Traffic surveillance

Radware® a provider of cyber security and application delivery solutions, announces that its SSL DDoS attack protection, DefenseSSL®, now features behavioural-based algorithms for keyless protection against HTTPS flood attacks. For the first time, organisations have the scale needed to effectively mitigate HTTPS floods. According to Google, the majority of internet traffic is now encrypted and accounts for more than 70% of internet pages. While SSL/TLS encryption is critical for many aspects of security, it also opens the door to a new generation of powerful distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. Simplifying key management SSL/TLS connections require up to 15 times more resources from the destination server than of the requesting host, meaning that threat actors can launch devastating DDoS attacks using only a relatively small number of connections. Radware’s keyless DDoS mitigation solution now makes it possible to protect from SSL-based HTTP DDoS attacks at scale without adding latency to customer communications, and while preserving user privacy and simplifying key management. Service providers and carriers serve many tenants on their network and provide them with cyber-attack protections Service providers and carriers serve many tenants on their network and provide them with cyber-attack protections. Due to their own security policies, network tenants cannot provide their decryption keys to the service provider’s or carrier’s network administrators, which leaves the providers or carriers vulnerable to HTTPS flood attacks. With no decryption capabilities, service providers and carriers are left with no effective solution to provide HTTPS flood protection to their tenants. Managing decryption keys Radware’s Chief Marketing officer, Anna Convery-Pelletier, said, “Our new DefenseSSL capabilities support carriers and service providers in protecting themselves and their customers against HTTPS flood attacks even when they don’t have access to their tenants’ decryption keys. This unique capability eliminates the massive operational complexity that comes with managing decryption keys. Further, with this solution, enterprises have the flexibility to opt for the most suitable protection to match their needs. Enterprises that have access to decryption keys can still choose to use those keys to decrypt suspected traffic and increase the accuracy of their mitigation.” Radware’s solution for keyless protection against HTTPS flood attacks is based on a stateless architecture. Traditional solutions are stateful and thus themselves vulnerable to DDoS attacks. With advanced behavioural algorithms and the combination of rate-based and non-rate-based parameters, Radware can identify DDoS attacks over encrypted traffic, even without inspection of the traffic’s content. Radware’s DefenseSSL functionality is currently available across its DefensePro advanced protection product suite.

Niagara Networks, the Open Visibility Platform pioneer, and L7 Defense, a cutting-edge cyber security vendor, announces that they have formed a partnership to bring Zero Trust security to API communication running across an organisation’s network. The L7 Defense application runs directly on Niagara Networks Open Visibility Platform which provides it full access to network traffic. The Open Visibility Platform offers enterprises, for the first time, on-demand deep cyber defense into their visibility layer. Network performance monitoring Open Visibility Platform is the only solution to offer network visibility and agility Ammune™ API Defense by L7 Defense monitors and evaluates the risk of requests made through an API exchange regardless of their identity or source, establishing a dynamic Zero Trust model adapted to the transient nature of APIs and North-South or East-West traffic flows. The L7 Defense solution utilises unsupervised machine learning to determine anomalous behaviours within API communication. The Open Visibility Platform from Niagara Networks utilises its Packetron™ powered Network Packet Broker and hosts best-of-breed applications to create an intelligence-driven visibility layer. Open Visibility Platform is the only solution to offer network visibility and agility for security and network performance monitoring by marrying the best of switching fabric speed and functionality with scalable, high-end intelligent processing. Critical cyber security foundation This unique joint solution ensures full packet visibility integrated with L7 Defense, providing automated mitigation response against API-based vulnerabilities and ensuring a more efficient and simplified security infrastructure. Unprotected APIs have been an open loophole for attackers to gain a foothold in a network" “Unprotected APIs have been an open loophole for attackers to gain a foothold in a network and carry out an attack by having a conduit for undetected command and control communication, exfiltration or the use of the API for reconnaissance or lateral movement,” said Yisrael Gross, Co-Founder and Vice President of Business Development at L7 Defense. “This exciting partnership with Niagara Networks offers a critical cyber security foundation providing customers with a new level of visibility, transparency and management.” API-based applications Ammune’s API Defense involves three key capabilities: Discover - Auto-discovery of the web, mobile and API-based applications that provide the potential attacking surface for API attacks. Detect - Auto-detection of outliers in API behaviour using the Ammune multi-profile model, which is adapted to protect from the main attack-category threats. Defend - Ammune™ can be installed in-line for proactive responses or in a monitoring mode to alert security organisations to take action. “We are delighted to announce our strategic partnership with L7 Defense and help address a critical security gap,” said Yigal Amram, Vice President of Business Development and Sales Engineering at Niagara Networks. “L7 Defense joins a growing list of partners who see the new paradigm offered by our Open Visibility Platforms, to offer customers a new advanced and flexible security posture.”

AxxonSoft, a developer of intelligent VMS and PSIM software, is proud to present Axxon Next VMS version 4.3.2. The new version introduces new capabilities in video analytics and smart forensic search, integration of multiple camera feeds into a single panoramic view, centralised server management for maintenance and updates, as well as many other enhancements and improvements. Added Queue Length and Visitor Counter detection tools. The Queue Length detection tool counts visitors within a designated area and notifies the system when the limit is exceeded. The Visitor Counter counts visitors entering and exiting a specific area. Both detection tools are targeted at the retail industry. They provide accurate estimates of traffic in stores and sales areas and enable effective management of POS staff. Smoke video detection Support for handling metadata from ANPR cameras was added as well Support for handling metadata (recognised license plates) from ANPR cameras was added as well. This makes it possible to reduce the server load while searching in Video Footage by license plate numbers. That means you can use more cameras per server. AI-powered fire and smoke video detection tools now use dedicated neural networks for each type of hardware (CPU, GPU, and Intel® Movidius™ VPU) for increased performance. MomentQuest is now available through a web client that comes even closer to desktop software. The MomentQuest smart forensic search system performs real-time scene analysis and generates a stream of metadata – a lean description of moving objects within the scene – which is recorded along with video stream. Retrieving recorded footage To retrieve recorded footage of an event of interest, you just need to enter specific criteria: motion in area(s), crossing of a line, object colour or size etc. Within seconds the system displays relevant video thumbnails, which makes it truly interactive. Also, you can now use saved MomentQuest search criteria on any other camera channel. You can zoom in on a portion of the panoramic view to display it in a separate tile The newly introduced FrameMerge function ensures much more convenient and efficient coverage of wide areas, such as sports arenas, airports and seaports, warehouses, production facilities, and public spaces. FrameMerge stitches video feeds from adjacent cameras into a single panorama which can be viewed in real time, played back from Video Footage, or exported. You can zoom in on a portion of the panoramic view to display it in a separate tile. Integrated video image The panoramic view is stitched automatically - the algorithm scans images from adjacent cameras for appropriate stitching points and matches these points in the integrated video image. The Failover Service is sufficiently improved. You can now suspend any server in the cluster with no system downtime, e.g. for maintenance. The configuration of the suspended server will be automatically transferred to the backup server and restored when the server is restarted. All servers within the cluster can now be updated with a single distribution package or a link to a file on the network. This approach makes system updates a breeze.

