The security week that was: 12/21/07

Dec. 21, 2007
A weekly surveillance of news shaping your profession

Integrators continue to grow

We're in the thick of the holiday season, but that doesn't slow down business in the security industry. Securitas Systems (the integration firm, not the guard services firm) announced yesterday that it had purchased Securex, an installation and monitoring firm specializing in the retail environment. Securex was formerly an arm of LP Innovations, a consulting and investigation/audit services firm that operates nationally here in the United States.

North American Video, an integrator that has specialized heavily in the realm of casino security installations, is also growing. They told SecurityInfoWatch that their work at the Wynn Macau casino property (Macau is an island-like area in China on the South China Sea) has opened up other doors, and the firm now has established an office in Macau to provide security integration and installation services for the Asia-Pacific region.

Learning the basics of IT
Podcasts from SIW Radio seek to teach IT fundamentals

As our industry puts its technology over the network, we're requiring new skill sets in all of us. We have to know topics like "TCP/IP", "convergence," "API", "Web app," and lot more terms that might have only been truly spoken by IT VARS/integrators just a few years ago. Especially as network video and the networked building access control systems become more prevalent, these concepts are going to be more and more vital. With that in mind, SecurityInfoWatch's SIW Radio podcast series has partnered with independent information consultant Kevin Beaver, CISSP, to produce a series of MP3 programs titled "IT Basics for PhySec Pros." Our first podcast on that topic is out; in that episode we cover web security and diverge slightly to cover issues of root passwords on Web-connected devices. That program can be found here, and we promise more of these educational sessions in the upcoming months.

In other news...
Pelco's record donation, GSA prices for local and state govs, more

This being the holiday season, we want to recognize Pelco for continuing its support of the Toys for Tots program. Pelco hit a record number this year, with over 153,000 toys donated. No, that's not a typo. ... SIW Forums moderator Curtis Baillie takes his long experience in retail/loss prevention and is out this week with a column on LP basics for small retailers. It's a great article to hand out to your small business customers to get them up to speed on the essential mechanics of LP.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3179, a bill that gives state and local governments the option of purchasing fire alarm systems, access control devices, video surveillance and perimeter security equipment at the reduced pricing structure formerly only allowed to the federal market through the GSA. ... Proximex, makers of the Suveillint system for security command systems, has formed a partner program to ensure that Surveillint works with and is partnered with the likes of Lenel, Bosch, Verint and others. ... Entrust's PKI (public key infrastructure) has been used by the U.S. government as the underlying encryption method for the ePassports. The company says that amounts to 18 million ePassports.

The Alarm Before Christmas

Since 'tis the season, we share with you again, "The Alarm Before Christmas", a yuletide story of an attempted break-in at a home secured by alarm system:

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a sensor was detecting anything, not even a mouse;

The PIRs were mounted in the corners with care,
In hopes they could catch a burglar who tried to come there;
...read the full story...

And we close as always with our most read stories of the week: