CommerceGuard Installs Container Security Network in Northern California

GE Security, a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of the General Electric (NYSE: GE), is deploying its CommerceGuard container security system at the Port of Oakland — the fourth busiest U.S. port for containerized goods. CommerceGuard is a popular solution for global supply chain security aiming to help protect against the potential for theft, smuggling, international terrorism, and other threats during transport. The Port of Oakland loads and discharges more than 99 percent of the containerized goods moving through Northern California. CommerceGuard is a system which equips containers with container security devices (CSDs), and the system sends automated alerts to appropriate authorities when a reader indicates that the container was opened without authorization while in-transit. “Cargo in the global supply chain is vulnerable to theft, smuggling, product tampering and terrorism. CommerceGuard plugs a significant gap in today’s security measures, because it provides in-transit intrusion detection,” said Randy Koch, president and CEO, CommerceGuard AB, and general manager of cargo security for GE Security.

The CommerceGuard CSD is mounted inside a container as it is being loaded for shipment to monitor for, and report on, potential en route tampering or damage. While in transit, CSDs communicate securely with fixed and handheld readers. The readers then forward encrypted security and tracking information wirelessly to the global CommerceGuard Information Network where it is accessible by authorized shippers, port authorities, and other officials via the Internet. Automated warnings are also routed to appropriate authorities, when warranted. Oakland joins more than twenty ports where the CommerceGuard network is already installed. Among them are Port Everglades, Florida, the Port of Portland, Oregon, the Port of Virginia, and the Port of Antwerp in Belgium.