ExtraHop announces ExtraHop® Reveal(x) Cloud™, a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)-based network detection and response (NDR) solution for the cloud-first hybrid enterprise. Reveal(x) Cloud provides deep and continuous visibility, enabling Security Operations (SecOps) teams to analyse every transaction, detect threats, and respond to attacks to gain control over their hybrid attack surface and protect their investment in the cloud. While the cloud has proven to be a force multiplier for DevOps and IT Ops, for SecOps teams already struggling under the burden of a sprawling attack surface and a shortage of skilled analysts, adopting cloud platforms can be a vulnerability. With SecOps taking the blame for stalled migration efforts, enterprises are recognising the need to take a cloud-first approach to securing elastic workloads rather than trying to retrofit old practices to new technology design patterns. Investigate complex threats Without native network visibility in the cloud, enterprises have been limited to log- or agent-centric tools Without native network visibility in the cloud, enterprises have been limited to log- or agent-centric tools, making it difficult to detect and investigate complex threats in a timely manner due to lack of continuous visibility across all environments. Reveal(x) Cloud is a SaaS-based solution that provides security teams with a zero-infrastructure service for AWS that deploys quickly, delivers immediate asset discovery, and offers threat detection, investigation, and response. The solution takes advantage of new enterprise features introduced by AWS during AWS re:Inforce 2019, including Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC) traffic mirroring that supports passive observation of network traffic from cloud workloads, and private network peering that allows for the secure transmission of data between AWS accounts. It also connects natively with AWS data sources, such as Amazon CloudWatch, AWS CloudTrail, and Amazon VPC flow logs. Purpose-built solution “Today, security operations teams often rely on tools and data sources like logs that don’t provide a complete picture,” said Dave Brown, Vice President, EC2 Compute and Networking Services, Amazon Web Services, Inc. “With the introduction of Amazon VPC traffic mirroring, we’re allowing customers to extract traffic of interest from any workload in an Amazon VPC and send it to the right tools to detect and respond faster to attacks often missed by traditional log- and agent-centric tools. With Reveal(x) Cloud, ExtraHop is delivering a purpose-built solution designed to enable AWS customers to take full advantage of network traffic for better cloud visibility, detection, and response.” Reveal(x) Cloud offers a host of features designed to help SecOps teams support the shared responsibility model, protect cloud workloads by ensuring compliance, and deliver security across the hybrid attack surface. Track rogue instances Automatic Discovery and Classification: Up-to-the-minute visibility and classification across all cloud workloads allows SecOps teams to track rogue instances, prioritise investigations by risk score, and correlate malicious activity and asset criticality to focus on the highest-risk threats. Application Layer Decoding: Full support for AWS services, such as Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), and AWS Elastic Load Balancing means visibility into behaviour, not just activity, while machine learning at the application layer provides immediate detection of exfiltration activity. Encrypted Payload Visibility: Reveal(x) Cloud decrypts SSL/TLS-encrypted traffic at line rate, including cipher suites supporting perfect forward secrecy, providing complete visibility into all communications, including encrypted malicious traffic. Rich Integrations: AWS CloudTrail events enrich network-based threat detection with on-box activity (disabled logging, suspicious processes, suspect file execution), while connection with Amazon CloudWatch allows granular tracking of privilege manipulation. Customers can also leverage integrations with orchestration platforms, such as Phantom, ServiceNow, and Palo Alto Networks, to automate response workflows. Complex attack surface It's time to stop retrofitting old models onto the new reality and start building cloud-first security operations" “The modern hybrid enterprise has created an expansive and complex attack surface that cannot be managed by traditional security tools or architectures," said Jesse Rothstein, CTO and co-founder, ExtraHop. "It's time to stop retrofitting old models onto the new reality and start building cloud-first security operations. With Reveal(x) Cloud and Amazon VPC traffic mirroring, SecOps teams finally have inside-the-perimeter visibility and control over their hybrid attack surface.” “With Amazon VPC traffic mirroring in Reveal(x) Cloud, ExtraHop is further reducing the barriers to cloud adoption, by giving enterprises the same level of insight they’ve always had into their on-premises traffic,” said Mike Sheward, Senior Director, Information Security, Accolade. Native security features “Visibility has always been key in security, combine Reveal(x) with the native security features you find in AWS, and you’re going to have more actionable visibility than ever. Cloud providers continue to work with security vendors and with enterprise customers to provide functionality and integrations that make it easier, more efficient, and more secure to build presence in the cloud,” said Fernando Montenegro, Principal Analyst, 451 Research. “Amazon VPC traffic mirroring is just the latest example. ExtraHop’s Reveal(x) Cloud fits within this trend, as it allows customers to use traffic monitoring to achieve better network visibility, detection and response, and to do that as a service. This is likely to assist SecOps teams making the transition to support cloud deployments. At ePlus, we believe the right technology transforms IT from a cost center to a business enabler,” said Justin Mescher, Vice President of Cloud and Data Center Solutions, ePlus. Evolving business models Pervasive enterprise digital transformation efforts are dramatically expanding the attack surface" “We’re building Reveal(x) Cloud into our CyberSecurity and Cloud practices to allow us to act quickly and accurately to improve our customers’ cloud readiness and security posture. Pervasive enterprise digital transformation efforts are dramatically expanding the attack surface, but many organisations are failing to transform their cybersecurity approaches to keep pace, continuing to use the same cybersecurity methods they have always used while attempting to support continuously evolving business models,” said Joe Vadakkan, Global Cloud Security Leader, Optiv. “Combining industry-leading technologies such as ExtraHop’s Reveal(x) with Optiv’s end-to-end services, enables us to provide clients with an approach to cybersecurity that is aligned to new business models and centred on client-focused outcomes. We believe that ExtraHop Reveal(x) Cloud will deliver great value to cloud workloads by providing the necessary visibility to more efficiently detect and respond to incidents.”

Security video wall and visual display solutions experts Ultimate Visual Solutions (UVS) works on projects in 15 countries around the world since its launch nine months ago. UVS changed its name from eyevis UK last September following the acquisition of eyevis GmbH by the Leyard group. Providing turnkey solutions The rebranding has allowed the company to offer an expanded range of products and services The rebranding has allowed the company to offer an expanded range of products and services and remain at the forefront of providing turnkey solutions for all types of audio visual and visual display applications. They include UVS Lucidity brand of video wall controller and control software, which fills a gap in the market for projects which do not require the full functionality of high-end solutions. Managing Director Steve Murphy revealed that the projects across America, Europe, Africa and Asia include: Italy – high level government security and traffic control projects Slovakia – security control centre video wall for prestige car manufacturing plant USA – maintenance work for a Rolls-Royce aviation installation Morocco – various security control room projects delivered. Returning this month for further installations Oman – currently procuring a video wall project France – delivered UVS plugin integrations Eire – new control room video wall system delivered and installed International projects Other countries where projects have been completed include Switzerland, Belgium and Germany, with UVS due in Algeria in July for a final site survey for an on-going security control room project. It is also discussing the implementation of projects in South Africa, Albania, Denmark and Cyprus. Our team has worked with a large number of international partners during the past 20 years" UVS Managing Director Steve Murphy said: “UVS previously worked on some international projects prior to our rebranding but since September UVS has worked extensively across the world. Due to the combined experience that the senior team has in the audio visual and control room market, our team has worked with a large number of international partners during the past 20 years who we remain committed to supporting.” The Lucidity brand is aimed at clients who require a solution where full command and control components are not needed. Video wall solutions The range is available from UVS to AV system integrators for resale to their end clients. It is not designed to compete with existing high end, full enterprise functionality video wall solutions, which UVS also continues to promote and supply. The Lucidity Wall Manager provides the launching of sources by dragging and dropping templates or via presets, rather than via dynamic resizing of images on the video wall. The Lucidity Media Wall controller range provides for the connection of all typical video wall source types. UVS is based at Business First Burnley Business Centre and provides video wall displays and audio visual solutions to a range of clients across the UK. It is led by four senior colleagues who, between them, have more than 70 years’ combined Audio Visual, Control Room and Visual Solutions experience. It has also opened a new London demonstration venue at Woburn Place, a short walk from Euston Station, to cope with increased demand for its technology.

