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Photonics News No 80

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Protect Your Network from Sabotage

© istock.com/nadla

Remote Fiber-optic Monitoring Systems Detect Network Events

The topic of “telecommunication information transfer” is almost as old as the civilized world. As early as ancient times, information was exchanged between a sender and receiver via optical telegraphy. By applying torches and cyclical panels, diverse codes were able to be transmitted from A to B.
Although infrastructure and data transfer rates certainly cannot be compared to those of ancient times, this basic principle has not, if you will, changed since then. In any case, the goal of the 100% availability of a communication path for the exchange of information, as well as the desire for protection from sabotage and monitoring by third parties – whether for military or economic reasons – has remained the same.

Legal Situation
The protection of critical infrastructure from cyberattacks is a real issue. For the operators of critical infrastructure, such as water suppliers and electricity and gas grid operators, according to changes to the IT Security Act by the BSI from July 25, 2015, it is necessary to register extraordinary IT disturbances.

In state-of-the-art transmission technology, it is possible to protect network infrastructure from manipulation: fiber-optic monitoring systems are used for this purpose. Ideally, these systems are scalable in order to be expanded effortlessly if the network is expanded.

A monitoring system of the latest generation makes it possible to detect an event along the fiber-optic link in real time and precisely to within almost a meter. This includes the most radical disturbance “fiber breakage” and path changes that lead to attenuation.

Interception via Fiber Tapping
One classic example of a path change is fiber tapping. In this procedure, the light of the transmission signal is decoupled by bending the fiber – even the jacket does not offer adequate protection. Without the use of a monitoring system, this interference would go unnoticed; data communications could be monitored via the decoupled signal without being noticed.

Quick Troubleshooting and Protection from Sabotage
Up until just a few years ago, the primary motivation for fiber-optic monitoring was a reduction in mean-time to repair (MTTR) (i.e., the measured duration of time between the disturbance and the completion of troubleshooting). Today, these monitoring systems are primarily used in protection from sabotage and theft and in the detection of tapping devices.

Theft Protection
Monitoring manhole covers or the doors of critical infrastructures in a way that is unsusceptible to electromagnetic jammers is unproblematic with a fiber-optic monitoring system. It requires just a single remaining fiber and a corresponding sensor at the respective monitoring site. Up to 80 sensors can be controlled with just one fiber.

New Registration Requirements for Operators of Critical Infrastructures
Classic network operators, state authorities, and administration unions in the operation model, such as counties, cities, and towns, already rely on fiber-optic monitoring. Since the new regulations in the IT Security Act from July 25, 2015, the operators of critical infrastructures also use these systems.

Monitoring during Network Failures
The issuance of an alarm status of the measuring unit and the attached fiber optic links must also be possible – especially if networks or mobile networks malfunction. This is the only way to make sure that it is always possible in high-level network manipulations (e.g., router hacking) to gain direct access to fiber-optic monitoring.

The ability of the system to sound an alarm during an event should be available along different paths: in addition to e-mail and SMS messages, via SNMP to an NOC or via a relay. Especially the latter, as well as the ability to connect to a measuring unit via a separate local interface if necessary, is a quality feature and minimum requirement of state-of-the-art monitoring solutions.

 

 


OTU-8000

VIAVI offers the smartOTU, which is a remote monitoring system for optical fiber networks. The 2U unit can be integrated into a typical 19” rack via...


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Laura Dreßler

+49 (0) 8142 2864-135