WET News

N ational security is an issue for which we all in the water industry bear a responsibility, given the risks to the population should our water supply be contaminated, either accidentally or deliberately. Few would disagree that the increasingly tough security standards and requirements are beneficial for our country, yet the onus this places on us as an industry is a constant challenge. Assets such as kiosks could be vulnerable to attack, be that simply from wild animals or the ingress of natural contaminants, or from the more insidious risk of vandals, thieves or even terrorists. The threat from this could equate to thousands of homes finding themselves without water – or worse – hence utility com- panies are constantly seeking to replace such assets with uprated security as a priority. Live test The latest frontier – LPS 1175: Issue 7 Security Rating 4 – sees water companies striving to meet targets to install the strongest, most attack-proof assets ever required. So how do they and their manufacturer suppliers achieve this? WET News recently witnessed a live test, carried out by standard-setting body BRE Global, in which a kiosk was tested to destruction according to the procedures set out for LPS 1175: Issue 7 Security Rating 4. That test, hosted by composites manu- facturer MCL at its factory in Fenton, Staffordshire, saw one of the company's own products Testing assets to destruction • Assets such as kiosks are vulnerable to vandalism, theft and even terrorism. What does it take to ensure assets are attack proof? ONSITE Security to ensure safe water supply to customers, utilities constantly seek to replace assets with uprated security as a priority undergo sustained assaults with a variety of tools in order to determine its resistance to deliberate and determined attacks using commonly available tools. Until very recently, the UK water industry has had to achieve LPS 1175: Issue 7 Security Rating 3 in order to meet industry requirements. The test to this level requires kiosks to be proven to withstand a sustained attack for up to five minutes with a variety of tools such as chisels, drills, gas torches, saws and hammers. LPS 1175: Issue 7 Security Rating 4 not only doubles the duration of the attack to ten minutes, it also involves a higher category of tools. Andy Hobbis, director at MCL Industrial Enclosures, explains: "Until recently, testing was required to simulate deliberate forced entry of well-protected premises using bodily physical force and a wide selection of attack options. In order to achieve the latest security rating, the criteria are far tougher: experienced attempts at forced entry." Hardware At this level, the BRE Global testers also have at their disposal a range of hardware including – but by no means limited to – a grinder, lock removers, a sledgehammer, a jigsaw and an axe. We asked BRE Global and its test subject MCL how manufacturers can meet these new levels of security, in order to assure water companies and their customers of safety. TECHKNOW • Designs include creating a 'sandwich' cross- section that is resistant to attack • criteria to meet the latest security rating is tougher than for previous ratings • Walls and doors that look like GrP could be reinforced by hidden steel layers NEED TO KNOW 1 McL uses the exact same set of tools and weapons as specified by Bre Global for its own testing 2 Secrecy is key as kiosks are usually located in inaccessible or remote places 3 Design drawings and specifications to be provided on all test subjects 4 until recently, testing was required to simulate deliberate forced entry prOjECT spECs • ensure assets are attack-proof • carry out live destruction testing of kiosks • the assets must stand up to attack for up to ten minutes • Kiosks must meet LPS 1175: issue 7 Security rating 4 THE VErDICT "research and development represents a major investment for any company like ours. We approach the process with a combination of scientific and systematic rigour to pre-empt even the most professional saboteur" Andy Hobbis, MCL Naturally, neither party is willing to give away any confidential information: secrecy is the first rule of countering threats such as terrorism. Within the bounds of such secrecy, however, certain guidelines and advice are clear. First is the proof of the above critical point: the more detail that can be kept confidential, the better. BRE Global requires all design drawings and specifications to be provided on all test subjects, which give its testers the major advantage of knowing where to drill or attack. In the real world, however, if the manufacturers and the owners keep these designs restricted, the attacker will find it much more difficult to breach the asset without any means of knowing where hinges, joints and other potentially more vulnerable areas might be. This secrecy also extends to the locations of the assets. Kiosks are usually located in inaccessible or remote places, and water companies and their supply chain take great care not to reveal these whereabouts. With regard to the manufacturing process itself, the materials technologists in the factory are similarly tight- lipped. Hobbis explains: "In order to meet LPS 1175: Issue 7 Security Rating 4, manufacturers have been driven to develop highly technical specialist materials. While the products may still be based on glass-reinforced plastics (GRP), there is far more to them than meets the eye. Walls and doors that look like GRP may in fact be reinforced by hidden steel layers. Areas FeBruAry 2016 WET NEWs 15 that require additional strength now use a combination of top- secret materials in a highly complex engineered solution. Today's designs may include a specialist lay-up to create a 'sandwich' cross-section that is highly resistant to attack." Popular As well as the materials, the designs themselves have evolved to incorporate advanced security require- ments. Structural floors and walls are a good example, says Hobbis. "The design of a structural floor has long been popular with water engineers because it delivers the ability to fit out the kiosk completely before li¡ing it straight to site to 'plug and play'. Perhaps more important than this efficiency benefit, however, is the fact that with an integral structural floor, there is no join that can be prised open at ground level because the base plate is fully encapsulated." In conclusion, MCL described how all manuf- acturers should take their preparations for BRE Global testing seriously. "Research and development represents a major investment for any company like ours," Hobbis continues. "We even go so far as to purchase the exact same set of tools and weapons as specified by BRE Global, and carry out our own tests before we submit product samples for the official ones. We approach the process with a combination of scientific and systematic rigour to pre-empt even the most professional saboteur. It is what our clients and their customers depend upon."

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