South Africa News

Speaking at ATM Security 2015 in London, Pat Telford, principal consultant at Microsoft Canada, summarised the software threats to ATMs and the features to combat them when migrating to Windows 10. ATM security is compromised by physical attacks on the cash, physical attacks on the card, replacement of the ATM computer (black box), and malware attack (where normally a person visits the ATM and adds malware). According to Telford, there are certain immutable laws of ATM Sec...

IHS expects third party storage of data from body-worn cameras to become the majority portion of this market The world market for body-worn video surveillance within law enforcement is growing. In 2014 IHS estimated the total world market for body-worn video surveillance equipment and service in law enforcement was worth $60 million. However, interestingly the service portion of the market will grow to become a larger proportion than the hardware market by 2019; this is accord...

Risk, in a security context, is the product of threat, vulnerability, and consequence Security as a discipline has been an important feature of society since cavemen started using the environment around them to protect themselves and their families.  As a discipline, security has developed exponentially and that trend is continuing; however, somewhere along the way key elements of physical security design have been forgotten. All too often solutions are deployed in a pre...

Hackers probably take more interest in your home computer and information about your identity stored there As the Internet of Things (IoT) grows, so does the hackable universe. Equipment designers need to start thinking about security in the first steps of manufacturing products, and companies and individuals need to start implementing secure coding practices to avoid hacking incidents. Last July, for instance, two security researchers hacked the computer in a Chrysler Jeep a...

A lower bitrate reduces bandwidth andstorage requirements High definition and megapixel cameras provide more detailed images with more useful information, but this can come at a cost. The volume of data being transported and stored rises significantly. The bandwidth demand that this places on the network and the increase in required storage capacity adds significantly to the total IP system costs. The best place to reduce these costs is at the source – in the camera &nda...

Video cameras are smarter than ever. Video analytics functionality is available inside most cameras now on the market. Smarter cameras enable a system with distributed intelligence and also help to manage bandwidth and storage – on-camera intelligence can determine what video is important enough to tie up network resources and to eventually be retained or viewed. But on-camera video analytics have their limitations, and additional video intelligence at the server can add a new range of fun...

Modern home security systems have come of age with innovative technologies that enable homeowners to have complete control over every aspect of the system. MOBOTIX’s Keith Jernigan Sr. and Hunter Fort explore the immense capabilities smart video surveillance technology to make a huge impact on the home automation systems by driving down energy costs as well as storing massive amounts of data. Home automation is not as new as most people would imagine. It has been around for several decade...

With every technological advance that canbenefit museum management comes anotherthat may assist thieves  When protecting art treasures, the first instinct for many security professionals may well be to look at recent advances in technology. Hasn’t the advent of IP-addressable devices provided sufficient tools to protect art exhibits from theft in a discreet manner? Apparently not, and entrenched attitudes abound among curators. Consultants who so much as m...

  Williams Meredith recently stepped out of his Kentucky home to see a drone hovering over his porch, videotaping his young daughters by the family pool. It wasn’t the first time one of these small flying devices had wandered over to take a look, but it had never gotten so close. So he did what any red-blooded American would do when confronted with a home invader – he blew it from the sky with a single shotgun blast. The confrontation is another example o...

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...

Ethernet switches are often overlooked andsometimes deemed a cheap connectivity pointwith little to no importance The Ethernet switch is a critical link between cameras, network video recorders (NVRs) and computers that need access to video feeds. The Ethernet switch not only provides the data connectivity but often the power to the IP cameras via Power over Ethernet (PoE). Ethernet switches are the fundamental backbone of a Local Area Network (LAN) and the critical connectivi...

The IoT threat is magnified asuncontrolled devices are introduced into thenetwork through people ‘bringing their owndevices to work’ Intelligent building management, combined with the dramatic increase in IP connected devices brought about by the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT), provides a vast opportunity for large organisations to work smarter, faster and more efficiently than ever before. Intelligent building management systems have the potentia...

Recycling ATMs, which can reuse deposited cash to supply withdrawals, are another way in which ATM-associated crime can be reduced With some 3 million automated teller machines (ATMs) around the world, they are bound to be seen as attractive targets by some criminals. Banks need to ensure customers do not fall prey to skimming and other malicious attacks from criminals, by having an effective ATM security in place. The advent of contactless technology has eliminated the need...

Millions of tons of cargo. Billions of dollars in goods. The activity of a small city with miles of perimeter fencing, uneven infrastructure, blind spots, and ever-changing weather conditions. Port security is no small task, yet increasingly, security operators are asked to assume more responsibilities with static, if not shrinking, budgets. As drivers of a global economy, the demands placed on port security continue to grow and with them, the challenges and complexity increase exponentially. L...