Dahua Technology, a video-centric smart IoT solution provider, announces the addition of the new StereoVision camera: a 3MP dual-sensor, people-counting camera that incorporates Artificial Intelligence (AI). The camera uses advanced image processing technology for improved depth perception to count people with up to 98% accuracy. The close, side-by-side positioning of the StereoVision camera’s dual lenses allows each sensor to capture images of the same area from slightly different angles, resulting in higher depth perception. The camera then combines real-time people-counting and behaviour analytics with video images. By unifying video surveillance and operational capabilities in one device, the camera helps users make more business operations decisions more efficiently. People-counting cameras Retail environments, museums, sports venues, or other areas where AI can be used to keep track of headcount can all benefit from the StereoVision camera. The camera can monitor capacity during crowded events, send an alert when entry or checkout lines become long, and help reduce loitering by notifying users when visitors idle for a specified period of time. The camera can easily integrate with regional people-counting cameras to give users a better understanding In addition to counting those who enter and exit a location, the camera can easily integrate with regional people-counting cameras to give users a better understanding of how people move throughout the area. “In a retail environment, the StereoVision camera arms managers with valuable information to improve customer service and make merchandising decisions,” adds Jennifer Hackenburg, senior product marketing manager for Dahua Technology USA. “It can gauge areas of interest for product positioning, or measure foot traffic at mall entrances to identify prime retail space, for example.” Wide dynamic range The camera can also analyse data to improve customer conversion rates, such as count the number of people who walk past a store and then compare the data to the number of sales generated. Other features of the camera include a built-in microphone, an onboard SD card slot to store video at the edge, and Dahua Technology’s proprietary Smart H.265+ codec, which saves up to 90% on bandwidth and storage compared to H.264. A low lux level of 0.009, digital wide dynamic range, and Smart IR up to 33 feet ensure reliable performance in low-light, low-contrast, and bright scenes. “Dahua Technology is pleased to present this high-performing AI solution made for business intelligence,” Hackenburg remarked. “By offering cameras that can go beyond basic security, we are able to empower dealers to grow their business by providing their customers with a higher ROI for their security spend.”

In the next three years, software as a service ‘SaaS’ is likely to grow by around 23%. That’s according to reports by Cognizance. It’s growth rests on the adoption of cloud public, private and hybrid. Without the cloud applications can’t truly pervade an organisation, nor can operational or customer benefits be derived. But there’s no point in adopting the cloud if it’s not secure - the proliferation of SaaS demands security, none more so in a GDPR world. Large cloud environment But modern applications are difficult to secure. SaaS based, web, mobile, or custom made all work on different platforms and frameworks. It’s a headache managing all the APIs needed to automate and sync tools. This introduces risk. The greater the number of apps the broader the attack surface and therefore the greater the chance there will be blind posts. Keeping up to date with updates and new security policies is never easy There are also added hazards. Applications are always changing. Keeping up to date with updates and new security policies is never easy, but especially hard in a large cloud environment. Failure to adopt changes puts the organisation and customers at further risk. But the biggest obstacle is keeping applications and APIs out of harm’s way. It’s a near on impossible task when attack methods and sources are constantly changing. More advanced threats To be specific there are four emerging challenges when it comes to protecting apps. Firstly, managing the good and the bad bots and spotting which is which, secondly securing APIs as IoT adoption intensifies, thirdly the relationship between securing apps and DevOps and ensuring ownership of security, and finally denial of service attacks that use newer tactics such as brute force. Basic security hygiene dictates that security teams refer to the OWASP Top 10. It’s considered the ‘ten commandments’ in security circles, providing a starting point for ensuring the most common threats and vulnerabilities are managed, detected and mitigated. Web Application Firewalls also come into the fray with guidance on testing for the ways hackers exploit vulnerabilities. However, though the basics are good to have in place, there are always more advanced threats to take care of. Bots being a big one. Bot management The more sophisticated bots will go as far as to mimic human behaviourAstonishingly about half of internet traffic is bot generated. Half of it is from bad bots. Discerning the good from the bad isn’t easy though and explains why around 80% of organisations can’t make a clear distinction between the two. Bad bots can do a lot of damage like take over user accounts and payment information, scrape confidential data, or hold up inventory and skew marketing metrics. The more sophisticated bots will go as far as to mimic human behaviour and bypass tools like CAPTCHA and even device fingerprinting based protection ineffective. Securing APIs Then there’s the complications derived from machine-to-machine and internet of things (IoT) communications. The more integrated ‘things’, the more data there is, the more events there are report on, and the more activity there is reliant on APIs to make the ‘things’ useful and agile. That’s what makes them a target and the threats to API vulnerabilities include injections, protocol attacks, parameter manipulations, invalidated redirects and bot attacks. There’s the risk that business will grant access to sensitive data, without inspecting nor protecting APIs to detect cyberattacks.   There’s the risk that business will grant access to sensitive data, without inspecting nor protecting APIs to detect cyberattacks Denial of service (DoS) You might think there’s little to add to the swathes of denial of service warnings. Yet when businesses are still being targeted and feeling the ill effects it’s worth mentioning again that different forms of application-layer DoS attacks are still very effective at bringing application services down. Even the greatest application protection is worthless if the service itself can be knocked down This includes HTTP/S floods, low and slow attacks (famous examples being Slowloris, LOIC, Torshammer), dynamic IP attacks, buffer overflow, Brute Force attacks and more. The IoT botnets are the culprits and have made application-layer attacks so popular that they have become the preferred DDoS attack vector. Even the greatest application protection is worthless if the service itself can be knocked down. Continuous security It may seem easy to say but for modern DevOps, agility is valued at the expense of security. We see time and again examples of where development and roll-out methodologies, such as continuous delivery, mean applications are exposed to threats each time they are modified. There’s no doubt it is extremely difficult to maintain a valid security policy and protect sensitive data in dynamic conditions without creating a high number of false positives. But we now find that this task has gone way beyond the capability of humans. Organisations now need machine-learning based solutions that map application resources, analyse possible threats, and create and optimise security policies in real time. Reaching this level in security planning should be a big wake-up call that security automation is an essential not a nice to have. Running security plans The board needs to know that investment is critical to protect their profits It’s critical that the security solution your company adopts protects applications on all platforms, against all attacks, through all the channels and at all times. The board needs to know that investment is critical to protect their profits. As such there are six things they need to know: Application security solutions must encompass web and mobile apps, as well as APIs. Bot management solutions need to overcome the most sophisticated bot attacks. DDoS mitigation must be an essential and integrated part of application security solutions. A future-proof solution must protect containerised applications, severless functions, and integrate with automation, provisioning and orchestration tools. To keep up with continuous application delivery, security protections must adapt in real time. A fully managed service should be considered to remove complexity and minimise resources. No amount of human power will beat the bots. That last point is the most critical. Skill is essential in designing and running security plans and policies that work. But the plans can’t be executed without automated tools. There are just too many decisions to make in a split second. Combining both is the path to an effective app protection strategy and a stronger brand to boot.

Where are video surveillance cameras headed? At the core of next-generation Internet Protocol (IP) cameras are advanced chips with artificial intelligence (AI) at the edge, enabling cameras to gather valuable information about an incident: scanning shoppers at a department store, monitoring city streets, or checking on an elderly loved one at home. Thanks to advanced chip technology, complex analytics operations are becoming more affordable across the full spectrum of surveillance cameras —professional to consumer — fueling the democratisation of AI in the IP camera market. Complex analytics operations are becoming more affordable across the full spectrum of surveillance cameras Expanding the global IP camera market  The video surveillance equipment market grew to $18.5 billion in 2018 and is expected to increase this year, according to IHS Markit. The latest research points to video everywhere, edge computing, and AI as the top technologies that will have a major impact in both commercial and consumer markets in 2019. Computing at the edge means that the processors inside the camera are powerful enough to run AI processing locally, while still encoding and streaming video, and are able to do it all at the low-power required to fit into the limited thermal budget of an IP camera. New SoC chips will be able to perform all of the processing on camera and provide accurate AI information, with no need to send data to a server or the cloud for processing. Instead, data can be analysed right in the camera itself, offering high performance, real-time video analytics, and lower latency — all critical aspects of video surveillance. This new AI paradigm is made possible by a new generation of SoCs, a key driver behind the market growth of IP cameras. Complex analytics operations are becoming more affordable across the full spectrum of surveillance cameras to fuel the advent of AI in the IP camera market Micro-processor-enabled video analytics Next-generation video cameras will be able to create heat maps of stores to see where people spend the most time Microprocessor-enabled analytics allow users to more easily extract valuable data from video streams. How about an insider’s view into retail customer behavior? Consider video cameras at a department store, monitoring shoppers’ behavior, traffic patterns, and areas of interest. Next-generation cameras will recognise how long a shopper stays in front of a specific display, if the shopper leaves and returns, and if the shopper ultimately makes a purchase. Next-generation video cameras will be able to create heat maps of stores to see where people spend the most time, so retailers will be able to adjust product placement accordingly. Analytics will also help identify busy/quiet times of the day, so retailers can staff accordingly. By understanding customers’ behavior, retailers can determine the best way to interact with them, target specific campaigns, and tailor ads for them. Cue the coupons while the shopper is still onsite! Analytics will also help identify busy/quiet times of the day, so retailers can staff accordingly Fast processing for rapid response at city level City surveillance and smart cities are depending on advanced video surveillance and intelligence to keep an eye on people and vehicles, identify criminals, flag suspicious behavior, and identify potentially dangerous situations such as loitering, big crowds forming, or cars driving the wrong way.Quick local decisions on the video cameras are also used to help analyse traffic situations Quick local decisions on the video cameras are also used to help analyse traffic situations, adjust traffic lights, identify license plates, automatically charge cars for parking, find a missing car across a city, or create live and accurate traffic maps. Real-time HD video monitoring and recording When it comes to home monitoring, what will next-generation video surveillance cameras offer? Real-time monitoring and notification can detect if a person is in the back yard or approaching the door, if there’s a suspicious vehicle in the driveway, or if a package is being delivered (or stolen). Advanced video cameras can determine when notifications are and aren’t required, since users don’t want to be notified for false alerts such as rain, tree branches moving, bugs, etc. Next-generation video camera capabilities can also help monitor a loved one, person or pet, helping put families at ease if they are at work or on vacation. For example, helpful analytics may be used to detect if someone has fallen, hasn’t moved for a while, or does not appear for breakfast according to their typical schedule. City surveillance and smart cities are depending on advanced video surveillance and intelligence to keep an eye on people and vehicles, identify criminals, flag suspicious behavior, and identify potentially dangerous situations Next-gen IP cameras When evaluating next-generation IP cameras (cameras on the edge), look at the brains. These cameras will likely be powered by next-generation SoCs chips. Here is what this means to you:       Save on network bandwidth, cloud computing and storage costs. There is no need to constantly upload videos to a server for analysis. Analysis can be performed locally on the camera, with only relevant videos being uploaded. Faster reaction time. Decisions are made locally, with no network latency. This is critical if you need to sound an alarm on a specific event. Privacy. In the most extreme cases, no video needs to leave the camera. Only metadata needs to be sent to the cloud or server. For example, the faces of people can be recognised in the camera and acted upon, but the video never reaches the cloud. The cameras can just stream a description of the scene to the server “suspicious person with a red sweater walking in front of the train station, has been loitering for the last 10 minutes, suggest sending an agent to check it out.” This could become a requirement in some EU countries with GDPR rules. Easier search. Instead of having to look through hours of video content, the server can just store/analyse the metadata, and easily perform searches such as “find all people with a red sweater who stayed more than five minutes in front of the train station today.” Flexibility/personalisation. Each camera at the edge can be personalised to work better for the specific scene it is looking at, compared to a generic server. For example, “run a heat map algorithm on camera A (retail) as I want to know which sections of my store get the most traffic; and run a license plate recogniser on camera B (parking lot) as I want to be able to track the cars going in/out of my parking lot.” No cloud computing required. For cameras in remote locations or with limited network bandwidth, users have the ability to perform all analytics locally, without relying on uploading video to a server/cloud. Higher resolution/quality. When AI processing is performed locally, the full resolution of the sensor can be used (up to 4K or more), while typically the video streamed to a server will be lower resolution, 1080p or less. This means more pixels are available locally for the AI engine so that you will be able to detect a face from a higher distance than when the video is streamed off camera. AI at the edge Professional-level IP cameras capable of performing AI at the edge are coming soon with early offerings making their debut at this year’s ISC West. As we enter 2020, we will begin to see the availability of consumer-level cameras enabling real-time video analytics at the edge for home use. With rapid technology advancement and increased customer demand, AI is on the verge of exploding. When it comes to image quality and video analytics, IP cameras now in development will create a next-generation impact at department stores, above city streets, and keeping an eye on our loved ones.

