Articles by Larry Anderson

The ban on U.S. government usage of Chinese-made video surveillance products was signed into law last year and was scheduled to take effect a year later – on August 13, 2019. With that deadline looming, there are questions about whether government agencies and departments will comply in time. A year ago, the U.S. Congress passed, and the President signed, a ban on government uses of video surveillance equipment produced by two of the world’s top manufacturers – Hikvision and D...

Global Security Exchange (GSX) 2019 will blow into the Windy City this fall, combining a tradeshow, a full schedule of professional education sessions, plenty of industry networking opportunities, and an annual reunion of the top professionals from around the world tasked with protecting people, property and assets. GSX – the trade show and industry event 'formerly known as' the ASIS Annual Seminar and Exhibits – will be Sept. 8-12 at Chicago’s McCormick Place. The show promi...

Intelligent solutions, such as those derived from artificial intelligence, help critical infrastructure organisations make sense of vast amounts of data. These integrated applications, such as advanced video analytics and facial recognition, can automatically pinpoint potential breaches and significant events, and send alerts to the appropriate personnel, departments, and agencies. These solutions can be powerful in unifying disparate command centre technologies, fusing critical data input from...

One impact of Chinese companies entering the physical security market has been an erosion in product pricing, creating what has been called the "race to the bottom". However, political forces and cybersecurity concerns have presented new challenges for Chinese companies. Adding cybersecurity increases costs, and the addition of more functionality to edge devices is another trend that has impacted product pricing. We asked this week's Expert Panel Roundtable: Has price erosion ended (or slowed do...

Police in the United Kingdom have been testing the effectiveness of live facial recognition (LFR) for several years now, but future uses of the technology have been called into question. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), an independent authority that seeks to uphold information rights in the public interest, has weighed in on issues of data privacy related to LFR, and Members of Parliament (MPs) have called for a moratorium on uses of the technology. The big question is whether...

The devil is in the details. The broader implications of the U.S. Government ban on Chinese video surveillance manufacturers are being clarified in the federal rule-making process, and a public hearing in July gave the industry a chance to speak up about the impact of the law. Ban on equipment The hearing centered on Section 889 of Title VII of the National Defense Authorisation Act (NDAA) for FY 2019, specifically paragraph (a)(1)(B). The paragraph "prohibits agencies from entering into a con...

Artificial intelligence is on the verge of changing the face of multiple industries – from healthcare to entertainment to finance, from data security to manufacturing to the cars we drive (or that will drive themselves!) In the physical security market, AI has garnered a lot of attention as a buzzword and as a harbinger of things to come. We asked this week's Expert Panel Roundtable: What security markets are most likely to embrace artificial intelligence (AI)?

Verkada was founded by three computer scientists and security experts who studied together at Stanford University. They connected with a former founder of Meraki and created Verkada with a mission to “modernise the world of physical security”. The fast-growing company currently focuses on delivering an all-in-one hybrid cloud video security solution powered by edge processing inside the camera. On the surface, the product is simple: cameras record video, connect to the internet, and...

Critical infrastructure facilities are vulnerable to many security challenges, from terrorism to natural disasters. Challenges also include vandalism, theft, employee identification and verification, access control, regulations, and the increasing infiltration of connectivity and the Internet of Things. In addition, many critical infrastructure facilities are housed in harsh and hazardous environments, which adds to the challenges to keep employees and facilities secure. The security risks faci...

School shootings, especially in the United States, present an ongoing tragedy and a challenge to the security industry. We like to think we have solutions that can help, if not “solve”, the problem: but how effective are they at the end of the day? The sad answer – even after dozens of school shootings and even in the wrenching aftermath of the latest one – is that we don’t know. There is a gaping lack of knowledge and research when it comes to measuring the effec...

In the digital age, software is a component of almost all systems, including those that drive the physical security market. A trend toward hardware commoditisation is making the role of software even more central to providing value to security solutions. Software developments make more things possible and drive innovation in the market. We asked this week's Expert Panel Roundtable: How do software improvements drive physical security?  

Physical security has been stuck in a forensic and siloed mindset for decades, while the rest of the enterprise has evolved and transformed into proactive, connected operations. A new security management platform based on artificial intelligence (AI) seeks to change that status quo by using modern tools for unification, analytics and controls. AI-based security management  “Security teams are managing more moving parts than ever,” says Clayton Brown, Co-Founder of ReconaSense....

Video surveillance cannot address all the security challenges in education, but it is a valuable tool and among the least obtrusive options available. And the list of security challenges that video can address grows every day. Video systems can provide real-time monitoring of school premises and facilitate rapid response to incidents. New advances such as video analytics are currently underutilised in the education arena. Historically, video has been used as a forensic tool in the education ma...

