April 4 2013
Public Safety IT Cyber Security
The
Coastal Port Project
Challenges In Today’s
TXWARN (Texas Wide Area Radio Network)
Information Sharing World
• Stressed the need for better
collaboration
• Stressed the need for better
situational awareness
• Stressed the need to
better share information
9-1-1 WTC
2
• Had already started building a regional Land
Mobile Radio (LMR) system in 1996 for public
safety first responders.
• Today through partnerships with other counties,
cities and public safety agencies it’s one of the
largest LMR networks in the country with
numerous public safety partners on the
infrastructure and approximately 85,000 Federal,
State and Local public safety users sharing one
radio network.
3
TxWARN
Public Safety
Land Mobile
Radio
System
4
Why Are Shared Networks Important?
9/11 Terrorist treats as well as our daily treats
Harris County Hurricane Evacuation
DFW Tornadoes 2012
5
Harris County Overview
• 1777 square miles
• Over 4.1 million people
• 2nd largest port based on exports
• 3rd largest county in U.S. by population
• 34 cities
• 54 fire departments
• Over 125 law enforcement agencies
• 22 major watersheds
• Over 1200 water and electrical districts
• 8800 miles of pipeline
• 35 Presidential Declarations of Disaster
In 2011, Harris
County had 52
EOC activations
and monitoring
incidents
6
The Region Ranks #1 in…
•U.S. manufacturing cities
•Largest Port in the US for
international commerce
•Energy capital of US
Port of Houston
•Port generate $178.5
billion+ in statewide
economic impact
•Largest IT service economy in US
•1 million jobs in Texas are
dependent upon port
activity
7
Texas Wildland
Fires
Comal County
Floods
Amarillo Ice Storms
DFW Tornadoes
Texas: Leading the Nation in Disasters
Fire Management Assistance Declarations
(Prior to 2003: Fire Suppression Authorizations)
250
Texas
200
150
California
Oklahoma
Washington
100
Colorado
Florida
50
Nevada
Oregon
0
New Mexico
Arizona
Bastrop Fires
2011
9
Texas: Leading the Nation in Disasters
Major Disaster Declarations
100
90
Texas
80
California
70
Oklahoma
60
New York
50
Florida
40
Louisiana
30
Alabama
20
Kentucky
Arkansas
10
Missouri
0
Texas
California Oklahoma New York
Florida
Louisiana Alabama Kentucky Arkansas Missouri
10
Texas: Leading the Nation in Disasters
Total: Disaster, Fire, Other declarations
350
300
Texas
250
California
Oklahoma
Florida
200
Washington
New York
150
Oregon
Colorado
100
Alabama
New Mexico
50
0
Texas
California
Oklahoma
Florida
Washington New York
Oregon
Colorado
Alabama New Mexico
Texas has faced far more catastrophic incidents than
even the second place state, California.
11
Public Safety Long Term Evolution (LTE) 4G
is Vital to Public Safety First Responders
A Nationwide PS 4G Shared Network Will
Help Minimize & Faster Recover From The Treats
Through better collaboration and information sharing
Man Made/Terrorist
The Importance Is These Events
Either Terrorist Or Natural
9-1-1 WTC
• Usually result in the lose of life
• Impact our economy
Natural Disasters
Hurricane Ike 2008
12
Collaboration Is A Must
US
Coast Guard
City
of Baytown
HCSO
HSCSD
A Complete
Solution
City of
Houston
HC
ITC & PID
Federal
State
Local &
Private Public Partnership
State of Texas
TxDOT & DPS
Houston Ship Channel Security District
This Private Public Partnership has not only helped with our LTE
deployment for better information sharing
Infrastructure and equipment to minimize or reduce our Man
Made/Terrorist threat
Infrastructure Sharing View
• Remarkable diversity of tower
owners (7) of current (14) sites
– TxDoT, Harris County ITC , Texas DPS,
City of Baytown, Transtar, Cypress
Creek EMS and T-Mobile
• Core Equipment Facilities
Sharing Arrangements
Commercial Site Sharing
• Existing T-Mobile Agreement
User Site Sharing
• Baytown – Reduced Fees
– Texas A&M, TxDoT/Harris Co.
Early partnerships
with tower providers,
• Backhaul
– LEARN, TxDoT Fiber, HSCSD, Harris Co. carrier and local
agencies enabled a
Public Infrastructure Dept, HC Toll
viable business
Road Authority
model.
