Human identification system - Expert commentary

According to the reports of not-for-profit organisation Gun Violence Archive, the year 2018 has seen 323 mass shooting incidents as of November 28 in the United States. This number is 346 for the year 2017 and 382 for 2016 (more statistics are available here), with “mass shooting” defined as cases where four or more people are shot or killed in the same time period and location. While definitions of mass shooting vary with organisations in the US, the count of over 300 incidents per...

Over the past few years, biometrics has rapidly expanded into consumer applications, like the financial market for customer authentication, to payment services and withdrawing cash from ATMs in high-fraud markets. However, its adoption as an additional authentication factor for physical access control systems (PACS) and other enterprise applications, hasn’t been as rapid. But this is changing. Biometrics offers numerous benefits at the door and throughout the enterprise. With the advent o...

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) in the UK has begun investigations into meat wholesalers after a raise in concern for food hygiene. This investigation has impacted businesses such as Wetherspoons, as well as schools and care homes up and down the country. Consumers are beginning to lose trust in businesses that are supplied by untrustworthy production companies and it seems to be becoming more common, if we are to look back to the horse meat scandal in 2013. But what are the benefits of havin...

This time last year, we predicted 2017 would be the year digital identities began transforming trusted access and other interactions in physical and online environments. Continuous authentication experience Demand grew for unified identity and access management systems supporting both cards and mobile devices. Trusted identities began bridging the gap between connected workers and smart buildings. We saw new IoT use cases that employ location services technologies to create a continuous authe...

Pressure from online shopping is making it even more critical for brick and mortar stores to maximise the revenue per visit Analytics is trending hot for both video and data. The problem for many security video acquisition products is the old adage:  bad data in, results in bad data output. The acquisition device has to be able to deliver on the promise to the end user and perform in challenging environments. What products, with what capabilities, are changing the video a...

Thermal cameras see heat rather than light, so they are a perfect “human detector” Safeguarding outdoor assets in a reliable and cost-effective manner often comes down to a single requirement: Accurate intruder alerts and timely information about the unfolding event. While there are many technologies available for outdoor security, smart cameras with video analytics have emerged as the solution of choice for detecting intruders in real time outdoors. Yet the best...

The Hugs Infant Protection Solution tracks the location of babies and provides protection anywhere the infant may be transported Wireless tracking and radio frequency identification (RFID) continue to improve dramatically in range and reliability, allowing Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) pinpointing people, places and things with impressive accuracy. Systems integrator Advance Technology Inc. (ATI), Scarborough, Maine, recently installed a comprehensive, hospital-wide soluti...

Though primarily developed for consumer electronic devices, the advantages ofH.265 compression technology make it ideal for the world of physical security Ever since digital video systems were introduced the race was on to develop compression technologies to reduce runaway bandwidth and storage consumption. We’ve watched the industry roll out MJPEG, MPEG and H.264 advanced compression standards in direct response to each innovation. With adoption of HDTV and 4K solutions...

PIAM solutions ensure that credentials are onboarded to all the right systems The number of credentials people are carrying is on the rise. At any given time, an individual may be carrying badges, cards or other ID devices for their office, the gym, public transit and more, not to mention credit cards and government-issued identification. The more credentials people carry, the greater the challenge of managing and tracking these credentials poses, and the more likely that they...

The disaster training exercise took place at four sites, with the primary locationbeing a disused power station in Kent (Image credit: London Fire Brigade) Europe's biggest-ever disaster simulation provided a test to evaluate London’s ability to "detect, prevent and if necessary to withstand, handle and recover from disruptive challenges." Exercise Unified Response replicated the aftermath of a tower block falling into Waterloo Station, a transport hub on the south bank...

Thermal cameras with video analytics detect with great accuracy in bright sun,fog, rain and other conditions Smart thermal cameras are rapidly becoming the intruder detection solution of choice for securing outdoor assets. Whether for smaller-range applications like protecting entranceways or gates, or securing large perimeters around energy, utility, chemical, or transportation assets, thermal cameras paired with video analytics offer an accurate detection solution that provi...

Important biometric capabilities include multispectral imaging, superior liveness detection, and tamper resistance Technology developments are enabling a range of new functionality for biometrics in the security market. Early biometrics solutions had poor performance (high failures during enrolment or acquisition that meant significant percentages of users could not use biometrics), says Phil Scarfo, VP worldwide marketing, biometrics, HID Global. Early solutions were not able...

Led by European nations, there is a global shift to e-passports, with over 100 countries using these technologies With the number of global international tourist arrivals standing at over 1 billion and increasing migration in Europe, good border and passport security means having a layered approach and plenty of co-ordination among countries, says David Belchick, VP of Government Solutions at Entrust Datacard. Ever-growing border security challenges “More than one bil...