Saudi Arabia News

Utility security staff have a responsibility to ensure they can identify risks associated with security threats Protecting North America’s power grid is a thankless job. Day in and day out, the good citizens of the United States and Canada wake up with the assumption that when they get out of bed each morning and flip on the lights, the room will illuminate, the coffee pot will come to life and their mobile phone will have been fully charged. After all, we live in a mode...

Cultural and hospitality venues are attractive targets for terrorists due to their public accessibility Over the past 40 years there have been numerous attacks carried out against cultural and hospitality venues in the furtherance of religious, ideological, criminal or political beliefs. By default, cultural and hospitality venues are attractive targets for terrorists due to their public accessibility, the volumes of visitors and guests or because of what the venue represents;...

What happens to a company’s data in the case of a disaster such as 9/11 or Hurricane Sandy? How can a company recover from a disaster and continue their business uninterrupted? It’s a complicated challenge – and one many security professionals and risk management professionals must consider. Companies like Recovery Point provide resources to help a company survive a catastrophic event and keep its computer programs and business processes running. Their customers include large,...

Dahua Technology, a world-leading manufacturer and supplier of video surveillance products headquartered in Hangzhou, China has delivered an IP-based security solution for SANASA Development Bank in Sri Lanka. Founded in 1997, SANASA Development Bank (SDB) is a unique financial institution, committed to rising the standard of living for low income Sri Lankan families with its range of microfinance activities. SDB is a national cooperative bank, with over 82 branches covering all of Sri Lanka. A...

Customers are increasingly requesting both mechanical and electronic services for their doors In most buildings, security is a hybrid solution of both mechanical and electronic security products. Locksmiths take care of the mechanical door hardware and the integrators focus on the electronic security technology. However, for consumers, this traditional division of labor means they must deal with two different companies for the same door - one to design, install and service al...

Cloud-based solutions with mobile credentials and capabilities are simplifying multi-site management Facility managers and security operations staff are often bombarded with calls from multiple tenants, across several sites — each with unique needs — but traditionally they had no insight or control on the spot. Now, cloud-based solutions with mobile credentials and capabilities are simplifying multi-site management — enablin...

The Mexican border wall will be made of concrete; a substance that the president has used to some effect in his previous career The border with Mexico is an obvious starting point for the security community. Many had assumed that 'wall' would mean a high-tech fence or possibly just a virtual barrier of perimeter intrusion detection systems (PIDS), video surveillance with analytics and thermal imaging. However, during a press conference shortly before inauguration, Mr Trump put...

The flexible protocols of the controllers meant they could function with the existing third-party readers King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of London’s largest and busiest hospitals. It provides a full range of local services for over 700,000 people in southeast London. The ACT equipment enabled networking the company’s units to a PC allowing up to 2,000 doors to be monitored on a single system with 30,000 users. Flexible Protocols Crucia...

Counterterrorism tells antiterrorism about threats and antiterrorism tells counterterrorism about unusual or suspicious activities The most terrifying thing about terrorism is its reliance on the element of surprise. Most people don’t see the attacks coming, or don’t recognize the indicators when they see them. When terrorists strike, law enforcement is disadvantaged, the victims shocked and by the time an effective response is mounted the perpetrators are ofte...

Many employees who once commuted to on-site corporate offices now spend their time working remotely or traveling between sites Over the past two decades, the workforce has drastically changed. As mobile devices became increasingly affordable and the demand for multiple offices, distributed campuses and globalisation has increased, many employees who once commuted to on-site corporate offices now spend their time working remotely or traveling between sites. In 1997, only 9.2 m...

Veracity, the Scottish company specializing in IP video transmission, storage and display, has made a small but significant acquisition that has the potential to impact its business profoundly, according to the company. Known for its COLDSTORE surveillance storage system and other video products, Veracity is expanding its scope with the acquisition of I-Comply Ltd. (icomply), a provider of command-and-control software whose UK customer base includes universities, hospitals, cities and power and...

Consumer electronics are closely related to physical security. For one thing, electronics consumers increasingly see security as one of the functions they want their smart home systems to perform. We have heard the Internet of Things (IoT) buzzword in our market, and it is also a major force in the changing consumer electronics arena. Because consumer electronics are increasingly tied in with security, many in our industry keep a close eye on developments at the huge Consumer Electronics Show...

A Converged Solution for Video Security, Monitoring and Storage Today’s networked video systems have expanded their functionality beyond simply storing and retrieving video. Deploying the latest video systems depends more than ever on managing video data efficiently and effectively. New tools for managing video data include the use of virtual storage platforms, dynamic tiered storage, and video management system (VMS) software, all combined into a converged, standalone solu...

The locks, alarms and access control solutions used for buildings have little impact outdoors Large campuses – colleges and universities, hospitals and office parks – face difficult security challenges in protecting people and property across wide-open outdoor spaces. Outdoor security requires a different approach. The locks, alarms and access control solutions used for buildings have little impact outdoors. Outdoor security may include protecting a student on an...

Continued consolidation and price pressures were factors in 2016 in the security market, which grew as expected.However, there is still interesting innovation being developed to further the market, such as the industry’s first PTZ with laser focus, says Fredrik Nilsson, VP, Americas, for Axis Communications. “While the video surveillance market is getting close to being 100% converged over to IP, there are many other IoT markets that are early in the cycle of convergence, such as int...

