تتميز أنظمة مراقبة الفيديو بأنها حساسة للغاية بالنسبة للجهد العالي، ونظرًا لذلك فإن صدمة الإضاءة يمكن أن تؤدي إلى حدوث أضرار لا يصعب إصلاحها فحسب، ولكنها تُحدث أضرارًا بأجهزة نقل البيانات أيضًا. ينقسم نظام المراقبة العادي إلى ثلاثة أجزاء:

• Cameras (outdoor)
• Transmission
• Control

The control equipment is normally indoors (including indoor cameras) and is less likely to be struck by lightning because it is protected by the building. The outdoor cameras and transmission equipment, the most important parts of a surveillance system, are at much greater risk from Lightning. Once these devices are damaged the whole surveillance system would not work properly and if they are spread across a wide area, the cost for repair can be significant.

This type of catastrophic failure and the associated costs are avoidable by providing proper protection for all parts of the surveillance against Lightning strikes. This white paper provides guidelines for security managers and their operations staff to protect their outdoor cameras and transmission equipment from Lightning strikes.