Cyber security - Expert commentary

Manufacturers depend on consultants to get their technologies specified in customer projects. Consultants often depend on manufacturers to provide them current information about the technologies that are the building blocks of their projects. It’s a symbiotic relationship, but not always a perfect one. We recently gathered three consultants to discuss what they want from manufacturers, and a representative of HID Global to add a manufacturer’s perspective. Manufacturers also look to...

Energy security, access to the electrical grid and police and fire safety are just a handful of the networked services that we take for granted and rely upon on a daily basis. Every second of every day, sensors are digitising the real world, creating information and transporting it across multiple networks and interfaces to a broadening audience. While there is obvious utility being gleaned from this process, from our vantage point here in the physical security space, information sharing and tra...

Just when you think you have seen the worst that cyber criminals have to throw at you, they are back with more sophisticated, and in some cases, more severe threats. Understanding emerging and evolving cyber threats is the first step in helping to protect your organisation. The next, and most important, step is shoring up your defence technologies with the proper training, education and deployment. To help prepare for what may be coming next, let’s take a look at what are already shaping u...

Mobile access is probably the largest emerging trend in the security marketplace, but it is only one of several that are changing the face of the access control market. Another factor showing potential to change the market is the emergence of location systems and positioning systems, as reflected by HID Global’s recent acquisition of Bluvision, a provider of real-time location tracking system for assets and employees, and building information modeling (BIM) is impacting how consultants do...

Access Control as a Service (ACaaS) has grown into a mainstream product offering from many access control manufacturers and the product offering is gaining significant growth in the market. With the adoption of this technology, end users and integrators need to ask several pertinent questions. This White Paper explores several important factors which must be understood in order for end users and integrators to make a sound decision when selecting an Access Control as a Service provider. What...

The security landscape continues to evolve in new and complex ways. This evolution brings change on many levels, which offers an opportunity for improvement rather than an interruption or a distraction. This concept has never been more important as you face today’s combination of new technologies, escalating security threats and the need to derive greater value from the access control infrastructure while solving increasingly complex system integration challenges. Upgrading from older,...

  Demand is increasing rapidly for more video, higher quality video, and increasing use of video for innovations like video analytics that provide enhanced security and operational intelligence.   The growing demand is driving higher resolutions, larger camera counts, and longer retention times, which have all contributed to the growing importance and higher profile of data management and storage systems in the video surveillance industry.   Customers need...

The top influencing trends in the security industry at ISC West 2017 will be big data, cyber security and the Internet of Things More than a thousand companies will be showing off their latest and greatest technologies and services at this year’s ISC West in Las Vegas. With so much to look at and experience, will you be able to pinpoint the next big thing or things that will dominate the security market in 2017? A good way to predict those upcoming trends is to look at w...

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...

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 journalists straight. Unless there is a mountain or river already doing the work along the 2,000 miles to be protected, this really...

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...

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...

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 year of 2016 ended with Vanderbilt finalising 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 publicised cybercrimes were the result of a perfect storm. Organisations 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 organisations 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 organisations rapidly adopted new data centre advancements such as hyper converged infrastructure (HCI) to help manage the huge influx of cri...

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...

In the past year, we have continued to see that the global security market is both dynamic and evolving. The term “security” no longer means simply protecting the perimeter of a building; it also involves securing corporate networks and sensitive data. In 2016, this trend was driven by a change in organisational threats. Businesses as a whole are much more focused on cyber-threats, a growing paradigm that challenges business and security leaders to stay one step ahead of crime and fr...

Over the last year, we have continued to see the rise of manufacturers from China in the mid- to low-end market for video surveillance - a trend that currently shows no signs of tapering. Additionally, the shift from analogue to IP systems has remained consistent, with end users increasingly looking to network-enabled devices to mitigate risk from both a physical and cyber perspective. Complex network attacks in 2016 demonstrated the need for increased network security for network-connected dev...

Drastic increase in cybersecurity discussions is one thing that many of us in the security industry didn’t predict for 2016. Cybersecurity has obviously always been an important issue in general, but the discussion has gained a lot of momentum in the past year.   As I said, this wasn’t predicted by most of us in the industry. The intensity of the focus on and discussion around cybersecurity in 2016 was a response to some of the high-profile denial of service (DoS)...

With security, as with any business cost-centre, business leadership wants to find savings where they make sense. As a result, one of the trends we are seeing is that security departments are teaming up with other departments - IT, operations, marketing - to maximise their investment in security systems and leverage the data collected by their physical security sensors to inform their business strategies. Rise in cyber-attacks We have also seen a worrying increase in cyber-attacks, like the hi...

The past year has seen growth in the deployment and use of edge analytics, plus a significant emphasis placed on robust cybersecurity. The expectation for 2017 is that these two trends will continue to be a driving factor for value-based decision making of large, influential customers. IP camera product lines from reliable and well-regarded brands that include edge analytics and offer a trusted, secure platform will be at an advantage over those that don’t. Looking back at the expectation...

Access control and video management systems provide much more data than originally intended An organisation is a complex environment that is ever changing and continuously growing to include more servers, more buildings, more systems and as a result -- includes more risk, costs and threats. As a Chief Operations Officer looks at the many objectives across an organisation, he needs to evaluate how to increase profits, manage risk, and provide a cost-effective route for improvin...

There will likely continue to be high numbers of lone wolf and soft target attacks in the year ahead. The drivers behind these tragedies are a confluence of self-radicalisation, social media, violent extremism, and mental illness. They will require our skills as security professionals — observation, investigation, interviewing, due diligence — like never before.   Looming in the background of these physical attacks is the prospect of combined physical and cyberatta...

The single largest group of consumer IoT devices being deployed is for home automation and residential security Business and technology analysts are in unanimous agreement that the number of IoT devices will explode into the many 10’s of billions within the next five years. These billions of new computing devices will produce enormous volumes of data about ourselves, our society, and our physical environment. The security industry is at ground zero of this upheaval. In f...

The holiday season generates 34% of annual sales for retailers but accounts for 37% of annual losses It is that time a year again, when shoppers and shoplifters converge on our retail outlets looking for that all important deal or steal. Peak shopping season This year, the National Retail Federation estimates holiday spending will rise 3.6% from 2015 to more than $655 billion. While the peak shopping season used to be defined as the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas Ev...

Innovation is not an end goal but an ongoing process that must be sustained Regardless of market, the challenge of commoditisation is very real for manufacturers as companies producing lower-end products continue to imitate the most advanced technologies. This creates a perception among customers, and the marketplace in general, that even leading-edge products with greater features, functionality, and value are indistinguishable from others on the market. As a result of commod...

Merging objectives into a business relationship requires ongoing communication along with a shared vision and values A myriad of books has been written on business relationships. From establishing and maintaining business relationships to compensation issues and contract terminations, there’s a how-to book out there on most every aspect of business. While I have never published a business “how-to” book, I do have the benefit of experience in successfully navi...

Vulnerability scans rely on mostly automated tools to find potential vulnerabilities at either the network or application level Security vulnerability in any network can be found and exploited by hackers and others in no time. The only questions are when this will happen and how much damage an individual could do once they’ve gained access to the network. Recognising this reality, most organisations test their own networks for security weaknesses, whether to meet compli...