Physical access control and security monitoring system utilizing a normalized data format

• US 20080209506A1
• Filed: 08/14/2007
• Published: 08/28/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HID Global Corporation (Assa Abloy AB)
• Original Assignee: Quantum Secure Incorporated (Assa Abloy AB)
• Inventors: Jain, Ajay, Sharma, Shailendra, Ghai, Vikrant
• Granted Patent: US 8,234,704 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/55 Detecting local intrusion or implementing counter-measures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/604 Tools and structures for managing or administering access control systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/37 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voice recognition

Abstract

Embodiments disclose a system and method for the integration of data and events to and from physical access control and security monitoring systems that is normalized to standardized definition for enforcement of standardized rules, created through a visual policy editor, affecting persistence, propagation of data and generation of alerts and notifications for physical security, network and IT systems. Data from disparate physical security systems is normalized for visual rule creation by rule object shapes representing normalized security systems, data and processes. A rules-based policy engine enforces security policies and generates actionable events. The overall system provides an integration platform, methods and processes for normalizing data from physical security systems, representation of physical security systems, data and processes for visual creation of rules using defined stencil objects, generating formatted rules, and enforcing these rules in real-time on security systems data and events.

Claims

1. A method of managing data and events in a physical security management process comprising:

defining a first plurality of objects representing actors, facilities, assets within a managed site;

defining a second plurality of objects representing actions, conditions and references;

constructing a rule from the first plurality of objects and second plurality of objects through connectors that dictate process flow by the first and second plurality of objects;

receiving a plurality of signals from disparate security devices distributed throughout the site;

normalizing the plurality of signals to a common standard format;

processing the signals through the rule to perform an action in accordance with the rule.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the rule is constructed using a graphical visual policy editor.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the graphical visual policy editor comprises a web-based online graphical editor.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the rule dictates a response to a physical intrusion event.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the action comprises one of:

generating an alarm, providing an alert to official personnel, or preventing access to areas of the site.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the rule dictates a response to personnel access privileges within the site.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the action comprises one of:

restricting access of personnel to physical areas within the site, restricting access of personnel to physical assets within the site, or restricting access of personnel to computer resources of the site.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the disparate security devices are selected from the group consisting of:

proximity alarms, infrared detectors, motion sensors, smoke detectors, bar code readers, and biometric sensors.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein at least some of the disparate security devices are manufactured by different vendors.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the site is selected from the group consisting of:

a facility of a large commercial enterprise, a government facility, and a home.

11. A system comprising:

a plurality of security sensors distributed throughout a site, each sensor configured to generate a signal in response to a defined event;

a central security management processor coupled to the plurality of security sensors, configured to receive signals from each of the plurality of security sensors, and normalize the signal data in accordance with a defined data mapping scheme;

a rules definition component defining physical security policies comprising actionable events definitions and responses to actionable events; and

a signal processing component applying the defined rules to the normalized signal data to invoke the defined responses to the actionable events.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the plurality of sensors comprise intrusion sensors, physical access sensors, and environmental sensors, and wherein at least some of the sensors are manufactured by different vendors.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the plurality of sensors are selected from the group consisting of:

proximity alarms, infrared detectors, motion sensors, smoke detectors, bar code readers, and biometric sensors.

14. The system of claim 11 wherein the physical security policies comprise rules consisting of virtual objects representing personnel and physical assets of the site and events involving the personnel and physical assets.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein the rules are constructed using a graphical visual policy editor comprising a web-based online graphical editor.

17. The system of claim 11 wherein the plurality of sensor types comprise physical access, intrusion, and environmental conditions.

16. A system comprising:

an interface module interfacing to a plurality of security sensor types distributed throughout a site, each sensor type configured to respond to a corresponding type of actionable event;

an integration module including an agent for each type of security sensor to accept command and data from each security sensor in a native format; and

a normalization module mapping the command and data from each security sensor in native format to a common format.

18. The system of claim 16 wherein the normalization module converts the native format for each security sensor into XML format.

19. The system of claim 16 further comprising a rules engine applying defined rules on the data and commands from each security sensor.

20. The system of claim 16 further comprising a visual editor component representing each normalized physical sensor as an object containing one or more attributes that define a spatial relationship to other objects through one or more defined rules.