Physical security - Security beat
Change is happening at MOBOTIX, and the German company wants to get the word out. “This company has been around since 1999, and people still give us a blank stare because they don’t understand what’s behind the curtain,” says Joe Byron, Vice President Sales Americas, MOBOTIX CORP. “As we gain visibility, people really want to know ‘what’s going on over there?’” There’s a lot going on. A new CEO, Thomas Lausten, who joined the company l...
After the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, Jody Allen Crowe set out to develop a threat suppression tool to address school violence. Five years later, the result of that effort is the Crotega Threat Suppression System, displayed this year at ISC West. The remotely-deployed threat suppression system drenches a perpetrator with a repulsive water-based solution, thus impairing their ability to enact violence. The solution irritates eyes, throat, lungs and skin, but does not cause permanent injury....
Cybersecurity talk currently dominates many events in the physical security industry. And it’s about time, given that we are all playing catch-up in a scary cybersecurity environment where threats are constant and constantly evolving. I heard an interesting discussion about cybersecurity recently among consultants attending MercTech4, a conference in Miami hosted by Mercury Security and its OEM partners. The broad-ranging discussion touched on multiple aspects of cybersecurity, including...
A few friends from the security industry will gather this April to see, hear and touch the latest technologies to make the world a safer place. Actually, more than a few: there will be more than 30,000 security professionals gathering at the Sands Expo in Las Vegas April 11-13 for the International Security Conference and Exposition, usually known as ISC West. Many of the attendees will be returning to what has become a yearly ritual. The site, the players, the pace and even atmosphere of ISC...
President Trump has recently proposed a series of tariffs that could disrupt global trade and impact the global physical security market, among many others. He first proposed tariffs targeting aluminum and steel imports; in effect, the proposal would place a 25 percent tax on steel and a 10 percent tax on aluminum entering the United States. Rising Prices, Rising Tariffs The resulting higher prices of imported aluminum and steel could raise the costs of a range of goods manufactured in the Uni...
Open architecture in physical access control is built around Mercury Security’s access control panels, the de facto standard embraced by more than two dozen access control original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Mercury and several of its OEMs teamed up March 3-4 to present MercTech4, a conference in Miami aimed at updating security consultants about the latest developments related to the Mercury platform. MercTech4 highlighted a new generation of access control products, which are incre...
A new crime wave is hitting automated teller machines (ATMs); the common banking appliances are being rigged to spit out their entire cash supplies into a criminal’s waiting hands. The crime is called “ATM jackpotting” and has targeted banking machines located in grocery shops, pharmacies and other locations in Taiwan, Europe, Latin America and the United States. Rough estimates place the total amount of global losses at up to $60 million. What Is Jackpotting? ATM j...
Milestone Systems is embracing artificial intelligence and deep learning in a big way at this week's yearly Milestone Community Days (MIPS 2018) in Las Vegas. The Danish company's theme is "Creating an Intelligent World," and Milestone's stated goal is to make "the Milestone community part of every surveillance installation in the world." Science Fiction Becomes Reality In a presentation on opening day, Milestone CSMO Kenneth Hune Petersen pointed to the 2002 movie The Mino...
A downside of our thriving economic times is a shortage of skilled personnel to work in the physical security marketplace. Strong economic growth translates into a low unemployment rate, and greater competition among employers to attract the best talent. The field of cybersecurity, in particular, is seeing a serious talent shortage, but any physical security company can also attest to our own challenges finding and keeping the best talent; not to mention the obvious - that cybersecurity is now...
Qognify’s security management systems compile information from a variety of sensors to provide situational awareness, and now they can leverage the benefit of a different kind of sensor, what the company calls the “human sensor.” Employees see and hear a lot of information during their work day, and some of it has an impact on security. Now that information can become part of an integrated security system, reported by trusted employees through a smart phone app. Qognify&rsquo...
A USB drive from Heathrow Airport, found on a London street in late October, contained confidential information about accessing restricted areas at the airport and security measures used to protect the Queen. The drive also contained a timetable for anti-terrorism patrols at the airport and documentation of the ultrasound system used by Heathrow security to check perimeter fences and runways for breaches. The data was not encrypted, and the London resident who found it turned it over to a newspa...
Cybersecurity is a growing concern for manufacturers of life safety and security products, and Underwriters Laboratories (UL) wants to help solve the problem. Specifically, UL seeks to work with manufacturers to up their game on cybersecurity and to certify compliance to a minimum level of cybersecurity “hygiene.” UL Cybersecurity Certification UL is a familiar brand in consumer goods and in the security and life safety markets. UL certification is sought by manufacturers in a ran...
As the dust settles after ASIS 2017 in Dallas, most agree it was a good show. It was different in some respects from previous shows, but several of the changes seemed to work well. Launching the exhibition on Tuesday instead of Monday was a big hit, and who could fault the idea of happy hour drinks on the show floor? Attendance may not have broken records, but end user VIPs were among the crowd, and foot traffic held up fairly well, even on the final, shortened day. STANLEY Security Virtual Re...
