security – Engineering Radio

A case for security cameras

I little bit of local awesomeness from the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department:

A Patterson (NY) man was committed to the Putnam County Jail in lieu of bail in connection with three separate thefts of copper fixtures from cell communications towers in Patterson and Kent.

The rest can be read here: Man charged with stealing copper from cellphone tower sites

I once got into an argument with my boss about transmitter site security cameras. His attitude was “what difference does it make, nobody will do anything about it anyway.” Clearly, if the police have something to go on, they will take action. I know that several E911 sites in Dutchess and Ulster counties have been victims of copper theft as well.

IP security cameras are inexpensive and fairly reliable, provided you keep them out of the direct elements. We have dozens of old Windows XP computers floating around which, with the addition of a software package like Blue Iris, can be repurposed as a record and save system. The advantage of Blue Iris is the record on motion. The cameras do not need to be monitored continuously; if something happens, go back and look at the stored video.

The old Windows XP boxes do not need to be connected to the outside world unless one wants to look at the security system from the studio or home. Alternatively, if one is Linux savvy, something like Zoneminder or Xeoma look like full featured video surveillance software packages. I have not fooled around with these yet, but perhaps when I have some spare time…

The point is, for not too much money, a full-featured video surveillance system can be installed at remote transmitter sites to keep track of comings and goings. If enough idiots get busted for stealing copper, perhaps it will stop (or at least slow down).

Network Security, part II

With the spate of ransomware and crypto virus attacks on automation systems, perhaps a quick review of network security is in order:

Isolate the automation system on a separate network from the general office network and do not allow internet access on the automation system’s workstations or servers.
Use a separate switch for all automation network connections.
install a small router between the automation network and the office network. On the router, the WAN port faces outward toward the office network, making the WAN port non-pingable. Grant access from the office network for certain users; e.g. traffic, music director, etc via access lists. Open up a few ports for VNC or RDP on the router so technicians can remotely access machines to do maintenance and troubleshooting.
Use supported and up-to-date operating systems.
Use separate admin and user accounts, make sure that admin rights are removed from user accounts, and keep machines logged in as users. This ensures that some errant DJ or other person does not install any unauthorized programs.
Install and keep up to date with a good antivirus program.
Back up the data and test the backups.

The office network is more vulnerable because of the human element. Internet access is required, of course. Click on a pop-up, sure! Hey, that photograph has a funny file extension, lets’s open it and see what it is. I never heard of this person before, but look, they sent me an executable!

Much of the office network security will rely on the quality of the router connected to the internet and the antivirus software installed. Of course, the network users have a good deal of responsibility also.

Security Camera System

The security camera system at WICC has been installed for a month or so. The greatest feature of this system is the Blue Iris monitoring software. Two weeks ago while I was out there, we calibrated the motion detection on all four cameras. The results are astounding; there are at least two red foxes and six to seven white-tailed deer, and on the weekends, the place is busier than Grand Central station.

The nighttime images are interesting, people with flashlights walking down the beach at 1 am and a naked guy causally strolling by the front gate at midnight. I will never go to this site at night without the police. Never, so don’t even ask. This is a video of a fence hopper with a can of spray paint in his hand:

Likely he intended some site beautification. His friend is out of the frame to the left when the cameras are spotted. A few seconds later both can be seen running away on the North facing camera. I find that rather funny. This is a still picture:

Blue Iris screen shot — Blue Iris screenshot

On the right-hand side of the screen, one can see all of the triggered events from all the cameras. The Blue Iris software is great, it can handle up to 64 IP cameras and has all sorts of neat features; color coding cameras, recording on motion, night time sensitivity settings, ability to NAT the camera interface to the public network, etc. The Blue Iris also has an iPhone and Android client which will allow remote access to the Blue Iris server and the server can be set up to push events to the mobile device. At $9.99, the app is a little pricey, but for high-security situations, it might be just the ticket.

We must also get some signage warning about trespassing and video surveillance and post them on the fences and buildings.

Things that make you go, Hmmm.

I was doing a weekly visit to one of our FM transmitter sites the other day when I noticed this:

Dented deadbolt lock at transmitter site — Dented deadbolt lock at the transmitter site

Looks like somebody has been whacking the deadbolt lock with a hammer or a wrench or something. Pretty sure that was not like that the last time I was here. Time to get one of those IP cameras and set it up on the tower.