Larry Anderson's Security Beat

Coming into ISC West, many in the industry had expected a renewed push toward use of mobile credentials (contained on smartphones, for example) instead of cards for access control. HID Global didn’t disappoint. A highlight of the second day of the show was a press conference in which HID Global announced new elements of its initiative to lead the industry into use of mobile credentials. Uses Of Smart Phone Credentials For Identity Management HID already provides SEOS mobile credentials,...

ISC West was hopping on its first day, with crowded aisles, packed booths and plenty of news to share. Much of the news consists of product announcements resulting from the rapid pace of technology development in the physical security market. It was enough to cause sensory overload. Educating Integrators And End Users About Security Technology Technology is moving so fast that it’s understandable integrators, not to mention end users, might struggle to digest it all and apply it to thei...

Cloud-based video systems have been slow to take off, but a new offering being introduced at ISC West seeks to give the concept new life. Unveiling the new system is Ivideon, a provider of hosted Cloud-based video, which is joining forces with Global Innovations, manufacturer of the Oco line of smart cameras. New Oco Pro cameras are pre-configured to interface easily with the Ivideon Cloud system, and distributors and integrators who sell the cameras make money both on the camera and installat...

ISC West is on the immediate horizon, and I asked several industry players what they expect new and different at the industry’s big show. The answers included buzz-worthy topics from Big Data to the Internet of Things, but also mention of a perennial industry theme – integration. Video Embracing Social Media? Tom Chamard, Executive Vice President of Sales, Salient Systems, expects social media to emerge as a larger topic of interest at ISC West, especially considering how social...

Heightened security is the watchword throughout Europe and around the world after the recent dual terror attacks in Brussels. Two explosions at Brussels’ Zaventem airport were followed an hour later with a third bomb at the Maelbeek Metro station, just 100 meters (about 300 feet) from the headquarters of the European Union. In all, 35 people died (including three suicide bombers), and more than 300 others were injured, 62 critically. Raised Security Levels Worldwide In Belgium, flights w...

It’s common knowledge today that sitting all day is bad for your health. Researchers have found that the negative impact of excessive sitting can even outweigh the benefit we get from exercise. Many of us have seen the long list of negative health effects of sitting at work. But what about all those security control room operators, perpetually vigilant, and perpetually tied to their stations? New sit-stand workstations are providing a solution, and the new stations are more popular than...

Community was the big buzz-word at this year’s Milestone Integration Platform Symposium (MIPS). The folks at Milestone are long-time proponents of open systems, and presenters at MIPS 2016 described an expanded vision of how the Milestone video management system (VMS) platform can spur innovation in the market. Their “Open Platform Community” vision involves more interaction and technology development, both between Milestone and its partners (including third-party manufacturer...

Lower-cost thermal cameras are becoming attractive for more applications every day. Thermal cameras have long been known for their ability to “see in the dark” by sensing temperatures of objects and displaying a video image of temperature variations, but previously their high costs limited their appeal to mostly high-end or military applications. Now lower costs are expanding the possibilities. In particular, combining thermal cameras with video analytics drastically lowers the num...

Samsung Techwin is changing its name to Hanwha Techwin. The move comes a little more than a year after Korean conglomerate Hanwha Holdings acquired the largest share of the company from Samsung Holdings in late 2014. However, use of the Samsung brand on the company’s cameras and other products will continue for now. “Eventually we want to make it our own brand,” said Tom Cook, vice president of North American sales. “Samsung carries some weight in the user mentality....

In a year of mega-deals impacting the security marketplace, one of the big news stories recently was a deal that did not happen – between giants Honeywell and United Technologies (UTC). Financial news pages have been full of the back-and-forth between these two companies. It seems Honeywell wanted to merge with UTC, but UTC declined because of “insurmountable regulatory obstacles and strong customer opposition.” So the deal is off, at least for now. Impact On The Security Mark...

Many companies are considering carefully the possible risks of business travel to the areas most impacted by the Zika virus, and others may have facilities located in affected areas. What Is The Zika Scare? Transmitted by mosquito bite, the Zika virus can cause a fever that typically involves minor symptoms. There is an additional risk to pregnant women as Zika fever has been linked to incidences of microcephaly (a neurodevelopmental disorder) in newborn babies through mother-to-child transmi...

A spirit of cooperation pervades this week's 11th annual Milestone Integration Platform Symposium (MIPS) conference, the largest-ever such event with more than 500 attendees at the Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. MIPS is Milestone’s educational and networking event for its IP video surveillance and integration partners. New Approach For Security Partners "We have reached the defining moment in our ecosystem," said Lars Thinggaard, Milestone President and CEO. "We must seize...

2016 is shaping up to be the year of the billion-dollar merger in the security market. After last month's mammoth Tyco/Johnson Control merger, a second big merger has rocked the market, this one involving one of the most familiar names in the consumer market – ADT. The home and small business security company, which traces its history back to 1874, has agreed to be acquired by private equity firm Apollo Global Management, and will merge with competitor Protection 1, a subsidiary of Apollo-...

Sports security has always played a crucial role in securing major sporting events around the world. Ensuring the safety of millions of spectators who throng the venues during such events is not an easy task. Apart from the usual surveillance cameras and barricades that are put into place, to prevent overcrowding and stampeding, other security measures are also implemented. The Super Bowl is one of the biggest events of the year in the United States, so no wonder it’s also a huge event fo...

I suspect that many people – especially travelers – associate the idea of “security” with what they see at the airport screening line. If that’s the case, our market’s image suffers from the association. I’m not sure what that is, that happens at airport screening gates, but I don’t think it’s security. Rather than actual security, the practice seems aimed more at making the traveling public feel safer (if that’s possible even as they...

