details such as name, medical history, tax records, criminal arrest records, voting records, etc., with a criminal database. Bocchetti et al [2] proposed an algorithm that detects suspicious activities from video streams. Goya et al [3] introduced a Public Safety System (PSS) for identifying criminal actions such as purse snatching, child kidnapping, and fighting.…”

“…A number of video surveillance systems have been developed in the past in an attempt to detect and report criminal activities [1], [2], [3]. Joyce et al [1] proposed a face detection system able to identify suspicious people by matching the face, and other personal details such as name, medical history, tax records, criminal arrest records, voting records, etc., with a criminal database.…”