Blog Archives
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The economics of security
By Joel Griffin - Friday February 15, 2013
Over the last five years, the American economy has been on a roller coaster ride – from the bust in the housing market that has slowly started to recover to the stalemate over the debt ceiling and Congress driving the country right to the edge of the fiscal cliff. However, temporary bargains among Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill have only served to kick the proverbial can down the road. If lawmakers can’t come to an agreement by March 1, an automatic round of across the board spending cuts known as sequestration will take effect, with the Defense Department being the most heavily impacted. "In 2011, Congress passed a law saying that if both parties couldn’t agree on a plan to reach our deficit goal, about a trillion... -
Moving verified monitoring to public-private partnerships
By Deborah L. O'Mara - Thursday February 7, 2013
Monitoring of alarms has been around—well, since the beginning of the industry. But has it lost it pizzazz with mass-marketed alarms and self-monitoring via smartphones, iPads and other connectivity devices? Have we diluted our value proposition? Not if the industry continues to tell its story, educate the user and focus on partnerships between the police, sheriffs, insurance providers and alarm companies who understand the importance of being able to verify alarms in progress. I’m not here to put down self-surveillance—i.e., looking in on the dog or protected premises while away, or fiddling with the temperature and such—but that’s not the real value the industry brings to the table and it’s not what you should be... -
Tracking social media to improve public safety
By Alex Sorin - Tuesday February 5, 2013Editor’s note: The following article is part of a content sharing initiative between the Safe Cities Solutions Group , an online blog and education forum, and Secured Cities, the premier conference on urban security municipal surveillance, which is scheduled to take place in Baltimore on Nov. 14-15. For more information about the conference or to register to attend, visit the Secured Cities website . The blogging world and public safety publications abound are writing non-stop about the benefits of social media monitoring and public safety. Whether social media monitoring is used for emergency response or to track the flu epidemic across the U.S., its benefits cannot be disputed. However, the public safety and law... -
‘Duck and Cover’ is not the answer
By Steve Lasky - Monday February 4, 2013Those of us who belong to the Baby Boomer generation remember growing up with government public service films when we were in elementary and middle school — yes I said 16mm film not video. Raise your hand if you are old enough to remember teasing the AV geek in school! Back in the 1950s and 60s, the feds had launched their campaign of “duck and cover” — a strategy aimed to help school kids survive a nuclear holocaust by hiding under desks. When you’re 10 years old, it sounded like a great plan. Now, those old black-and-white PSAs were comical at best and misleading at worst, if their objectives were to heighten awareness. Turn the clock ahead 50 years and we see nothing has really changed. Recent mass shooting tragedies at... -
Don’t let Fast50 pass you by!!
By Deborah L. O'Mara - Friday February 1, 2013
This is the second year of the SD&I Fast50 and I’m excited to bring you this ranking and best practices awards program. Fast50, which results in the Top 50 of America’s Fastest Growing Systems Integrators, is open to all alarm dealers, systems integrators, IT/networking and electrical contractors whose primary business is physical security. But the real differentiator here is that the program is for companies both large and small—so no matter your size you can compete head to head with others in the marketplace. In other words: It’s not just for the big guys, like some awards, but is open to EVERYONE installing physical security products! Take a look here at the list of last year’s inaugural winners... -
Keeping secrets safe on the road
By Paul Rothman - Thursday January 31, 2013
Planning to visit China soon? Whether it’s for business or pleasure, American executives must keep their guard up and their corporate secrets secure. Here’s what the U.S. State Department warns: “Security personnel carefully watch foreign visitors and may place you under surveillance. Hotel rooms (including meeting rooms), offices, cars, taxis, telephones, Internet usage, and fax machines may be monitored onsite or remotely, and personal possessions in hotel rooms, including computers, may be searched without your consent or knowledge. Business travelers should be particularly mindful that trade secrets, negotiating positions, and other business-sensitive information may be taken and shared with local interests.” For many... -
Taking the complexity out of IT security
By Joel Griffin - Friday January 25, 2013
Wisegate, a membership body for IT professionals, recently polled a group of its CSO members to see what they thought the top threats facing businesses would be in 2013. Among the most prominent vulnerabilities were ones that IT security managers have been warning about for years, such as the dangers associated with bring your own device (BYOD) policies and the proliferation of social media and cloud computing. Despite the threats posed by hackers and other outside elements, it is generally an organization’s workforce that poses the greatest risk to network security. It’s not that a majority of these insiders have malicious intent, but rather a lack of awareness about how usurping what seems like the smallest security procedure... -
Obama whiffs on school security
By Joel Griffin - Friday January 18, 2013
Following through on his word to act swiftly in the wake of last month’s mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, President Barack Obama released a plan this week he believes will help reduce gun violence across the country. The president’s plan, which can be found on the White House’s website , includes four primary tenants: bolster nationwide background checks for the purchase of firearms; a ban on military-style assault rifles and high-capacity magazines; making schools safer; and, increasing access to mental health services. You might have noticed that "making schools safer" was actually the third item on the list (this was the White House’s ranking not mine). With that being said, let’s take a look at the... -
How dealers can help reduce false alarms
By Rob Phillips - Monday January 14, 2013False alarms aren’t just an annoyance for homeowners. They can cost local authorities millions of dollars and valuable man hours each year, resulting in hefty fines and subsequent customer dissatisfaction. Adding two-way voice communication to a customer’s security system is one way dealers can simultaneously suppress attrition and increase RMR. Two-way interactive voice verification – the ability for central station operators to directly communicate with customers during an alarm event – is a key technological advancement that can help combat false alarms. The hands-free, two-way speaker system acts as an intercom and enables homeowners to verify an emergency with a monitoring center operator from anywhere in the home. The... -
Applications expand for biometrics
By Joel Griffin - Friday January 11, 2013
Perhaps one of the most maligned security products among end-users through the years has been biometrics. Whether it was a reader that used a person’s iris, fingerprint or some other type of biological identifier, people have complained that the technology was unreliable and too expensive for most applications. However, like with all new technologies, there were growing pains that have, by and large, been addressed by most vendors. And while many people are familiar with biometric solutions for access control, there may be a new segment of the market poised for a breakthrough. Just this week, NICE Systems, which is known predominantly in the industry for its video management and physical security information management software...