As industry consolidation continues, we can expect a number of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the next several months, but the first M&A story of 2016 is a whopper. This week, Johnson Controls and Tyco have announced their merger into one company with annual revenue of $32 billion. The new Johnson Controls will be almost a direct reflection of one of the industry’s biggest trends – the move toward technology convergence and smart buildings. Johnson Controls has previousl...

Access control and video systems have always yielded a lot of data, although historically much of it has been stored on hard disk drives and later overwritten and/or dumped. A new trend is to compile that data over time, organize it, analyze it and then use it to provide insights into how the enterprise operates. Analyzing Data From Different Sources And Departments It’s part of a trend called Big Data, but so far its use in the physical security market has been limited. One company tha...

Politics will be dominating current events in 2016 in the United States, building up to the Presidential election in November. Given the Presidential primaries coming up soon, almost everything – including security – is being seen through a political prism. With the recent San Bernardino attacks, the focus has once again shifted to protection of citizens against terrorist attacks. Government surveillance, such as monitoring of suspected terrorists or individuals has always been a con...

We don’t usually report on financial news here, but a recent financial move by up-and-coming industry leader Hikvision warrants attention. Specifically, Hikvision in Hangzhou, China, has secured a $3.1 billion line of credit from the government-owned China Development Bank. Companies use a variety of financing tools to provide the currency they need to fuel growth, so in that regard, Hikvision’s move is to be expected. Given their ambitious growth timeline, both in China and throug...

A major industry player is getting even bigger. FLIR’s acquisition of DVTEL will make FLIR a full-spectrum security systems provider, covering the consumer, SMB, Enterprise and large infrastructure segments of the market. The acquisition of DVTEL strengthens and broadens FLIR’s Enterprise market segment, complementing the existing security product lineup by offering a new set of software-based video surveillance technologies. FLIR already has solutions at either end of the tradition...

Second guessing is to be expected in the wake of terrorist attacks like the recent tragedy in Paris. After such attacks, security and intelligence professionals are prone to soul-searching – and to speaking out on the public airwaves –to address important questions: Could we have prevented it? What should we have done?  There tend to be two categories of second-guessing. The first centers on the idea that the intelligence community should have known about the planned attack and...

Are smart phones poised to replace all biometrics hardware in the next several years? That’s the bold prediction of Hector Hoyos, CEO of Hoyos Labs, one of the pioneers of biometrics technology who owns 59 patents (pending and issued) related to the field. The advent of the smart phone, which amounts to everyone carrying a computer in the palm of their hand, provides all the ability anyone needs to capture biometric information to use for verification, he says. Breakthrough In Technolo...

There's nothing like a visit to the China Public Security Expo (CPSE) in Shenzhen to open your eyes to a new world of security market manufacturers and customers in the Asia-Pacific market. The show is huge by Western standards – someone told me it's five times the size of ISC West in Las Vegas. But even more than the size of the show, it was the crowd that made an impression on this first-time visitor. Huge numbers of attendees and exhibitors Think of the mass of humanity you might exp...

Discussions in our industry about cyber-threats to physical security systems, including IP video, often center around hypotheticals. How might a hacker gain access to a video camera feed? How might he or she enter the larger enterprise system through a software vulnerability related to physical security? We all know assessing threats often involves considering the hypothetical, of course, but we should also seek to learn from actual events in the past. In relation to vulnerabilities of video su...

We all know that security video cameras are becoming smarter. The IP cameras at the edge of today’s video surveillance systems contain computer chips that can potentially change how cameras are used. However, despite the changing technology and greater intelligence at the edge, today’s systems mostly use video cameras for one thing – to provide video. In some cases, the cameras provide hours and hours of video that no one will ever watch.  Re-Examining The Role Of Video...

Hikvision USA’s ascension from virtual obscurity to the upper tier of manufacturers in the U.S. market is being built on the Chinese company’s huge manufacturing capacity – they turn out 50,000 to 60,000 surveillance cameras every day from factories in China. The large capacity enables Hikvision to achieve economies of scale. In effect, they can make high quality video surveillance products at a lower price, a capability that will continue to serve them well as they begin compe...

Foot traffic improved a little on the second day of ASIS International in Anaheim, California. Furthermore, the high quality of meetings at the big industry show tended to overshadow complaints about attendance. There is plenty to talk about in Anaheim. “The conversations have been much more substantial than you usually have at a trade show,” says Charles Hunger, Product Marketing Director, Anviz Global Inc. “They’re not general conversations, they’re ‘How ca...

Product innovation may have slowed in the security market in the second half of the year. On the first day of the ASIS International Show in Anaheim, California, new product introductions seemed few and far between. In fact, most manufacturers were touting small improvements to the products they announced in the spring. Some emphasized that the products unveiled (or “previewed”) in the spring are now fully ready to be shipped. ASIS has historically been more an end user show than an...

In a school security lockdown, teachers typically display red or green cards on the doors or in the windows of their classrooms. The manual procedure uses red cards to alert to a crisis condition; green cards designate that everything is safe inside the classroom or office. Color-Coded Crisis Management System Physical security company Sielox has adapted the idea of using a color scheme to characterize an emergency situation into its electronic security system. CLASS [Crisis Lockdown Alert Sta...

Can a U.S. manufacturing company compete and thrive in the global security market? Megapixel camera manufacturer Arecont Vision makes a strong case that it can. Dialog And Integration With VMS Companies Assembling products in the USA helps Arecont Vision ensure quality. If there is a quality issue, the company can stop the production line and fix it. Although some of Arecont Vision’s components, such as camera housings, are manufactured in low-cost regions of the world, including C...