Member Spotlight: ALCEA - ASSA ABLOY
Posted by Outreach on May. 10, 2024 / Member Spotlight / Subscribe 0
A year with ITS Midwest has flown by for ALCEA (former ASSA ABLOY Global Solutions) since 2023, and their achievements are well worth the spotlight.
San Jose’s New ALCEA Traffic Security Solution
After nearly a year-long installation program, the Department of Transportation for the City of San Jose in California is in the final stages of replacing and upgrading the security measures of their traffic signal and Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) cabinets. When completed, 2,000 cabinets at about 1,000 intersections will now be secured with a 75481 series traffic enclosure lock from ALCEA, the brand formerly known as ASSA ABLOY Global Solutions - Critical Infrastructure.
ALCEA is a global security solutions provider dedicated to safeguarding vital infrastructure worldwide. The brand provides complete security solutions for critical utilities, transport, and communications, with a commitment to ensuring industries and people can function uninterrupted. ALCEA has 22 local offices and about 350 employees worldwide.
Darren Thai, an associate engineer with the City of San Jose’s Department of Transportation, said they were seeking a leading-edge security solution. Following a thorough review, it was determined ALCEA had an access management system that exceeded their expectations.
“After contacting several possible vendor partners, we focused on a locking device that not only would be very difficult to access, but something that was unique,” said Thai, who has worked at the department for eight years. “They offered more than we asked for in terms of flexibility, plus the whole validity process and permission sets in the management software. We are definitely happy and impressed with how things have progressed.”
Thai said the process to upgrade their cabinets originated in 2019 by participating in a network penetration test to assess the nations and state of California’s transportation system against cybersecurity threats.
“As a result, we improved the firewalls and field network infrastructure. The one thing that really stuck out in the report was the physical security of our signal and ITS cabinets. We now have more control over who has access to the cabinets with the ALCEA solution.”
That solution includes both mechanical and electromechanical lock cylinders deployed at different access points throughout the city. The electromechanical 75481 series supports electronic access control, key tracking, and audit trails with CLIQ Web manager software. It is a cost savings benefit for traffic cabinet security upgrades because, typically, fewer than half of ITS cabinets are situated at high priority sites that require more expensive digital locks.
“We determined the most important thing was to secure our traffic signal cabinets because the expensive technology inside those enclosures require regular servicing,” acknowledged Thai. “We use the mechanical locks because they are very secure, and CLIQ is pretty straightforward since it is web-based software. We can get pretty creative with setting the permissions and validity periods, and we are eager to see how it turns out.”
Installations are being handled by Econolite, ALCEA’s system integration partner. Thai said the installations are easy to do.
“It is a drop-in replacement for what we formerly used, which was partly a selling point for this solution. We did not have to modify the cabinets in any way, and it takes about 10 minutes to remove the old lock and install the new one, which makes it very convenient. We have realized there are actually more users than we originally thought. Having the audit trail capability helps so we know exactly which cabinets users are accessing at specific times, so if something unexpected happens we can trace it back.”
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ALCEA
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