When it comes to security and to ensuring the integrity of gaming operations, today’s casino market is risk-averse. Regulations direct the required surveillance of table games and slot machines, while modern casinos are often sprawling complexes that have a variety of other risks to be addressed, too. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: What are the challenges of the casino market relating to security and surveillance technology?

Workforce management systems gather and analyse information and anomalies from security officers in the field. The information ranges from direct observations entered via mobile or desktop apps by officers on duty to reports from cleaning staff, the maintenance department, and CCTV operators. Taken together, the information yields business intelligence and data analytics at no additional cost. Trackforce is a provider of workforce management solutions specific to the security industry and its...

After a period of rapid international expansion, the next step for Ajax Systems is to set deeper roots in each market and become more sustainable. The manufacturer of wireless security equipment will continue to extend the range of Ajax products and capabilities by responding to local requests. Smart home management options and automation scenarios will be a significant focus for the next year. Wireless security equipment The systems are resistant to false alarms, regularly update over the air...

Artificial intelligence (AI) is expanding the capabilities of license plate readers and vehicle identification systems. Within a smart/safe city scenario, automatic license plate reader solutions are used to help analyse real-time video streams for site surveillance, inspection and public safety, and to offer actional information through a network of connected camera systems. Outside of law enforcement, this can include other public safety initiatives such as traffic tolls, car counting, and pa...

A high majority of Americans (83%) are concerned about a criminal attack causing physical harm at large-scale events such as sporting events or concert festivals. More than one in five (22% of) Americans say they have cancelled plans or considered cancelling plans to attend large-scale public events due to concerns about physical attacks and the safety of their data. Across the pond, three in 10 Britons think twice about attending large-scale events due to data or physical security issues. Alt...

An area of technology that is shifting how we interact with our cities is the Internet of Things (IoT). The IoT already accounts for swathes of technology and devices operating in the background. However, we’re increasingly seeing these come to the forefront of everyday life, as data becomes critical. The decisions that this critical data is attached to must be made quickly. A living, breathing city must constantly be monitoring, assessing and utilising data in order to ensure it keeps pe...

There will be more artificial intelligence, more machine learning, video systems with more capabilities, and all of it will add greater value to our solutions. Those are among the expectations of our Expert Panel Roundtable as they collectively look ahead to the remainder of 2019. One unexpected prediction is that AI will not prove to be a game changer – at least not yet. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: What will be the biggest surprise for security in the second half o...

Several video manufacturers have participated in the development of a U.K. 'Secure by Default' baseline standard to ensure cybersecurity measures are included in equipment as it leaves the factory. The standard includes ensuring that passwords must be changed from the manufacturer default at start-up, that chosen passwords should be sufficiently complex to provide a degree of assurance, and that controls are placed around how and when remote access should be commissioned. The standard aims to e...

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...

While security salesmen are touting megapixels and anti-passback features, they are missing an opportunity to communicate the role of technology in the broader context of risk management and incident response – and in saving lives. That’s the message of Gerald Wilkins, PSP, Vice President of Active Risk Survival. Incident response is at the core of how an enterprise reacts to risk and is a standardised approach to the command, control, and coordination of emergency response. Effect...

The basic need for public safety is one of the biggest forces driving the adoption of smart city solutions: approaches that seek to solve urban challenges through technological means. The thinking behind these initiatives is that with enough internet connectivity and real-time data, surely environmental, social, economic, and public health issues should become more manageable. However, just adding more technology is not the whole answer. Although technology is necessary for an urban area to tra...

The phrase ‘eye in the sky’ is taking on a whole new meaning as the concept of home security drones becomes a plausible idea that could be realised in the not-too-distant future. It’s a possibility that came to light recently in the form of a patent that was granted to Amazon for ‘Image Creation Using Geo-Fence Data’. The patent specifies a “geo-fence, which may be a virtual perimeter or boundary around a real-world geographic area.” An unmanned autonom...

Security isn’t easy for schools and universities. As education institutions increasingly become vulnerable targets for threats and attacks, they face the security challenges of maintaining a welcoming and open environment while ensuring the comprehensive safety of the students, teachers and staff. The balance between providing high levels of security with a certain level of convenience becomes crucial, especially when considering the large audience schools work with – the staff, admi...

When it comes to emergency planning and response, there is an abundance of resources to help enterprises prepare to mitigate the impact of an incident. The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has devised the National Incident Management System (NIMS), aimed at defining and standardising ways that resources can be used to manage and respond to an incident. An enterprise’s Emergency Operations Plan, or EOP, incorporates NIMS concepts and spells out what to do in an emergency. S...

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...

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...

In five states in the Western United States, 200 video surveillance cameras keep are keeping watch to provide early warning of wildfires. In the near future, the number of wildfire surveillance cameras will be growing dramatically. Soon there will be more than 1,000 of the cameras in California alone, keeping watch on thousands of acres at risk of destructive events like last year’s deadly Camp and Woolsey wildfires. It is a striking example of how video surveillance technology can be use...