Mechanical Locks - Security beat

Companies at GSX 2023 emphasised new ways that technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the cloud can address long-standing issues in the security market. Among the exhibitors at the event in Dallas were companies seeking creative ways to apply technology, lower costs, and make the world a safer place. Reflecting on the exhibition, here are some additional takeaways. Expanding AI at the edge  i-PRO is a company reflecting the continued expansion of edge AI capability in the...

Convergint Technologies’ rapid growth has come through a combination of organic growth and acquisitions — they have acquired 35 companies since 2014. Growth has been a focus since day one when the founders started the systems integration company with 10 colleagues in a basement. Today, the diverse company includes more than 5,000 employees globally. As technology has advanced and business practices have evolved, Convergint’s core values and beliefs have guided their path forwa...

As security embraces IT-centric solutions, it can provide business value over and above security. Now in charge of managing a variety of data – e.g., from video platforms – a company’s security function has access to a range of new metrics. While security may use video to analyse a security event, machine learning can analyse the same data for other business capabilities, such as quality control or when a policy has been breached. “It’s the same camera, but with d...

The healthcare market is rife with opportunity for security systems integrators. Hospitals have a continuous need for security, to update their systems, to make repairs, says David Alessandrini, Vice President, Pasek Corp., a systems integrator. “It’s cyclical. Funding for large projects might span one to two years, and then they go into a maintenance mode. Departments are changing constantly, and they need us to maintain the equipment to make sure it’s operating to its full po...

All schools and universities need to address three different levels of security when considering access control. The first level is the least vulnerable of the three and concerns the perimeter entry and exit points. Here, incorporating some level of electronic access control should be a consideration, whether that is a combination of electronic and mechanical door hardware, or a complete electronic solution. An electromechanical solution, such as electric strikes, can be beneficial in the effec...

The Physical Security Interoperability Alliance (PSIA) was founded in 2008 with a goal of creating ‘plug-and-play interoperability’ among physical security devices, systems and services. Since then, the organisation’s mission has both expanded to include logical security and focused more narrowly on identity, a critical aspect of security today. In recent years, PSIA has concentrated on its PLAI (Physical Logical Access Interoperability) specification, which provides a means t...

Among the cloud’s many impacts on the physical security market is a democratisation of access control. Less expensive cloud systems are making electronic access control affordable even to smaller companies. Cloud-based access control  With the growing cloud-based access control market, integrators can find more opportunities in small businesses and vertical markets that typically wouldn’t be on the radar of their sales team. Large upfront costs for a server, software and annua...

Nexkey says its mission is to disrupt the access control market and ‘change the way people experience access to physical places’. The startup is embracing the latest buzzword for access control – frictionless – while also enabling electronic access control for doors currently protected by mechanical locks. The system is simple with only three components – a controller, an electronic replacement lock core, and a smart phone app. The ‘controller’, a combi...

When Linus Yale Sr. invented the pin tumbler cylinder lock, it was the start of an iconic security brand that would eventually be known all over the world. What began in a lock shop in Newport, New York, would eventually evolve into the global presence of the brand “Yale” that we know today. The Yale brand was purchased in August 2000 by the Swedish lock manufacturer ASSA ABLOY Group, which expanded Yale’s global presence in the ensuing years and recently has led the way into...

Security Essen 2018, held in Messe Essen, Germany, promised attendees a newly modernised trade show with a simplified layout and more interactive experience. Compared to previous years, halls were reorganised by technology area, with aisles laid out to make more direct pathways for attendees. The fair welcomed 950 exhibitors and more than 36,000 trade visitors from the global security market. Several manufacturers mentioned that footfall had been lighter than expected, but that the show had del...

The concept of door locks means something totally different in our current age of smarter buildings that house data-driven businesses. Hardware locks and keys are still around, but they co-exist with a brave new world of electronic locks, wireless locks, networked systems, and smarter access control. Locks can also increasingly be a part of a smart building’s flow of data. The opportunities of these new technologies and approaches are significant, but there are also pitfalls. I heard an in...

Technology is a valuable tool for increasing security, but occasionally technology can create a threat. An example is the threat 3D printing technology poses to one of the most mature security technologies, mechanical locks and keys. The ability of 3D printing to duplicate keys presents new challenges for lock manufacturers, and new vulnerabilities to end users. Keys that could previously only be duplicated by skilled thieves can now easily be copied using off-the-shelf technologies and informat...

There was another big trade show last week –  the four-day Security Essen event in Germany. I didn’t attend, but several of my SourceSecurity.com colleagues report it was a busy show from start to finish, with the halls devoted to video/CCTV and access control dominating the show. The other halls were quieter, with smaller stands. Hot topics included big data, machine learning, mobile credentials, storage and an emphasis on solutions (rather than products). The exhibit hall was...