Intelligent Security, based in High Wycombe, has been placing 30-50 of its Talos devices to companies in the pharmaceutical sector a year, amid concerns that an upswing in the number of incidents of harassment of industry staff by animal rights groups could be a harbinger of more serious action. Fears that were given credence by the bomb attack on Chiron's headquarters in California, US, in 2003.
New legislation in the UK will help reduce nuisance protests - which make up the overwhelming majority of incidents reported to the police in the UK each year - but will do nothing to deter a committed terrorist, said David McCombe, Intelligent Security's general manager.
"Five to seven years ago, we made no sales at all to the pharma industry, he told In-PharmaTechnologist.com, but all that changed after animal rights groups started targetting companies and individuals, such as Huntingdon Life Sciences managing director, Brian Cass, who was attacked outside his home in 2001 by three people carrying baseball bats and using CS spray.
Intelligent security is the only company in the world offering this type of product, and it saw strong growth over the following years as companies took action to avert the risk of a serious incident. Now, the rate of growth has declined a little as public attention to the issue of animal rights extremism wanes, he said, but pharma remains a valuable minority sector for the firm.
The Talos device was developed as an under car booby trap detection system and is already used by security personnel around the world, he explained. It is designed to give the user a warning if a magnetically attached explosive device is concealed on the vehicle.
When installed the system protects by means of eight sensors concealed throughout the vehicle to give complete coverage. When a device is attached to the vehicle, a discreet light warns that the vehicle has been subject to attack, and an alarm can also be sent via an SMS text message to up to three mobile phones, providing the user with the added security of remote alarm warnings. The system costs £2,000-£3,000 (€3,000-€4,500) to install.
A new-generation device - provisionally named Rumur - is in development and should be able to pick up not just magnetic devices but any interference with a vehicle, for example if its brakes were tampered with.