Las Vegas is a city that bombards you with choices: dozens of glitzy hotels and casinos, a plethora of restaurants and eateries to satisfy any craving and an endless variety of entertainment guaranteed to delight and amuse. With so many options, it’s hard to decide where to spend your time. The same goes for ISC West. Like the city in which it’s being hosted, ISC West 2019 is going to bombard you with more options than ever before. Dozens of new technologies and vendors as well as old familiar faces will be vying for your attention. With only three days, it’s nearly impossible to explore every booth and every vendor. Ultimately, you’ll want to focus your limited time on companies whose partnership can lead to your organisation’s long-term success. In that context, I’d like to suggest a few things to think about as you wend your way through this year’s tradeshow. The next wave in IP technology  The fact that the whole world is going IP is nothing new. The network-based connectivity trend has been ongoing for more than 25 years. What’s changed is the nomenclature. Today it’s all about the Internet of Things (IoT).  What was once exclusively an analogue-based video surveillance market has shifted predominantly over to IP For the security industry, the concept of IoT really began with connecting DVRs through a network. Then in 1996, IP cameras – the first true IoT devices – hit the market. Since then, what was once exclusively an analog-based video surveillance market has shifted predominantly over to IP, providing exceptional growth opportunity for any company wanting to be on the leading edge. Today, however, that market is relatively saturated and growing at a much slower rate. In response, consolidation of the market has started to accelerate. Many vendors are disappearing while a select few are becoming stronger. Though the IP video revolution is now a fait accompli, there are still a few ancillary security technologies that are just beginning to jump on the IP convergence bandwagon. I’m referring to two in particular: IP audio systems and IP intercom solutions.  Like their IP video cousins, these relatively new IP systems are built on open platform standards and provide the same benefits for convergence as happened in the camera space: better scalability and ROI, more functionality, and easy integration with third party systems. The technology is a great complement to a customer’s existing IP surveillance system or an ideal replacement for an antiquated analogue audio system. So I’d recommend spending time at booths showcasing this technology. Listen to the crystal clear sound quality. Learn from the various vendors how easy IP audio systems are to custom configure, remotely manage and scale. And discover the different ways the IP technology can be used, from paging, public address and broadcasting background music to augmenting security systems and perimeter protection solutions. The potential markets that can benefit from this latest IP technology are wide and varied, everything from hotels, hospitals and transportation hubs to educational institutions and retail chains. So it’s well worth your time to take a look at this growing opportunity. AI has proven to dramatically improving the accuracy of Traffic Incident Detection analytics. But it’s too early in the game to assume that AI can be applied across the board Artificial intelligence: hype vs. reality Video intelligence or video analytics was the big trend a decade ago. But it quickly fizzled out when hype crashed into reality. In the ensuing years algorithms have greatly improved, leading to more reliable analytic performance. Now it’s commonplace for video surveillance solutions to include a wide range of analytics from motion detection and people counting to dwell time analysis, object left behind and license plate recognition.    The latest hype to capture the imagination is self-learning systems, often referred to as Deep Learning and Artificial intelligence (AI) With analytics gradually becoming mainstream, the latest hype to capture the imagination is self-learning systems, often referred to as Deep Learning and Artificial intelligence (AI). These self-learning applications parse event data and use what they’ve learned from the experience to make determinations or predictions that can increase the accuracy of future alerts. Before you get swept up in all the big promises that have yet to prove deliverable, take time at ISC West to educate yourself about the current state of the technology. AI works well in some areas.  For instance, AI has proven to dramatically improving the accuracy of Traffic Incident Detection analytics. But it’s too early in the game to assume that AI can be applied across the board. Talk to some of the AI vendors at ISC West to learn when and if AI might be right for your organisation’s analytic applications. See who has actual, field-proven solutions and who is just offering ideas that might take many years to prove useful in real applications. Connecting with the right partner Think of ISC West as the ultimate meet-and-greet. Look around the tradeshow floor and see who might by likely partners Choosing the right partner is as important in business as it is life. Think of ISC West as the ultimate meet-and-greet. Look around the tradeshow floor and see who might by likely partners. You’re sure to find a number of new companies entering the field this year. Also be sure to notice which companies are absent. Have they left the surveillance industry? Are they struggling financially and can no longer afford to show up? If you partnered with them in the past, where does that leave your business today?  As you explore potential vendor relationships, make sure you not only look at the arc of their technology development, but also their long-term financial stability and the kind of support services they offer. Cybersecurity should be front and center on your radar, along with timely updates, product integration with your existing technology and ongoing training to gain the most benefit from your investment. Look into how eco-friendly the vendor’s products are, what they’re doing to recycle, minimise waste and lower their carbon footprint Think of ISC West as the ultimate meet-and-greet - look around the tradeshow floor and see who might by likely partners Another important thing to find out is whether their business ethics align with yours. Is sustainability important to your company? How about corporate social responsibility, diversity and inclusion? Ultimately you want to do business with healthy, innovative companies that share your core values.   If being green is a fundamental principal of your company, look into how eco-friendly the vendor’s products are, what they’re doing to recycle, minimise waste and lower their carbon footprint. If striving for better global citizenship is your corporate mantra, you need to know how the vendor is assuring their operation complies with environmental laws and regulations. In terms of maintaining social and ethical standards, it’s important to know where the vendor stands on issues such as human rights violations, compulsory child labour, fair wages and sourcing minerals from countries in armed conflict.  Go in with a plan There’s so much to discover at ISC West this year that four days isn’t nearly enough time to see it all. So you’ll have to strategically pick and choose which booths and vendors to visit. I’d advise that you plan out your days in advance so that you can get the most value from the choices you make.

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 effectiveness of perimeter security as they provide greater visitor management and traffic control. Data capture form to appear here! Facilitating visitor entry Electric strikes are able to control access via keypads, cards and proximity readers Electric strikes are able to control access via keypads, cards and proximity readers. When combined with mechanical locks, they provide the benefits of unrestricted egress. The second level is more vulnerable than the first and relates to the point at which people are screened before entering the interior of the school. As this area will be designed primarily to facilitate visitor entry, it will require adequate monitoring of access control. To do this, the latches used on access-controlled egress doors can be electronically controlled from the reception area or school office. Exit or entry doors can be opened by a push from the inside and, if the entry area is also an emergency exit, electronically-powered panic bars can also provide an effective solution. More and more schools are installing visitor management systems to control who can and cannot get into the building. Access control solutions Finally, the third level – and the most vulnerable – refers to the core of the school that both students and staff occupy. These are internal hallways, corridors, stairwells, entry points and restricted areas (such as staff lounges and science laboratories). These are the areas where a school must foster the safest environments for pupils, while also providing protection as they often contain confidential information, expensive equipment or chemicals. The access control system is linked to all doors within the school building A number of different access control solutions are beneficial, whether electronic, mechanical or a combination of the two. For electronic solutions, there are two options available: remote or centralised systems. With remote lockdown systems, individual locks are activated by remote control within proximity to the door. With integrated centralised systems, the access control system is linked to all doors within the school building and locked at the touch of a button. Prevent unauthorised persons Mechanical solutions, which include a cylinder lock and key, are also suitable for places such as classrooms, as doors can be locked externally with a key or internally with a thumbturn, to prevent unauthorised persons from entering. At one university in the United States, a smart RFID wire-free access control solution has been installed At one university in the United States, a smart RFID wire-free access control solution has been installed. The SALTO Virtual Network (SVN) wire-free system pushes and pulls data from the university’s ‘hot spot’ entry points to all their offline locks. By choosing a wire-free solution, the university only had to run wires to their exterior doors. The interior doors do not require wiring as these locks are stand-alone wire-free locks. Student accommodation block Securing access to student accommodates is another concern among colleges. One university in the United Kingdom wanted a security system to protect their student accommodation; in particular, a keyless system that would grant 24/7 access to its students while also enabling campus security to monitor these activities remotely. They chose Vanderbilt’s ACT365, which keeps audit trails by monitoring and recording fob activity. When another English university sought electronic locks for its newest student accommodation block, it turned to Aperio wireless locking technology from ASSA ABLOY. They used the wireless locks to extend the Gallagher Command Centre access control system to a student residence with 231 en suite rooms separated into flats for between 8 and 13 postgraduates. Aperio wireless locks are battery-powered and use less energy than wired magnetic security locks.

