Remember Alistair Cook’s Letters from America? Well keep that thought, writes Una Riley – from America.
I recently found myself in LA and decided that it would be a good idea to drive up to Vegas and either interview the head of security for one of the major hotels or seek out the ‘Security Dude’ for Las Vegas … I found the latter. After several phone calls I was put in touch with Joe McDonald, Chief Security Officer of switchNAP and a Council Vice-President of ASIS. Joe has over 25 years in military, law enforcement, security and security system design; he is also a sought-after speaker on behalf of security and surveillance issues. Since joining the company in 2005, his approach to risk analysis methodologies, constantly updating protocols, and the best use of technology are the foundation for his management style and philosophy enabling him to administer all personnel, physical, and environmental security for the SwitchNAP facilities.
Awesome
What is switchNAP you may ask? Well it is an awesome facility just off the Las Vegas strip and the best kept secret in the city in commercial security terms. They do not advertise and the business is not affected by any downturns in economy such as the present global credit crunch. SwitchNAP is a data centre which represents a unique fibre nexus interconnection point accessing the entire North American area with the largest telecommunications providers on the global market today. It houses an inter-exchange environment which enables switchNAP to provide mission-critical co-location infrastructure and services to a global customer base. SwitchNAP focus on delivery and supply of super fast interconnectivity, telecommunications services necessary for businesses in the ever-evolving internet market place. It also provides highly-secure disaster avoidance co-location services.
Entry
The location of the facility is anonymous from the outside but once you approach the perimeter it feels like you have walked on to the set of the X Files! The physical security systems have been designed to provide extremely hardened, state-of-the-art, secure facilities. As we approached the building by taxi, the driver was very unsure about entering the gates; I don’t think that he thought he would get out again! We were instructed by remote access where to go and who would be meeting us. We finally arrived at the entry door and an officer insisted that we submit our passports or driving licence. I personally did not like the idea of handing over such important personal documentation…however, if you don’t, then you are simply not allowed in to the facility. Once the officer had verified the documentation he radioed in to the control centre and confirmed his personal acceptance of responsibility for us! That officer then assumes total responsibility for his charge or guest throughout their stay on the facility. We were then escorted to a utilitarian hi-tech meeting room, surrounded by all the mod-cons and conferencing facilities; but just getting there is a story in itself! Joe made his entrance; a tall guy who just to look at him you could guess at his profession: security. We shook hands and got the pleasantries out of the way and immediately plunged in to security issues pertaining to convergence technology and what the internets role will be in the future of security etc. We then began to focus on switchNAP and Joe started to explain just what a growth market the business was in and without further ado flicked a switch and a professional film show ensued about the organisation and the new building in progress.
Building
Afterwards Joe explained: “The new building, being built right now is 360 thousand square feet, on one floor. Then with the power rooms and the office space taking up a further two floors, it will be a total of 407 thousand square feet in all, making it the most dense power-wise centre in the world.” I enquired at this stage if the company was privately owned? Joe replied with a smile: “Yes, it is.” He also went on to describe the new building with all its generator and megawatt capabilities making it this super power centre. He described the amount of additional power and what it could be utilised for including domestic power generation but went on to say: “The power is only used to sustain the internet during bad times …” This was an open-ended comment and made within the confines of this high security-conscious facility where some of the areas that you walk passed do ‘not exist’ if you get my drift! It is evident that they are ready for most eventualities.
What it’s about
I asked Joe to explain in layman’s terms exactly what switchNAP is all about? “What we do here is provide the physical security presence for the physical portion of the internet in the immediate 300 mile radius. We estimate our electronic digital traffic being approximately 63 per cent of all digital traffic to and from LA and parts East and West.” I enquired about the type of client base. “We have government and military clients along with Fortune 10 company clients and what we provide is a location that is secure and that is abundant in power, bandwidth and cooling; and self contained. We have risk assessed to the highest level and I am a certified anti-terrorist specialist, with CPP accreditation from ASIS so I have applied all my skills and knowledge to our procedures and protocols concerning all areas from electro-technical to the management of the security team. In fact switchNAP is very security orientated – everything is done with security in mind. For instance the air-conditioner units, if there was a biological or chemical attack, or an incident that would necessitate us to shut-off all in coming air and use only recycled air, this would enable us to continue to use the building in a dust free environment. In fact every area of the business is security focused.”
Mantraps
Joe went on to explain how they had monitored us approaching in the taxi on the main road and missing the turn off to the building. They observed us driving past and performing a u-turn; other inconspicuous looking buildings that are also part of the campus appear unconnected but in fact conduct heavy surveillance on behalf of switchNAP. Therefore, the perimeter protection is in place prior to approaching the building with its exterior walls which are constructed of either steel reinforced poured concrete or masonry reinforced beyond American building code requirements; each exterior door is reinforced, alarmed, access controlled and viewed by a dedicated fixed camera. Exterior doors lead into specially engineered mantraps. The mantrap is sheeted with 12 gauge steel and strapped by quater-inch aluminium. All access points off the mantrap require additional biometric authentication of the card holder and are controlled via a 24/7 security officer with audio surveillance and fixed cameras viewing every door.
Logged
So as Joe says: "It doesn’t matter who you are, whether you are the richest most powerful person in the world or someone delivering equipment on behalf of a client … everything being brought in and out of the facility is logged by security to estimate environmental and power needs. Equipment is dropped at a special receiving man-trap by the customer for delivery to their protected space. Everyone is subject to the Positive Access Control procedures which consists of a 24-7 staffed Security Command Centre Officer verifying that the person standing in the mantrap matches a file photo (hence the submission of photographic ID on arrival). After confirmation, the officer activates the second proximity and biometric reader for entry. This is all set in the X Files environment of metal walls, bullet proof glass, turnstiles, cameras, intercoms and biometric readers. After our meeting Joe took us for a tour of the facility. Every customer space, whether it is a cage, cabinet or suite, is individually locked, protected, and monitored. Additional security safeguards can be added to these spaces at the customer’s request. Obviously I can’t divulge the clients names but suffice to say that some of the largest global companies are represented at the facility and others who ‘don’t exist’ are also in situ! Joe was very proud of his team and explained that. "SwitchNAP has a proprietary, fully manned, 24/7 Security Command Centre. Security staff members are hired with military and security experience and must complete an extensive training period, which includes security system instruction, procedure and policy instruction, and non-lethal weapon training.” I enquired if the officers used guns and Joe explained that Tasers were the preferred weapon of choice. Joe went on to say: "Our training academy adopts the ASIS guidelines to security officer training.
ASIS required
“A security supervisor oversees each shift and reports to the campus security manager. All officers in management positions are required to be active members of ASIS International. There is only one protocol to abide to and that applies to not only the staff but also the clients.” I must say that I arrived in Vegas looking for a sexy security topic such as the casinos and found an incredible service provider in the merging security market where security comes first … and you can bet your bottom dollar on that! p
Visit www.switchnap.com
The ASIS International Annual Seminar and Exhibits runs from September 15 to 18 in Atlanta. Talks cover just about every angle of security management from brand protection to detecting deception in verbal and written statements; and indeed data centre security. A (return) UK speaker is Prof Martin Gill, on benchmarking your security. For more about ASIS visit:
