Patent ID: 7482924

Claim:
A cargo container security system comprising: at least one enclosure surface substantially enclosing a volumetric space of the cargo container; a continuous optical fiber disposed in the at least one enclosure surface to define an optical fiber path extending across substantially an entire area of the at least one enclosure surface, the optical fiber comprising material with at least one optical characteristic that irreversibly changes when exposed to one or more types of radiation; a light source optically coupled to one end of the optical fiber path for introducing light into the optical fiber path; a light detector optically coupled to an other end of the optical fiber path for receiving light from the optical fiber path; a circuit connected to the light detector and operative to detect a change in the at least one optical characteristic as a function of the light received at the light detector from the optical fiber path and to provide an alarm signal as a function of the detected change; and a transmitter operative to receive the alarm signal and in response thereto to transmit an alarm notification to a receiver system.