Time for an indepth review of IFSEC 2019 in London. This show had fewer exhibitors than previous shows, and the ‘vibe’ was definitely more low-key. Fewer exhibitors meant larger aisles and plenty of room to breathe, and the slower pace provided time for exhibitors to reflect (often negatively) on the return on investment (ROI) of large trade shows. There was little buzz on the first day of the show, but spirits picked up on the second day (when, not coincidentally, some exhibitors served drinks to attendees at their stands). Enterprise security solutions One eye-catcher was smart wireless security provider Ajax Systems’ stylish black stand Many exhibitors compared IFSEC unfavourably to ISC West in the United States and even to Intersec in Dubai. Others seemed willing to be lured back to Birmingham (previous location for IFSEC) to participate in the upstart competitor, The Security Event, next spring. However, not all the IFSEC 2019 reviews were negative. Vaion made the most of their small stand toward the back of the hall. They experienced brisk traffic right up until the end of the show. Happy with the response, the provider of real-time enterprise security solutions reportedly has already committed to IFSEC 2020. Other exhibitors also made the most of their space at IFSEC; one eye-catcher was smart wireless security provider Ajax Systems’ stylish black stand. Vaion made the most of their small stand toward the back of the hall Latest new products Nedap launched a new product, AEOS 2019.1, that is five time faster and more stable than its predecessor. It uses HTML5 – no more reliance on Adobe. Feedback has been good. The company has also increased its integration of open security standards (OSS). Traka showcased smart lockers, which are modular, scalable, and staff can easily replace broken equipment. Product features can be adapted to specific sectors (i.e., retail, prisons). Traka spends 30% of its revenue on research and development, developing their own engineering. The company has seen massive growth in the UK and Europe. Hanwha Techwin lured visitors into the center of their stand with drinks and ice cream, surrounded by the latest new products. Hanwha promoted their investment in a manufacturing facility in Vietnam and showcased Wisenet cameras with enhanced 4K images, digital auto tracking, and less motion blur for clearer images. Video verification product A multi-sensor model captures wide areas with a single camera. Hanwha also offered some value-priced cameras that feature easy self-install and are swappable. Optex launched a new product called ‘the Bridge’, a video verification product that bridges CCTV on a digital video recorder (DVR) to intruder alarms. Hanwha showcased Wisenet cameras with enhanced 4K images UK Surveillance Camera Commissioner Tony Porter announced ‘Security By Default’, a set of minimum requirements that will guarantee users that network video security products are as secure as possible in their default settings right out of the box. Hikvision promoted their support for Secure by Default and expressed hopes the initiative would be embraced by other companies and create a new best practice for camera cybersecurity. Hikvision also promoted their retail solution, which includes on-site redaction for GDPR compliance, shelf detection incorporating artificial intelligence, and use of heat mapping to analyse customer foot traffic. Generating revenue Safety and Security Things (SAST), another IFSEC exhibitor, is in the process of creating an ‘app store’ for the security market. Striving to achieve critical mass with participation by a wide range of systems integrators and manufacturers, SAST has a goal of launching to the public in Q1 next year in time for ISC West. Hanwha Techwin is among the players that have already joined the alliance A pilot version will debut this autumn, and they already have 26 apps and six camera manufacturers toward that goal. With a staff of 120, mostly based in Munich, SAST expects to begin generating revenue in 2020 and to grow rapidly. An investment by Bosch is financing start-up operations. Open Security & Safety Alliance (OSSA) is creating standards and a platform to enable the sale of apps in the security market. Large industry players Hanwha Techwin is among the players that have already joined the alliance, and OSSA is seeking to add other large companies, such as Axis, Genetec and Hikvision. Engaging integrators, app developers and software providers as well as camera manufacturers will generate widespread support to ensure the initiative succeeds. Although currently most OSSA members are based in the EU and Asia, it is a global organisation open to any company in the world. Many large industry players are now missing from the IFSEC show floor; the most noticeable new abstainer this year was Milestone. And the downturn seems likely to continue: Exhibitors were largely noncommittal about returning next year, although organisers were urging them during the exhibition to sign up for 2020.

The threat of drones is a growing concern around the perimeter and in the airspace surrounding airports. According to a UK Airprox Board report, the number of times a drone endangered the safety of an aircraft in the UK airspace rose more than a third in 2018 compared to the year before. The highest-profile recent drone incident was at UK’s Gatwick Airport, where a drone sighting last December triggered a three-day shutdown of the UK’s second busiest airport, disrupted the travel plans of 140,000 people and affected 1,000 flights. Unauthorised drone activity And there have been other recent incidents of drone disruptions at airports: At Heathrow Airport in January 2019, flights were temporarily stopped for about an hour ‘as a precautionary measure’ after a drone was reported. The UK Airprox Board recorded 39 dangerously close drone encounters at Heathrow in 2018. In the U.S., flights into Newark Liberty International Airport were disrupted for about 90 minutes in January after a drone sighting. Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel, closed its airspace for about 30 minutes in February due to suspected unauthorised drone activity. In March and again in May, air traffic at Frankfurt Airport in Germany was grounded due to drone sightings – for about 30 minutes in the first instance and about an hour in the second. Drone detection systems Security has a role in preventing drone incidents, although pilots often report them Security has a role in preventing drone incidents, although pilots often report them. At Gatwick, the initial reports of a drone over the airfield came from airport security officers. After the incident, the UK government rushed through legislation to enlarge the drone exclusion zones around airports to a maximum of 5 km (up from the previous 1 km). In the U.S., the exclusion zone around airports is a radius of about 5 miles, and even more in sensitive areas such as the National Capital Region around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, where restrictions are 15 to 30 miles. Airports in the U.S. are allowed to deploy drone detection systems but may not use counterdrone technology (such as shooting down the drones), which is reserved for the Justice Department and Homeland Security. Dedicated new technology “News that drone threats to aircraft are increasing should come as no surprise,” says Simon Barnes, Business Development Manager – Airports Europe for Genetec. “Recent reported incidents are just the tip of the iceberg. As drones become increasingly ubiquitous – both from hobbyists and their growing use in professional arenas – we can expect to see many more incidents.” From speaking to airports across the world, Barnes has learned that two of the most pressing challenges they face are how they secure their perimeters (as intruders become increasingly sophisticated) and identifying ‘Friend from Foe’ as operational needs must be maintained. “When it specifically comes to drone detection, the short-term temptation can be to introduce a dedicated new technology to address this specific threat,” he commented. More comprehensive response We need to work with technology, not against it, in order to ensure public safety and security" “However, the last thing a functioning airport needs is an independent system that isn’t unified with all of the other security measures in place. Only when the data from all of these inputs is visualised in one place can an airport begin to make sense of its environment and enable a fast and efficient response to evolving challenges such as the insider threat and malicious drone activities. We fully expect airports to respond to this changing landscape, to help ensure a more comprehensive response.” Philip Avery, Managing Director of Navtech Radar, adds: “In today's current climate of increased national threats, we need to work fast to keep up with modern risks. However, creating new, complicated laws open to misinterpretation or enforcing a complete ban on privately owned drones seem like Luddite solutions that undermine the potential of innovative technology. We need to work with technology, not against it, in order to ensure public safety and security.” Help mitigate risk Navtech Radar sells the AdvanceGuard system for drone detection. Tavcom Training, part of the Linx International Group, has responded to requests from the security industry for expert training in order to be better prepared for and mitigate against the threat of Unmanned Aerial Systems (better known as drones). The company offers a two-day Drone Detection classroom-based course for £375+VAT. Our drone detection course gives security professionals advice from experts" “The responses to the [recent] airport drone attacks were played out in the spotlight, with much public debate regarding the seeming lack of a pre-defined plan of action to prevent or contain such an incident,” explains Sarah Hayward-Turton, Sales and Marketing Director at the Linx International Group. “Our drone detection course gives security professionals advice from experts in drone technology, to help mitigate risk and implement countermeasures to thwart unauthorised drone activity.” The course will be offered again in November 2019 and in February 2020.

AMG Systems has been commissioned to help digitise the traffic monitoring system for newly-extended hard shoulder bus lanes on Belfast’s main motorways, to make it more efficient, secure and reliable. A new IP-based CCTV system was being installed as part of the extension project, so the underlying fibre network needed to be upgraded in order to handle the high-grade images being transmitted back to the city’s Traffic Information and Control Centre (TICC). The upgrade helps to enhance passenger journeys by improving the quality of real-time information sent to traffic management teams. AMG – Juniper Networks partnership AMG, working with Juniper Networks, a leader in secure, AI-driven networks, brought the IP-driven CCTV project together across numerous government agencies and private construction contractors to create a cost-efficient, robust solution for Belfast’s M1 and M2 motorways. The Northern Ireland Department for Infrastructure (DfI) awarded a tender to Graham Construction to work on the extension of hard shoulder bus lanes along the M1 and M2 motorways, intended to improve journey times and service reliability for bus passengers without affecting general traffic flows. The scheme was designed by DfI consultants Aecom, who also carried out site supervision and project manager roles during construction. The work included the provision of new and upgraded Pan Tilt Zoom IP-based CCTV cameras for traffic monitoring purposes by the Traffic Information and Control Centre (TICC) in Belfast. Hikvision PTZ IP video camerasGraham used Hikvision PTZ IP video cameras – installed by Chubb – for traffic monitoring Graham used Hikvision PTZ IP video cameras – installed by Chubb – for traffic monitoring. But connecting them to the Pelco system in use at TICC was not as straightforward as it at first seemed, which is where AMG Systems and Juniper Networks came in. “On each of the two motorways, the existing fibre network had only two spare fibres, so all the images had to be combined onto the two, allowing for a resilient ring,” consultant Jo Hopkins of Highways Consulting says, “meaning that if one fibre broke, the other would be able to transmit all the images. The existing cameras on the network were analogue, but we took the opportunity to install digital cameras. This reduces the number of times the images are sampled and converted from analogue to digital and back again, which improves the quality of the image.” Connecting IP cameras to fibre network Hopkins worked with Graham on the project, and said AMG was asked to provide a reliable, cost-effective means of connecting new cameras onto the existing fibre network, bringing the images back to the Traffic Control Centre in Belfast. “The task itself was straightforward, but the integration into an existing live system made the project more complex,” she said. Hopkins and AMG Systems Business Development Director Sara Fisher worked to address the network challenge, which included upgrading from analogue to IP cameras for the first time on the Belfast motorways. AMG switches The network design utilises nine AMG switches on the M1 fibres and 15 switches for the M2 The network design utilises nine AMG switches on the M1 fibres and 15 switches for the M2. At the TICC control room, there are a further four AMG switches which allow the IP cameras to connect to the existing Pelco monitoring equipment. Fisher explains that the control room network connection was further complicated as the TICC’s existing system called for the use of multi-casting and VLANs, and an existing firewall also had to be factored in. “The most appropriate interface in this case was Layer 3 POE switches from our partner Juniper Networks,” she said. IP video surveillance A DfI TICC representative said: “The joint network design by AMG and Juniper Networks has met the challenge presented to them in upgrading our hard shoulder bus lane cameras from purely analogue to IP and has provided a resilient network, intended specifically for the task. AMG’s post-sales service and advice has also proved extremely helpful.”

