Substation Perimeter Security

The Industry’s Trusted Radar Solution

With 8 of the top 10 utilities now using Spotter Global radars, we have become the standard for U.S. Electrical Utilities. Our radars ensure that security personnel have enhanced awareness in all weather conditions both day and night. As a security operator, you’ll love it because it’s easy to use. It’s like having a dedicated PTZ camera operator for each camera, giving complete visibility of every site. As a security manager, you’ll love it because it provides superior coverage at a lower cost, it’s easy to install, and it’s easy to integrate with your current system.  With our radars, you’re able to cover 20 times the area at the same cost as thermal cameras running video analytics with a fraction of the false alarms.

Spotter Radar Protecting a Substation

This is an actual recorded event.

The alarm was triggered by our radar solution which alerted law enforcement and tracked the suspects automatically with the PTZ camera. One of the two suspects was apprehended.

Terrorist Attack on a Substation

CIP-014: Spotter radar meets and exceeds CIP-014 requirement of increasing awareness and system abilities

The NERC CIP-014 standard is the regulatory result of a significant physical security attack that happened a few years ago. A major transmission substation in Central California was attacked on April 16, 2013. Shooting for over 19 minutes, the attacker(s) destroyed, damaged, or degraded 17 electrical transformers that funnel power to Silicon Valley, resulting in over $15 million worth of damages. Prior to shots being fired, the attacker(s) first entered six AT&T fiber-optic telecommunications vaults, severing 911 and communication lines. The criminal(s) then proceeded to shoot over 100 7.62 mm rounds into transformers and other grid components. If the gunfire wasn’t already enough to destroy the transformers, they subsequently began to leak tens of thousands of gallons of transformer oil, causing them to overheat and shut down. In my opinion, there is no doubt that this was a sophisticated yet low-tech attack by the attacker(s) with industry knowledge. Unfortunately, the attacker(s) have not been brought to justice and nobody to- date is sitting behind bars.