You have developed and implemented a secure perimeter for your building. The problem I would like to consider could be a few feet away from your secure perimeter. You spend a considerable amount of time and money protecting your information from digital and physical threats, yet your information can be highly vulnerable just a few feet from your door. America’s Critical Infrastructure has been a growing concern for some time. Topping the list for consideration is access to underground communications (telephone lines, cables, fiber optics, switching, relaying, and control systems); electric power (power generating stations, transmission lines, control and transformer systems, power distribution systems); natural gas and related energy (natural or manufactured gas, gasoline, and other petroleum products are transported through subsurface pipelines; centrally produced steam is also distributed through underground pipes); water supply (most of the water distribution system, water storage, and some treatment facilities and raw water transport lines are below ground); wastewater and storm water (disposal of wastewater and storm water runoff is done largely through underground pipes and tunnels); transportation (much rail transportation in urban areas, including commuter, long distance, and cargo traffic, is underground); underground courses (in cities, such course provide unmonitored and uncontrolled access to buildings and facilities).

Most of us overlook the immediate threat of someone gaining access at the point where your information ties into the much larger infrastructure. Is that manhole cover locked down? If someone gained access could they do damage, possibly massive damage? Manhole covers are typically round to prevent them from falling inside the hole, are made primarily from iron, and typically weigh around 100 pounds. Manhole ownership varies from location to location, and since different manholes are owned by different companies or entities, most provide access to only one or two utilities. In some cities, though, a large number of manholes provide access to several elements of the infrastructures. Manhole covers rely on their weight to stay put under foot and motor traffic, and also to thwart unauthorized access by vandals. There are also a number of ways to secure manholes by controlling access to the cover: locking the cover itself, detecting intruders with alarm fiber, or physically sealing or hardening of the manhole.