What New Buzzword Have You Heard, And What Does It Mean For Security?

We are past the AI buzzword stage, but I have been hearing the term “agentic AI” lately. As technology experts tell it, agentic AI is the next evolution of AI capabilities, featuring AI “agents” capable of learning over time via reinforced learning and even operating with a degree of autonomy. That may be true, but it is important to remember that today’s AI is best used in conjunction with human operators. Trust is critical in today’s business environment, and that means fostering long-term relationships with partners and customers. AI-based “agents” may be able to help answer key questions or take some autonomous actions that make human operators more effective and efficient, but they cannot establish the personal connection most customers desire or replace technical services agents in mission critical, high-tech industries like security. By leveraging this technology to augment and assist rather than replace humans, businesses can enjoy the best of both worlds.

A new buzzword is resilience. A complex risk landscape around the globe underscores the need for organizations to be resilient to adapt and thrive amid change. A key strategy for organizations is to be part of a technology ecosystem, to enhance their ability to innovate, grow, and compete in a collaborative environment. Security manufacturers need control over the full supply chain. Adopting strategies to achieve more with less resources is fast becoming a key focus – i.e., introducing smarter training methods like virtual classrooms and Augmented Reality. End users are leveraging digital transformation to gain a competitive edge through adoption of advanced technologies, transitioning from on-premises to hybrid solutions for improved security, compliance, cost efficiencies, business continuity and disaster recovery. Integrators/channel Partners’ challenges include delivering complex integrations, providing seamless interoperability, upgrading of legacy platforms, data security and privacy, skilled labor shortages and managing costs to ensure profitability. Resilience is crucial to both survive the challenges and grow stronger through them.

While plenty of new kinds of cyber-attacks have emerged, none stand out quite like reverse identity theft. Searching for a recent example of a data breach in which millions of personal data records are exposed does not take much time. As a result, bad actors are combining the data from these breaches to further their illegal activities. These records are often joined together without enough due diligence, and two unique identity records merge into one. Reverse identity theft occurs when one's identity is incorrectly intertwined with another that is not their own. For people with common names, who live in the same household, or perhaps share an address with prior residents (e.g., rental property), this is particularly troublesome. These combined identities, if not fixed, can lead to erroneous collection accounts, legal trouble or even falsely being held responsible for the actions of your identity counterpart.

The security industry is increasingly embracing a balanced approach that bridges the gap between professional installation of security products and complete DIY by end-users. This concept is referred to as “DIT", or Do-It-Together, to express the idea that end-users take an active role in setting up their systems with the help of professional installers. For the security industry, DIT is shaping how we approach installation and support to our security vendors partners. It enables alarm dealers and installers to serve a wide variety of customers, catering to both those who prefer a hands-on approach and those who prefer professional support. DIT also supports different business models and helps streamline installation, making it faster and easier, which is a key demand from our dealers with which we work.