Blog Archives
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Reigning in carbon monoxide hysteria
By Joel Griffin - Friday December 7, 2012
Earlier this week, a faulty boiler at an Atlanta elementary school sent more than 30 students and 10 adults to the hospital suffering from symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning. The incident has sparked calls for the mandatory installation of CO detectors in Georgia schools from parents, as well as state officials. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, however, only two states – Connecticut and Maryland – have such legislation on the books. While incidents such as these are certainly scary for parents, the fact is that devices such as carbon monoxide and smoke detectors have been designed to protect people that are sleeping, according to fire alarm and codes expert Greg Kessinger, who serves as a regular contributor to SD&I... -
Breaking down barriers to access control convergence
By Joel Griffin - Friday November 30, 2012
One of the biggest industry trends over the last decade as more and more security devices have been brought onto the corporate network, is the convergence of physical security with IT. Increasingly, physical security managers have had to work with their IT departments on the purchase and installation of security equipment, because many of these devices have a significant impact on an organization’s IT backbone. These two sides of the house not always played well together. While the physical security executive wants to have all of the tools possible at his or her disposal to mitigate risks, the IT manager has to be concerned about how these devices interface with the network and the additional resources that will have to be devoted to... -
The BYOD conundrum
By Joel Griffin - Friday November 16, 2012
The proliferation of smartphones and tablet computers has created a dilemma for security managers: How do you enable your workers to maximize their productivity while at the same time providing adequate protection against data breaches? There have been an ever increasing number of studies conducted on the topic of employees using their own mobile devices for business use and the conclusion that can be drawn from most of them is that if you are going to allow employees to use personal devices in the workplace, then you need to have written policies and guidelines in place detailing what company data they can access and share via those devices. According to a survey of 500 business and IT professionals conducted earlier this year by... -
Sandy's impact on security
By Joel Griffin - Friday November 2, 2012
The thoughts and prayers of the Cygnus Security Group go out to all those impacted this week by Superstorm Sandy, which left a path of destruction from the Outer Banks of North Carolina to the shores of Maine. The storm has been blamed for the deaths of more than 90 people in the U.S. New York and New Jersey bore the brunt of the storm’s wrath with residents being plunged into darkness by widespread power outages and transportation being brought to a crawl. The storm also forced the postponement of ISC East , which had been scheduled to take place at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City on Oct. 29-31. Nearly everyone across the security spectrum – from equipment manufacturers, systems integrators, alarm monitoring... -
Do we really need a cybersecurity executive order?
By Joel Griffin - Friday October 26, 2012
Despite pleas from lawmakers asking the White House to leave the responsibility of drafting legislation that adequately addresses the nation’s cyber threats to Congress, it appears that President Obama has grown tired of waiting. The Associate Press recently reported that the Obama administration has drafted a cybersecurity executive orde r that is in the process of being finalized. One of the order’s major initiatives would direct the Department of Homeland Security to organize an information sharing network that would provide companies in the critical infrastructure sector (power plants, water treatment facilities, railroads, etc.) with access to intelligence reports about known threats. The administration’s concerns about... -
The business case for PSIM
By Joel Griffin - Friday October 19, 2012
On Thursday, physical security information management (PSIM) software provider VidSys released the results of its 2012 National Security Survey, which polled more than 100 senior security professionals from both the private and public sector about the challenges facing their organizations. Overall, the survey found that the security landscape was similar to that of last year’s survey with companies continuing to face an increasingly complex security environment, consisting of systems and devices from a myriad of different manufacturers. According to Kelly Fiedler, vice president of marketing for VidSys, 59 percent of survey respondents said that their organizations have security devices and systems from five or more manufacturers, a... -
Workplace violence not just a concern for the private sector
By Joel Griffin - Friday October 12, 2012
When most people think about workplace violence, scenes from mass shootings at businesses from across the nation usually come to mind. Of course, we know in the security industry that workplace violence consists of more than just these violent, deadly outbursts and more frequently involve the intimidation or bullying of a coworker than actual shootings. It’s also not a problem that’s unique to organizations in the private sector. A report recently published by the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board revealed some eye-opening statistics as it relates to incidents of violence in the federal workplace. According to a 2010 survey conducted by the agency, which recorded the responses of more than 42,000 full-time, permanent... -
Balancing free speech with security
By Joel Griffin - Friday October 5, 2012
Ads recently placed on New York subways and potentially coming soon to several Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority stations have ignited a firestorm of controversy and also raised potential security concerns. Paid for by the American Freedom Defense Initiative, the ads say "In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad." Many say the ads are anti-Islamic and are calling for them to be pulled over worries they may incite violent attacks. The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority initially rejected the ad, but their decision was later overturned by a federal judge , who ruled that it was protected under the First Amendment. WMATA also suspended placing the... -
Security firm offers training for zombies
By Joel Griffin - Friday September 21, 2012
As comprehensive as most enterprise risk management plans are, I seriously doubt many, if any, Fortune 500 security directors have had tabletop exercises or other training on how do deal with a potential onslaught of zombies. As laughable as it sounds, the security firm HALO Corp. is planning to offer training on the unlikely scenario at its annual Counter-Terrorism Summit next month in California, according to a story published by USA Today . HALO President Brad Barker said that the intention of adding zombies to the company’s training regiment at a 44-acre resort near San Diego was to bring levity to what will be a series of intense, real-life situations that attendees (which include first responders and military personnel) will... -
The changing landscape of home security
By Joel Griffin - Friday August 31, 2012
With the exception of a subtle change here or there, the residential security market was relatively simple and straightforward for decades. A home owner looking to secure their property with an alarm system would call a dealer for an estimate. That dealer would send a sales rep to the home owner’s residence for an evaluation to discuss with the prospective client what they needed in terms of equipment and monitoring. Based upon the home owner’s decision, a standalone alarm system would subsequently be installed on the premises. This business model still holds true in many cases, but the market has changed dramatically over the last few years. A new report out this week from IMS Research has found that consumers’ views on home...