Increasing the quality of illumination with LED can help deter crime and improve the accuracy of video analytics One of the greatest challenges that indoor and outdoor security surveillance solutions face is lack of light. However, obtaining the proper amount of illumination for security goes beyond merely flooding a specific area with light. Without an adequate lighting source, video cameras are ineffective. When capturing only dark, blurry images and video, they can quickl...

Over the course of 2016, we witnessed a continuation of the prevalent trend towards more integrated and intelligent networked systems using Video Management Systems (VMS) as the central control platform.   One of the drivers behind this is open platform solutions that support more advanced physical devices such as IP cameras with on-board analytics, which continues to shift emphasis from the physical aspects of video and access control systems to the collection and correlation...

Amazon Go is a new idea in retailing, now being tested at a store in Seattle, that eliminates the need for customers to go through a checkout line. The so-called “just walk out” experience depends on “the world’s most advanced shopping technology.” Customers simply enter a retail store, choose the goods they want, and leave. The checkout process is automated: The selected goods are charged to the customer’s account automatically. Solving Shoplifting Most of...

The forecast for 2017 is also based on a breakthrough in adoption of mobile identity technology in 2016 HID Global, a provider of trusted identity solutions, forecasts a shift in the use of identity technology that will lead to increased adoption of mobile devices and the latest smart card technology, a greater emphasis and reliance on the cloud, and a radical new way of thinking of trust in smart environments and Internet of Things (IoT). Ultimately, HID Global predicts the...

Physical access control has been a key component of many organizations’ security strategies for several decades. Like any technology, access control has evolved over the years, and solutions now offer more security and convenience than ever before. From swipe technologies, such as the now antiquated magnetic stripe, to a variety of contactless technologies and mobile access credentials, businesses now have several choices when it comes to access control. Upgrading Outd...

High definition has become the camera technology of choice for new installations Video storage is the foundation for new video surveillance infrastructures. Depending on your platform, storage can enhance your surveillance system’s capabilities, or it can limit them. But one thing is certain: your storage decision can no longer be an afterthought. Tremendous Growth In Data Storage Digital technology is transforming the surveillance industry. In fact, it’s estimat...

With the current state of economic uncertainty, there is a huge opportunity in 2017 for perimeter intrusion detection (PID) manufacturers to reach the commercial market. Petty crime rates, such as theft and vandalism, are on the rise and, as a result, small business owners are looking for new security options to enhance their current camera and alarm systems. Often thought of as complicated, expensive, and only for high-value applications, PID has a chance to change its perception in the years...

The security industry will continue to see consolidation through acquisition in 2017. At the advent of IP camera adoption, we saw a great decline in large vertically integrated companies, which spurred a new era of innovation within smaller IP camera manufacturers, VMS providers and other hardware companies for storage and managed switches.   We are now living in a new era of consolidation that is taking us full-circle back to vertical integration. Ultimately, the industr...

Some Expert Panel Roundtable topics are more challenging than others. Occasionally a question will “stump” the panel – i.e., no one will choose to answer it. Other times, only one or two panelists will step forward to answer a question. One comment does not a “panel” make. Taken together, however, these varied comments offer their own range of insights into the evolving physical security market. Let’s look at some of these assorted Expert Panel comments over t...

The year of 2016 ended with Vanderbilt finalizing the acquisition of Access Control Technology Ltd., which strengthened the company’s product portfolio and introduced an entirely new market segment to partners and customers in Ireland and the United Kingdom. ACT brings an existing cloud-based access control solution to Vanderbilt, thereby complementing the existing product mix. This new technology adds significant value to our customers in Europe, and we plan to deliver it to our customer...

Ongoing attacks on private networks drew attention in 2016. Most public were the Wikileaks and other privacy violations during the 2016 election cycle. Whether or not the information had a bearing on the election outcome will never truly be known, but one’s overall sense of privacy is shaken. In many ways, these attacks and other less publicized cybercrimes were the result of a perfect storm. Organizations struggled with the sheer volume and constantly changing threats from advanced malwa...

At the end of last year, we anticipated that data gathering and analysis would continue to be a strong trend, and that certainly proved to be the case in 2016.   More and more organizations are seeing the value of the intelligence provided by diverse systems’ data. The number and variety of networked systems and devices – both security and non-security – continued to grow steadily in the last year, and the data these disparate sources create has proven highly...

As the whirlwind of 2016 quickly winds down, it is a good opportunity to look back at the significant trends from this year. As predicted, the industry experienced accelerated data growth, the continued convergence of security and IT, and the ever-expanding impact of the Internet of Things (IoT).Overall, 2016 was a good year. IT investments were strong and organizations rapidly adopted new data center advancements such as hyper converged infrastructure (HCI) to help manage the huge influx of cri...

The latest challenge to facial recognition technology is “anti-surveillance clothing,” aimed at confusing facial recognition algorithms as a way of preserving “privacy.” The clothing, covered with ghostly face-like designs to specifically trigger face-detection algorithms, are a backlash against the looming possibility of facial recognition being used in retail environments and for other commercial purposes. Increasingly Common Facial Recognition Technology It’s a...

Predicting where or how security access trends would develop in 2016 was an educated guess at best. We did, however, forecast continued growth in the areas of wireless readers; smartphone usage as a credential; and more migration to web-based software/hardware solutions.In hindsight, we were not so far off the mark. Wireless security systems proved to be a growing option for extending an access control system and a practical solution for retrofits. Smart phone credentials gained popularity by fr...