Ports of Jersey operate the island’s busy harbours and airports, providing high-quality services and facilities to enrich the experiences and journeys of their customers, with Jersey Marinas offering 1,000 berths across three award-winning locations close to the vibrant waterfront at St Helier. At very busy times of the year, such as the annual Jersey Regatta, the sheer volume of visitor traffic arriving from both land and sea can present serious problems. With particular challenges arising from managing car parking, and the issuance of port entry digital keys for boats harbouring. Smart access control solution Ports of Jersey needed a smart access control solution capable of managing short-term parking at St Helier harbour Ports of Jersey needed a smart access control solution capable of managing short-term parking at St Helier harbour. The system needed to be intelligent enough to manage complex bookings for use by berth and mooring holders dropping off and loading gear onto boats, before parking elsewhere long-term. The existing solution was no longer cost effective, and was open to abuse by some users. In addition, Ports of Jersey also required an upgrade to the out of date Jersey Marinas security gate access control system. At peak times this system needed to be able to cope with rapid, high capacity issuance of smart cards to vessel owners and boat crews wishing to access the marina and marina hospitality faculties. Smart installation SALTO partner JMH Technology was asked to provide a new car park access control solution and resolve the looming problem of needing to issue 1,000 cards, at a cost of over £100,000. A replacement car park access control system was installed based on new technology smart cards and 2,000 cards issued. This project was highly cost-effective with installation and card issuance totalling less than just card issuance on the previous system. Future savings also assured thanks to a choice of more cost-effective cards. Abuse of short-term parking has been cut, and the experience for visitors is improved. JMH Technology is in the process of adding more reader-controlled doors To drive yet more efficiency and further reduce overheads the system has subsequently been updated at both St Helier and Albert Pier car park, with smart installation of the latest SALTO access control technology. The upgrade continues, and JMH Technology is in the process of adding more reader-controlled doors and smart handles across the facility. Security assessment A full security assessment was carried out at Jersey Marinas, and a decision taken to replace all of the expensive and temperamental mechanical code locks with a full online access control system. By engineering a bespoke solution that integrated a SALTO kiosk system with a touch screen unit interface, Jersey Marinas staff are now able to allocate more than 500 cards during the high-tide window. With extra capacity on tap when they need it to cope with high demand at peak times, and valuable cost savings made. The SALTO system provided is technically robust and cost-effective to expand. As a partitioned system Ports of Jersey now have a global overview, with each department able to see the section relevant to them. This enables micro management of cost savings across equipment and cards and allows staff to get permissioned access to all necessary parts of the Ports infrastructure without delay.

Neath Port Talbot residents have been given a road safety boost in the form of a new Mobile Enforcement Vehicle (MEV). It has been supplied by Videalert, one of the UK’s leading suppliers of intelligent traffic enforcement, video surveillance and management solutions, which was awarded the contract after due procurement process. Mobile enforcement vehicle “Indiscriminate and dangerous parking around Neath Port Talbot will no longer be tolerated,” said Councillor Rob Jones, Leader of Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council. “The newly purchased mobile enforcement vehicle seeks to challenge those drivers who choose to park on school keep clear markings, within clearly defined bus stops and on pedestrian crossings with no thought for the safety of others. It is hoped that this MEV vehicle will help to further ensure greater safety and protection for pedestrians and other road users as we progress through 2019.” It is hoped that this MEV vehicle will help to further ensure greater safety and protection for pedestrians" As part of an ongoing campaign, the council’s road safety team carried out a county-wide School Gate Parking campaign in partnership with South Wales Police and the Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service. This included banners to be displayed outside all schools to raise awareness as well as delivering education to all pupils - encouraging them to be a positive influence on their guardians taking them to and from school. However, it was determined that enforcement for persistent drivers was the most effective way to tackle this growing road safety menace. ANPR and Digital Video Platform The Mobile Enforcement Vehicle (MEV) comes equipped with two roof-mounted high-tech ANPR cameras and two colour cameras to capture contextual video evidence of vehicles whose drivers have chosen to contravene traffic orders across the County’s territories. The on-board systems are controlled by one of the Council’s Civil Enforcement Officers using a dashboard-mounted touchscreen. All contravention evidence data is transferred to Videalert’s Digital Video Platform in the parking office at the end of each shift. The Videalert system automates the construction of video evidence packs which are reviewed by trained council operatives prior to sending confirmed offences to the back-office processing system for the issuance of penalty charge notices to the registered keepers of vehicles. Road and residential safety The winning entry of ‘iPatrol’ was submitted by a pupil at Gnoll Primary School In order to promote the safety messages to younger residents, the Council’s Road Safety Team also engaged with all Primary School pupils in a competition to name the vehicle. The winning entry of ‘iPatrol’ was submitted by a pupil at Gnoll Primary School who was presented with a Chromebook, sponsored by Videalert, by Neath Port Talbot Council Mayor Cllr Dennis Keogh at the Mayor’s Parlour in Port Talbot on Thursday, January 24th. According to Tim Daniels, Sales and Marketing Director at Videalert: “This new generation of multi-purpose mobile enforcement vehicles (MEVs) gives Councils greater flexibility in the way that they can deal with a wide range of moving traffic and parking contraventions.”