End users at ASIS 2017 in Dallas may feel overwhelmed by all the new technology on display, but often their integrator partners can offer a helping hand. Traffic continued through much of Day 2 of the ASIS exhibition, but the foot traffic appeared to slow considerably as the day wore on. Convergint Seeks Closer Manufacturer Relationship Integrators are prominent at ASIS and play an important role connecting end user customers with manufacturers' products that meet their need. "We are taking t...
We can add another technology category to those aspects of the physical security market on the verge of being changed by cloud technology. The new category is the printing and encoding of ID cards. HID Global is adapting the benefits of cloud computing to the ID card printing market with the introduction of HID Fargo Connect, a cloud-based personalization and issuance system for ID cards. The new cloud approach, which will be introduced at the ASIS 2017 show in Dallas, converts standalone card...
Protecting power grids is essential to deliver electricity that serves millions of consumers. Transmission substations are a component of the power infrastructure that presents unique security challenges. These important facilities often sit out in the open, in remote locations, and were historically protected by little more than cameras or chain-link fences. Much of the current concern about securing electrical substations in the United States originated in response to a 2013 sniper attack, us...
The European Union has spelled out specific requirements and safeguards for handling and protecting personal data. In the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the EU makes clear exactly what is expected of those who control and process data. (The United Kingdom has committed to follow the regulation despite the Brexit vote.) Everyone is facing a deadline on May 25 2018 to comply with the GDPR. What are the exact implications for the physical security market? What do customers need to do to...
Has there ever been a better time for a security trade show in Europe? Shifting threats such as terrorism and a volatile political climate serve as reminders every day of the importance of security in our lives, and even the role of technology. IFSEC opened in London on Tuesday at the ExCeL center, covering every aspect of security, from access control and video surveillance to home automation and perimeter security. Amid sweltering heat, attendees came to find the latest-and-greatest inno...
A technology poised to transform the physical security market is deep learning, which is a neural network approach to machine learning, differentiated by an ability to train using large data sets for greater accuracy. In effect, the system “learns” by looking at lots of data to achieve artificial intelligence (AI). Phases Of Deep Learning I heard a lot about AI, including how it can transform the physical security marketplace, when I attended NVIDIA’s GPU Technology Conferenc...
Using an asymmetric approach to perimeter security is more efficient and cost-effective. The approach, advocated by Applied Research Associates (ARA), involves strategic deployment of the company’s Pathfinder seismic-acoustic sensors. Asymmetric placement of the sensors is in contrast to typical perimeter security systems, which are linear: Sensors are distributed at specific intervals along a perimeter and require infrastructure to communicate back to a control center. Instead, asymmetr...
“Mixed reality” may seem like a strange term to apply to the physical security industry, but it describes a new approach to enable the features of access control and video surveillance systems to be used by operators in the field. Mixed or augmented reality technology combines a real-time view of the world through Microsoft’s HoloLens headset, with placement of virtual devices and controls as holograms in a three-dimensional space. Virtual Devices And Controls In effect, a s...
Several of the hot trends in the physical security industry – robots, drones, video analytics – have one thing in common: The need for greater intelligence. More complex physical security systems that incorporate artificial intelligence, deep learning, speech recognition and other sophisticated functions depend on a higher-than-ever level of computing power inside embedded devices at the edge. Graphics Processing Unit Graphics processing unit (GPU) manufacturer NVIDIA is empowering...
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,...
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...
The ASIS show has not traditionally been a big forum for new product introductions -- those happen mostly at ISC West in the spring. Even so, there is plenty of technology to see at this year's show, and many exhibitors now say the products they were talking about last spring are now ready to ship. On Day Two of the show, it seems a lot of the attendees are ready, too. Video Camera Technology The technologies of video cameras march on, and Hanwha Techwin America has embraced the new H.265 cod...
I’ve been hearing a lot of talk lately about the “user experience” or UX. UX is a techy term that refers broadly to how a customer uses a product, including both how the product operates and hundreds of other factors that can enhance – or conversely, can detract from – how a customer perceives and experiences a product. In SourceSecurity.com’s world of digital publishing, an optimum user experience is the Holy Grail. How a user experiences digital media, h...
Foot traffic remained at respectable levels during Day Two of IFSEC International 2016 at ExCeL London. Attendees are bombarded with sensory overload as manufacturers look for new ways to stand out from the crowd. The result sometimes seems more like a lot of noise. Everyone is looking for ways to stand out from the noise of competing product features and claims at the show. One exhibitor, Tyco Security Products, is taking a different approach at this year's show, abandoning traditional emphasi...
It seems every company is seeking to re-invent itself in our changing market. A case in point is AMAG, which has long been associated with access control. Today, AMAG’s proposition to the market is much broader than that, now also encompassing Symmetry CONNECT, a policy-based platform providing safety, security and risk management capabilities enabling organizations to manage their enterprise security functions. This spring, AMAG is introducing Symmetry GUEST, a new identity management sys...
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...
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...
