Scenario justification
Justification: Floods are a regular occurrence across the globe, and a piqlVault will almost certainly be affected by one during the next 500 years. With the effects of climate change, there may be swings in weather from severe drought to severe rainfall, which will make flooding all the more prominent. As the recommended placement of piqlVaults is in lower floors or basements in areas not affected by flood risk, it is likely that these can be subjected to floods some time in the future, if the current climate forecasts persist.
Purpose: The particular relevance this scenario serves to the assessment of the vulnerabilities of the Piql Preservation Service is the effects of prolonged exposure to unclean water. In a severe flood the piqlFilms would likely be fully submerged in very muddy and debris-filled water for hours, even days, the effects of which would be quite different than light short exposure to clean water. Some of the components of the Piql Preservation Services, particularly the Film and the Vault, are vulnerable to prolonged exposure to water. The exact effects have not been
sufficiently tested, but we can safely assume that the electronics of the piqlVault system will be severely damaged, perhaps beyond repair, necessitating full replacement, and the piqlFilm, especially the gelatine, will be highly affected.
Benefit: This scenario highlights the need to do further testing on the piqlFilm’s endurance in water, specifically unclean water, so that correct measures can be taken to prepare for (almost) inevitable exposure.
Scenario outline
The scenario is set in the geographical zone South (Southeast Asia). An extreme flood during the rainy season severely damages the Piql Preservation Services. Due to placement of the piqlVault in the basement of an old historical and institutional building, the raging waters quickly fill the entire space and rises to 2 meters above street level. The aging building structure is unable to withstand the pressure, and water seeps. All of the piqlFilms are fully submerged in extremely filthy water for several days, as the severity of the flood prohibits access any earlier than that.
Cause Type of risk
(Hazard/Threat) Hazard: Prolonged flooding of piqlVault.
Intentional
(Yes/No/Both) No.
Profile of actor (if
intentional) -
Description of cause
Abnormal amounts of rainfall in area not prone to such high levels of precipitation causes the river which runs through the city to overflow its banks. The severity of the flood causes water to cover an enormous area, including the location of the piqlVault.
The raging waters consumes almost everything in its path, from mud, vegetation and rocks to debris and remnants of buildings, and also humans and animals. The flood claims several lives.
Competence and resources (if intentional)
-
User/value
User class Public non-sensitive.
User type The National Supreme Court.
Value All manner of legal documents preserved for documentational purposes.
Used as important legal references to legal practice in the country, but also as historical records of the life and times in centuries past. Though the sensitivity of the information is not high in the sense that it is confidential, its value is still very high.
Location
Location description
Geographical zone: South (Southeast Asia). Historically, the rainy season has most affected other regions in the zone, but due to climate change floods can occur elsewhere. The developmental level of many parts of the continent is medium to high. It is rising in the region where the piqlVault is situated, but it still takes a long while before the workers reach and can start to clear the piqlVault.
The piqlVault is situated in an urban area with a river running through it. Though the piqlVault is situated a safe distance from the river, the overflowing water covers an enormous area.
The scenario takes place in the future, 2213. The time period is 0-100/500 years, as the value is documentational records. The scenario is a risk for the present as well, but the scale and location of the flood, and thus the placement of the piqlVault, in this scenario presupposes a change in climate patterns.
Environment description
The climate zone is a humid subtropical climate. It is the rainy season, in the end of July. The local weather conditions are hot and humid: 35°
Celsius with a relative humidity of 92 %.
It is the middle of a period of heavy rain. The river has been close to breaking point the past day and finally rises higher than its banks at the same time as tunnels, sewers and drains flood. The incident occurs early morning before business hours. The Piql personnel have been evacuated, but there was no time to start evacuating material goods.
Vault description
The scenario takes place while the piqlFilm is in storage in the piqlVault. The vault is placed in the basement of the Supreme Court building, a historical institutional building.
Normally the vault is regulated through ventilation to uphold the ISO standards governing levels of humidity and temperature, but the heavy rainfall of the past days has presented a challenge with regards to humidity levels.
Local safety measures
All safety measures required by Piql AS are in place, see section 5.5.1 for details. As a building housing important legal and historical documents, the Supreme Court building was constructed with the highest regard for safety measures. Yet, the floods of the future proved too powerful for the aging building, and the structure is too weak to protect from the raging waters.
Local security
measures All security measures required by Piql AS are in place.
Consequences
Outer building
The physical infrastructure of the building and the storage room are severely affected by the force of the flowing water, but the supporting structures of the construction still stands.
Vault
The piqlVault is highly affected by the flood. Water seeps into every crack, and eventually the doors into the storage room are forced open by the force of the water streaming in. The entire piqlVault system grid is completely submerged in water, causing all electronics to fail. The raging waters strained the integrity of the grid when it first surged in, but the strength of the aluminium and the tightly stacked bins enables it to remain upright.
Box
As the piqlVault system grid remains upright, the piqlBoxes are not subjected to jolts or drops. Neither are the piqlBoxes severely damaged by the water, yet the exposure to filthy water forces the Piql personnel to replace them, as their structural integrity has been compromised and their longevity can no longer be guaranteed.
More important, however, is the fact that the piqlBox is not air-tight or water-proof, which means that the filthy water will seep in and come in contact with the piqlFilm.
Film
As the piqlBoxes are not water-proof, the piqlFilms are subjected to prolonged exposure to extremely filthy water full of mud, debris and decaying organic material. As mentioned, the exact effects are not clear, but we can safely assume that neither the polyester nor the gelatine emulsion on the piqlFilm will hold up long under these conditions. The gelatine would likely dissolve, and all of the piqlFilms would be damaged beyond repair.
Power/energy supply Along with the rest of the city, the power supply to the piqlVault is cut off during the course of the flood.
Divergence from ISO standard
Neither the temperature, nor the humidity levels are upheld, as the power supply to keep the ventilation system running is cut. That, however, makes no difference once water fills the entire space of the storage room. The change in temperature and relative humidity will not cause much damage; the filthy water will.
Security mechanisms
Integrity
The gelatine emulsion of the PiqlFilms exposed to the filthy water will almost certainly completely dissolve. This entails damage beyond repair, and the data will be lost. It will no longer be possible to verify the integrity of the information.
Availability See over. The information will no longer be available to the owner once it becomes evident the information on the piqlFilms cannot be saved.
Confidentiality
See over. Although information will no longer be accessible to the data owner, neither will it be accessible to anybody else. Confidentiality thus remains intact, as no one else can or will read the material.
All the piqlFilms in the vault were left without proper security regarding access control when the doors were forced open by the pressure of the water and could hypothetically have been accessed by others at this time. Due to circumstances outside of human control, however, the films remained inaccessible and thus confidential.
Immunity (against attacks on the above mentioned)
The Piql Preservation Services is not immune to attacks on availability or integrity.
Recommendations
Recommended protective measures
The piqlVault is more vulnerable to the effects of flooding when it is placed in the lower floors of a building, hence the recommendation is to place it higher up in areas prone to flooding. As this scenario has illustrated that one cannot in the future always know whether one is in an area prone to flooding or not, additional measures should be in place.
These could include a sealed bag around the piqlBox. Another measure
is to always keep backup copies of the piqlFilms at several places, which is a regulation in force today.
References
Relevant literature [80] FloodList (n.d.), Asia
B.4 Natural Disaster: Forest Fire