Bath and North East Somerset Council (B&NES Council) is extending its Videalert CCTV enforcement platform with the installation of additional cameras for its approved class C clean air zone (CAZ) that gives exemptions to private cars but charges higher polluting buses, coaches, HGVs, LGVs/vans, private hire vehicles and taxis. Videalert was awarded the contract to ensure full and seamless integration with the council’s existing hosted digital video platform which is already being used to enforce a wide range of restrictions including bus lanes, bus gates and permit parking.  Videalert CCTV enforcement platform B&NES Council was one of 28 councils directed by the government to prepare an action plan to urgently reduce high levels of nitrogen dioxide (caused by vehicle emissions) to within EU and national limits by 2021 at the latest. The authority had originally proposed a Class D CAZ, charging all higher emission vehicles, including cars, to drive in the city centre. However, following further ongoing technical work and a public consultation in December - which garnered an unprecedented 8,421 responses - a class C option with additional traffic management, was agreed. According to Chris Major, group manager for Transport and Parking at B&NES Council: “The new charging class C CAZ will achieve compliance by 2021 apart from a single exceedance caused by localised traffic issues. We believe this will be resolved by installing traffic signals at two junctions.” HD ANPR cameras Videalert will be installing HD ANPR cameras to enforce the new CAZ scheme at key road junctions across the designated boundary Videalert will be installing HD ANPR cameras to enforce the new CAZ scheme at key road junctions across the designated boundary. The hosted Videalert platform will automate the management and enforcement of this new zone, providing real-time identification including vehicle make, model, colour and euro standard rating for pre-filtering and updating the whitelist of compliant vehicles held at the edge to minimise transmission costs. Information on non-compliant vehicles will then interface with the UK government’s new national clean air zone database for vehicle validation and payment. The system will also provide detailed analytics and impact analysis highlighting the reduction in non-compliant vehicles entering the zone over time. Support multiple applications Tim Daniels, Sales and Marketing Director at Videalert, added: “The award of this high-profile contract confirms Videalert’s ability to handle the evolving requirements of clean air and low emission zones. It also demonstrates how a single video data platform can support multiple applications, enabling councils to address the challenges of improving traffic congestion and air quality simultaneously.” The CAZ should commence operation at the end of 2020. The daily charge will be £9 for non-compliant taxis, private hire vehicles and light goods vehicles (the minimum standard being euro 6 for diesel and Euro 4 for petrol), and £100 for buses, coaches and HGVs (the minimum standard being euro 6).

Apstec Systems announces that its Human Security Radar (HSR), the first fully automatic real-time mass people screening solution, has been selected by Esenboga Airport, Ankara, to significantly boost security in land side areas. Chosen following a rigorous selection process, including a pilot installation, HSR will be installed at the terminal entrances as part of ongoing security enhancement measures by the Turkish State Airports Authority. It will enable people screening without slowing down the flow of traffic, with each system capable of scanning up to 10,000 individuals per hour. The technology was deployed in partnership with local distributer AKBA. Cost-effective solution The devastating attacks on Ataturk Airport in Istanbul and Brussels Airport highlighted the vulnerability of the land side of airports to terrorism The devastating attacks on Ataturk Airport in Istanbul and Brussels Airport highlighted the vulnerability of the land side of airports to terrorism. Since these events there has been global interest in securing the land side of airports, but traditional aviation style security checkpoints or manual searches, which scan one individual at a time, are not suited to purpose and result in large queues of passengers, which are vulnerable to attack in their own right. With existing approaches to security screening providing impractical, inconvenient and expensive to operate, terminals have remained susceptible to attack, or are subject to intrusive and disruptive security screening regimes. HSR was designed to address this challenge, and offers a practical and cost-effective solution to security screening in such high footfall scenarios. Enhanced security measures The first fully automated, real-time mass screening solution, HSR provides seamless security to protect public places from terrorist attacks. The walkthrough system uniquely combines unparalleled high throughput, speed and accuracy, simultaneously screening multiple subjects in real-time for threats, without the need for an operator to inspect suspect materials. With 40,000 passengers traveling through Esenboga Airport every day, the deployment of HSR will be instrumental in improving security for millions of people. Through deploying HSR as part of its commitment to terminal safety and enhanced security measures" “HSR constitutes a major breakthrough in the way airports protect the land side of terminals,” commented Osman Aksoy & Sirzat Balin,Co-Founders, AKBA. “Through deploying HSR as part of its commitment to terminal safety and enhanced security measures, the Turkish Airport Authority has taken a major step to prevent the reoccurrence of terrorist attacks.” Mass transport hubs Esenboga Airport’s uptake of HSR is the latest major deployment of the technology, which is currently utilised by some of the world’s largest airports, as well as sports stadiums, entertainment venues, mass transport hubs and networks, places of worship, hotels and high-end retail and entertainment centres. “HSR is proven to dramatically improve safety in crowded public spaces, and enables venue owners to close a critical security capability gap,” added Gregory Labzovsky, CEO, Apstec. “We’re therefore delighted to be working with Esenboga Airport to enhance safety for millions of travellers. AKBA, our distributor in Turkey, were instrumental in helping the Turkish Authorities understand the potential of HSR.”

Stadshavens Medemblik operates five busy ports in the Netherlands – at Pekelharinghaven, Voorhaven, Middenhaven, Westerhaven and Overlekerkanaal – and it also has two bridges under its control, as well as the thriving Westerhaven lock. The company has grown by around 30% each year since 2015 and the efficient, friendly welcome provided by the operations team is an important factor in this success. Under the leadership of Wijnand Baerken, Stadshavens Medemblik wanted to plan for further growth and it identified improved video surveillance capability as a key requirement. Van der Laan was confident in recommending IDIS IP video technology, which is flexible and robust enough for all conditions, and which would allow the old analogue infrastructure to be adapted. Multi-standard infrastructure Without the need for extended cabling or civil works and associated planning permission the installation was quick and efficient A complete observation plan was drawn up, with Van der Laan and IDIS collaborating closely, identifying the best locations for cameras based on viewing angles, lighting conditions and the control features required. Much of the existing cabling has been retained, thanks to the IDIS Center multi-standard infrastructure, and the system has been extended to new areas with both wireless and fibre links. Without the need for extended cabling or civil works and associated planning permission the installation was quick and efficient. The old analogue video system already installed at Stadshavens Medemblik was outdated, with the cameras no longer able to cope with the challenging waterside environment. In poor-visibility conditions - including rain, fog, and glare - images were unusable. The system was also inflexible, making it hard to adjust or add cameras. Enabling greater efficiency Another major challenge was to improve observation of water and road traffic at Medemblik, with a bridge located above the lock preventing a direct view from the port office. To tackle these problems, the trusted technology systems provider Van der Laan was asked to design and install a solution using the best available technology. The new solution is not just preventing crime but enabling greater efficiency and control across all the port’s operations Cameras including award-winning IDIS PTZs have been placed at all strategic locations, on the bridges, the lock, the ports and importantly at the entrance from the IJsselmeer. All integrated and controlled through intuitive IDIS Center video management software, the new solution is not just preventing crime but enabling greater efficiency and control across all the port’s operations. Competitive systems "From the harbour office operators utilising IDIS surveillance can immediately ascertain the size of boats as they enter the port, check where there is mooring place and send the skippers directly to the right location. The IDIS mobile app is proving particularly convenient as it allows us to see exactly what’s happening day and night and enable the operations team to offer immediate assistance if needed." Stadshavens Medemblik, Wijnand Baerken, Director. "The IDIS platform is perfect for combining various IP and analogue systems. Moreover, it is more secure than competitive systems. IDIS systems use proprietary protocols and the way in which data is processed makes them very difficult to hack." Van der Laan Techniek. Dennis Selbach, Account Manager. Looking to the future, plans are being developed to enlarge the port significantly, and Van der Laan and IDIS look certain to be involved.

The ability to treat patients in a secure environment is a base requirement of hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Whether facilities are large or small, security challenges abound, including perimeter security, access control of sensitive areas, video surveillance, and even a long list of cyber-risks. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: What are the security challenges of hospitals and the healthcare industry?

ISC West 2019 is in the industry’s rear-view mirror, and what a show it was! The busy three days in April offered a preview of exciting technologies and industry trends for the coming year. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: What was the big news at ISC West 2019?

The new year 2019 is brimming with possibilities for the physical security industry, but will those possibilities prove to be good news or bad news for our market? Inevitably, it will be a combination of good and bad, but how much good and how bad? We wanted to check the temperature of the industry as it relates to expectations for the new year, so we asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: How optimistic is your outlook for the physical security industry in 2019? Why?