Prometheus Security Group Global
Prometheus Security Group (PSG) Global: Securing Critical Infrastructure Points (CIP) and Homeland Security

Video technology is developing at a rapid pace as requirements for higher data rates and storage are pushed by higher resolution cameras. Legacy security systems have field sensors as a primary means of detection with video used as an operator’s confirming subsystem. This paradigm is rapidly changing as video solutions are now often the first line of detection instead of fixed-place, limited coverage sensors. “Video is no longer regarded as an add-on subsystem but a core component of today’s mission. Why, because ‘seeing is believing’ and video analytics is vital to bringing our eyes to the scene”, explains Daniel Griego, Director of Cyber & Network Services at Prometheus Security Group (PSG) Global.

Griego recalls an incident in 2013 when the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia fell victim to an elaborate heist that involved manipulating the video streams of the surveillance cameras at the facility. This type of threat used to be confined to Hollywood thrillers but this incident took the fiction and made it reality. The attack is sobering because it comprised both internal and external actors working together to compromise an otherwise state of the art facility. This demonstrates the threat to our critical infrastructure points (CIP). It shows the need to protect the integrity of video data from the scene through transmission, including storage and retrieval.

Jeremy Freeze-Skret, Vice President of PSG Global touches upon the video integrity challenges faced by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in safeguarding nuclear materials. The IAEA carries our 2,000 inspections a year involving more than 20,000 storage containers and over 1,000 video monitoring systems. “Authenticating surveillance imagery is paramount with this massive auditing challenge” says Freeze- Skret. Internet protocol (IP) based video surveillance cameras have brought higher resolution and more efficient deployment but simultaneously has exposed a myriad of new attack points.

“The authenticity of the video data transmitted, stored, and viewed is crucial to the security mission”, adds Freeze-Skret.

PSG Global has developed a patented technology called Scene Authentication that validates the video data from the scene viewed by the camera through its storage. Scene Authentication uses a unique technology to watermark the camera’s field of view and, using standards based cryptography, continuously verify the integrity of the scene in real-time through transmission, storage and display. Scene Authentication ensures that video is live, authentic and not manipulated in real-time. The technology deploys in the scene viewed by a camera, an encrypted light source called an Authentication Information Transmitter (AITX). The AITX continuously outputs an encrypted timestamp that is continually monitored by a paired receiver (Authenticator algorithm). The Authenticator can be deployed at various points in the system. For example, a video recorder may implement the Authenticator to alert of any hacking or tampering of the video feed. The Authenticator is used during forensics to validate the time of the video.

PSG Global’s Talon integrates the Authenticator into an ultra high security multi-function security appliance. The Talon is a FIPS-140 approved device that encodes analog video, encrypts IP video and provides Scene Authentication in real-time. Kevin Bray, Director of Sales at PSG Global says “I’m very excited about the OEM potential for this technology. We’ve proved a small embedded device can deliver this advanced analytic algorithm which means it can also be integrated into most IP surveillance devices.