Healthcare organisations are an important vertical market for many security manufacturers and integrators. Like other vertical markets, healthcare has its own unique set of requirements and challenges for physical security systems. We asked this week’s Expert Panel: What are the distinctive security problems faced by healthcare organisations? What technologies are being embraced to increase security?

The city of the future needs smart, secure and resilient infrastructure solutions According to the United Nations, the world population will reach almost 8.5 billion by 2030. As populations grow, so do cities. Even now more than half of the world’s inhabitants live in urban areas, and more than one million move from the country to the city every week. This trend places enormous demands on people and infrastructures. Because only when communication, energy, safety, s...

Hikvision's South African office will deliver best in class support and backup to local partners Hikvision has announced the opening of its South Africa facility in Johannesburg. Having registered the Hikvision South African office two years ago, the facility now supports the rapid growth of Hikvision and will support regional demand and provide assistance and training. The office is equipped with a demonstration area and seminar rooms for customers and will be led by James Do...

Security cameras provide live, real-time videoto assist security personnel in spottingpotential or real problems Efficient security systems for parking structures deter criminal activities and anti-social elements from destroying property. Over the years, security companies have responded to this need and developed a range of security systems for parking facilities, such as audio intercoms, access cards and video analytic solutions. Systems integrators who want to add new ser...

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...

(Click to see larger image) The ASIS Foundation & the University of Phoenix College of Security and Justice's Enterprise Security Competency model Are you competent in your security job or profession? How do you know? According to research carried out by the ASIS Foundation, security has begun to evolve beyond guarding doors, checking IDs and screening briefcases and purses. Today, something called Enterprise Security Risk Management (ESRM) is subsuming the...

Major art heists often feature audacity that defeats even the most thorough security protocols  Museum security, like art, is ever-changing. Traditional security practices like manned guarding alone are not sufficient to keep thieves at bay. Modern security technologies such as video surveillance, motions detectors, intruder alarms and other physical security devices also play an equally important role in securing museums and its art work. Regrettably, having all the...

Conley’s security officers must study for and acquire a Certified Protection Officer (CPO) certification After nearly 40 years of a sustained and concentrated effort to transition the security industry to the security profession, Tom Conley is still beating his “security profession drum” at full volume. He still hopes that the security industry-to-profession movement will one day be a reality. He sees himself as an eternal optimist embarking on a feat of...

The IP surveillance market is taking anunusually long time to reach maturity, partiallydue to lack of industry standards  Video surveillance has been a growth industry ever since the release of the first IP security camera in the mid-1990s. Generally, high-growth industries are immature, meaning they have not yet reached a state of equilibrium. This is particularly true in the IP video surveillance market where many new companies enter the market takin...

Historically, biometrics applications have often been thought of as specialised, high-tech and used predominantly in governmental markets. Everyday systems have tended toward card readers and keypads, while biometrics have been associated with high-security applications. Today, however, biometrics are much more mainstream. Fingerprint readers, in particular, are as near as our smart phones. Many other biometric applications are also becoming more common in a wide variety of markets. We asked thi...

Derren Lu, CEO of Synology Inc and Scott Lee,Senior Manager of Software DevelopmentGroup for Surveillance Synology – a company founded by two former Microsoft employees – began as a storage solution provider and grew to include surveillance in its product offerings. While many security companies in Taiwan are voicing their concerns over falling sales, Synology is seeing its products grabbing shares in the security market and the sales figures are continuing to grow...

Home security devices are evolving and expanding their offered features, providing new opportunities for the security industry Home security isn’t just home security anymore. These days cameras, door and window alarms are just pieces of the web–enabled “smart home.” And, the home is getting smarter, as service providers begin to merge home security systems with home automation. The added value of these additional features is now drawing more potential c...

Discussions in our industry about cyber-threats to physical security systems, including IP video, often centre 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...

The vision of a utopian urban future restsheavily on the success of Open Dataand a Cloud Computing paradigm Confronting urban challenges using technology requires the private sector to work in tandem with governments to enable "smart cities." In fact, one report predicts the number of safe cities worldwide will quadruple in the next decade. It’s a topic that is increasingly top-of-mind. For example, the Safe Cities Asia 2015 conference in Singapore in May brought to...

Problems caused by physical systems in terms of cyber-attack are quite extensive, damaging systems and assets  Security experts of various disciplines agree that physical systems are increasingly being leveraged in attacks on organisational networks and supply chains. Many manufacturers maintain that security (including that of security systems) is the responsibility of the end user, which would be fine if they were only expected to maintain security and not create th...

The security industry’s continued migration to networked IP-based systems ensures that PoE will be integral in their design and installation Power over Ethernet (PoE) has without question become the de facto choice of security installers for delivering power to security and access control devices. This should come as no surprise given PoE’s ability to reduce labour and installation costs by delivering power and data over a single cable, thereby increasing overall t...