15
BIG-Net: Born of Necessity
• Cellular networks were completely lost during
hurricane evacuation due to congestion
• LMR voice worked well but mobile data applications via
cellular were either lost or converted to satellite if
available
• Non-LMR responders were not reachable
• After the storm, cellular networks were down and
responders were dependent upon carrier response
• Carriers responded as quickly as possible but based
upon their own evaluation of priority
• Harris County realized that mobile data is mission
critical as well -- An alternative was essential
16
Texas PS LTE Background
• Harris County began planning for PS LTE in 2009
• Funded system efforts through Port Security grant program
and local contributions for match and O&M through the Port
Security District
• Texas was one of the initial 21 waivers issued by FCC
• In May 2011, Texas received a statewide waiver from the FCC
in the Texas Waiver Order (11-863)
• In partnership with Harris
County ITC, the State
aggressively pursued
authorization to operate
– Since the Texas Waiver, DPS
has filed over 1800 pages
and over 70 filings with FCC
Represents original waiver entities
17
PS LTE Addresses Critical Needs
• Provides Public Safety First Responders better situational
awareness & capability
 Integration of video, computer aided dispatch, priority service and LMR
Push-to-Talk interoperability along with the ability to roam to a National
Carrier with current subscribers being provisioned for the 3G network
 Large disasters and weather events - hurricane season, tornados,
flooding, wild fires
• Protects critical infrastructure through
better information sharing


Replacing antiquated equipment and
data services
Supporting transportation
Hurricane Ike resulted in 195 deaths and
$37.5 Billion in damage
18
Recent Developments
• FCC approved Texas Interoperability Showing, v9, on
July 31, 2012 allowing operation for 31 days
• In August, Texas applied for 6 month Special
Temporary Authority (STA)
• FCC granted Texas STA for 14
sites for Harris County on
August 31, 2012 (12-1432)
• Allowed use of all 20 MHz of
spectrum
Super Bowl Ice Storm
Dallas 2011
19
Harris County System Requirements
Enable dedicated
services to support
First Responders:
Deliver service even
when carrier networks
are most likely to be
down or congested:
Redundancy and
hardening:
Essential for safety &
efficiency
Evacuation of 3 million
plus people in 36 hours
An infrastructure no
less reliable than the
regional Public Safety
LMR system – TxWARN
Enable group-based
services:
Deliver dynamic
priorities to handle
overload situations:
Enable high bandwidth
for data intensive
applications:
Dynamic and multiple
local control;
partitioning
Video especially key for
port security and other
applications
Interagency response &
collaboration is crucial
in this region of so
many shared resources
20
Additional State Requirements
Facilitate an open,
standards-based
environment
Enable nationwide
interoperability
Support diversity & choice while
maintaining cohesive, long-term plan
Support integration into and
deployment of the Nationwide PS
Broadband Network (NPSBN)
Serve ALL of Texas
•
•
•
•
Urban
Border
Rural
Tribal
•
•
•
•
Law Enforcement
Fire
EMS
Transportation
Strategically position Texas
for the future
•
•
•
Next Generation 9-1-1
Border operations
Integration with existing
Land Mobile Radio (P25)
21
Mission Critical Requirements
One to Many
~500ms group communications setup, low latency
Network Resiliency
Site & zone trunking, failsoft, IP path re-routing
Mission Critical Devices
High velocity, ruggedized, environment, accessories
Direct Mode
Subscriber continuity, out-of-network coverage
Dispatch
Console control & interrupt, agency partitioning
Coverage
95%+ guaranteed geographic coverage, in-building
Interoperability
LMR networks, legacy applications & services
Emergency
Subscriber ID, location, remote monitor, pre-emption
Priority
Individual, group, jurisdictional, agency, voice
Security
E2E encryption, key management, access control
LMR
LTE
Standards
evolution
Available
Today
3GPP, TIA, OMA
Feature
development
R&D Investment
Feature rollout
Test, trial, & deploy
22
23
How Do We Minimize Cyber Threats
• Mobile VPN CLIENTS
• Proven Policies and Procedures
• Intrusion Detection Software
24
Security Initiatives
25
Harris County BIG-Net Overview
Broadband Interoperability Gateway Network (BIG-Net)
•
BIG-Net operates on PS PLMN ID 313-100
– First one issued!
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
BIG-NET Vehicular-based system using
Vehicle Subscriber Modem (VSM)
Distributed EPC components for operational
efficiencies
EPC connected to Harris County PSAN
EPC connected TxWARN
• P25 to LTE PTT service
Not connected to commercial carrier at
network layer
Initial applications include:
– video, PTT, database inquiries, and
intranet access
Approximately 40 Units in operational testing
Illustration is conceptual, not all connections are shown.
26
Multi-Network Operation
Currently no connection
between networks
Operating on
BIG-Net
BC14
Commercial
EVDO (3G)
• Uses Mobile VPN Routers in both:
• Connects to 3G EVDO OR 4G
PSLTE BC14
• 3G requires separate subscription
• Switch-over performed by VPN
Operating
On Verizon
BC14 Harris County Coverage
Nationwide Commercial 3G Coverage
• Design allows coverage throughout region, but is not optimal
– 3G not as robust, delivers fewer features and control mechanisms
27
BIG-Net System Diagram:
Backhaul & Status
Tomball
DPS HQ
Cypress Creek
HCPID
Backhaul
Network
WARFN-H
Hensel
Baytown N Main
Wallisville
Pinehurst
Gessner
Transtar
WARFN-I
Kyle Field
WARFN-K
McElroy
Park
TX99
Evergreen
BIG_Sys_Backhaul_v4.1
PAGE 28
Harris County Coverage – Current
Current coverage for (7)
operational sites
Dark green = VSM Uplink
Light green = VSM Downlink
PAGE 29
Harris County Coverage – 14 Sites
Footprint of (14) sites as
authorized
Dark green = VSM Uplink
Light green = VSM Downlink
PAGE 30
BIG-Net Ownership View
Baytown
Harris County
Tomball
Cypress Creek
HCPID
Transtar
TX DPS
T-Mobile
TAMU
DPS HQ
Backhaul
Network
Wallisville
Baytown N Main
WARFN-H
Houston
McElroy Park
Pinehurst
Gessner
Transtar
Hensel
TX99
WARFN-I
WARFN-K
Evergreen
PAGE 31
Additional Coverage for Security
Operations
• Port Security is a
constant concern as so
much of the nations
energy resources pass
here
• Border violence is still
very real and very
intense
April 2012
32
Thank You!
John Chaney
Mobility Architect
Harris County
Information Technology Center
John.chaney@itc.hctx.net
33