ALArM, from Los Alamos National Laboratory, Chevron USA Inc., and Evident Scientific, is a permanent acoustic sensing system for protecting entire large-area structures, including oil and gas facilities and civilian infrastructure. This patented system uses inexpensive, highly scalable sensor networks to detect damage and defects in complex, insulated, and underground inspection zones. It features an integrated software package that seamlessly interacts with existing computer-aided design and numerical simulation tools. ALArM not only identifies damaged areas, it also shows the extent of the damage and the rate it is spreading — which means users can fix problems before they become catastrophic. When fully deployed in the oil and gas industry, the ALArM system could assist cost-saving, condition-based maintenance efforts and prevent corrosion-related losses during production (upstream), processing and transport (midstream), and refining and manufacturing (downstream). By reducing regular maintenance costs, improving our stewardship of natural resources, and averting disastrous equipment failures, ALArM could save American companies billions of dollars and improve the reliability of this important industry, which provides most of the U.S.’s energy needs.