How we help protect Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)

Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) relates to buildings, networks, people and processes that keep the UK running. Without a high level of protection in place and a proactive approach to monitoring and reporting of threats, these services (which are critical to the functioning of UK society) can have a detrimental impact on national security and defence. In the UK there are a dozen of national infrastructure sectors:

• Chemicals
• Civil Nuclear Communications
• Defence
• Emergency Services
• Energy
• Finance
• Food
• Government
• Health
• Space
• Transport
• Water

What are the main national security threats?

Terrorism, espionage and cyber threats are among the main types, however, all sectors listed above have one or more Lead Government Departments (LGDs) accountable for the sector, with the responsibility of ensuring the highest level of protection is in place, securing critical assets.

From natural disasters like flooding, blizzards and storms to severe threats from hostile groups such as cyber criminals and terrorists, it’s essential the United Kingdom develops its infrastructure, ensuring it can not only prevents, but also recovers, from various events. 

How cutting edge technology can improve layered security

Layered security is the practice of incorporating many different security measures (at different levels) to deliver supreme protection to valuable assets. Should one layer fail or be compromised in some way, many other layers are in place to maintain a high level of security. If we look purely at physical security, measures can include:

• Detection of weapons
• Tracking and monitoring of intruders
• Physical barriers, as well as access control and locking systems
• Guarding sensitive or classified material and assets
• Incident response plans
• Security personnel

Here at Zinc Systems, we help to protect CNI in a number of ways, utilising our pioneering incident reporting and critical communication platforms.

Our award winning technology, Synapse, offers government departments the ability to plan proactively and optimise decision-making during major incidents. By combining a central intelligence database with alarm integrations, response times can be drastically improved – enhancing the safety of Critical National Infrastructure, such as people, assets and locations. It’s also incredibly easy to collate reported data and analyse intelligence more effectively. 

Sygnal, our critical communications, notifications and actions platform also plays a pivotal role in protecting CNI and responding to national security threats. From capturing and analysing targeted offender and organised groups to improving communication with a wide range of notifications (such as email, global SMS, MMS, and in-app messages), our platform guarantees deliverability whilst giving government teams the tools and features needed to create comprehensive workflows – assigning, scheduling and tracking tasks from start to finish. 

Another key advantage is that teams can be easily formed and managed remotely using Sygnal, utilising data driven approaches to deploy relevant personnel. This not only improves productivity, efficiency and protection, but also reduces the risk of miscommunication and confusion by ensuring relevant people are informed of crisis situations and hazards. 

To learn more about us and how we protect CNI, please get in touch with a member of our team today.

• Critical events/incidents
• Dashboards & analysis
• Infrastructure