Blog Archives
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Watching RSA from afar
By Geoff Kohl - Friday February 9, 2007So, I'm not in San Francisco this week attending the RSA Conference, despite my wishes. But I have been enjoying some of the blog reports coming out of this IT security show. Now some might be asking why I should pay attention to an IT-focused show like the RSA conference when our industry is still (despite all the buzz) heavily focused on gates, fences, analog cameras, guards and old reed-style contacts for intrusion detection. The answer should be obvious. While yes, mag stripe cards and security fencing may still define much of commercial security, it's rapidly moving beyond that and I'm watching our industry as a whole pay a lot more attention to what's happening at the RSA Conference versus the FenceTech show. Some of the things I... -
Beware the Mooninites
By Geoff Kohl - Wednesday January 31, 2007This security business is serious stuff, but sometimes you just have to have a bit of a laugh. That was my reaction to the news on CNN that the city of Boston had rolled out its Homeland Security counter-terror team today. The dangerous opponent? Turner Broadcasting's marketing department. The marketing department, it seems, had hung some lightboards around town featuring a cartoon character (the Mooninite from Adult Swim's Aqua Teen Hunger Force cartoon show) a few weeks ago in a number of U.S. cities. Apparently our highly trained counter-terror intelligence staff at the Boston PD decided that Mooninite = Jihadist and decided to send the department into turmoil for 12 hours as they negated the marketing threat and tracked down nine... -
The Secret Thoughts of TSA Screeners
By Marleah Blades - Tuesday January 23, 2007Ever been standing in a security line at ATL, LAX, ORD, facing a TSA screener sporting a nasty look, a blank stare, a cheerful face (probably not this last one), and wondered, What on Earth are they thinking about? I stumbled upon a Web site this morning that may give a little insight into this question. TSA-Screeners.com  claims to serve the TSA screener community with screening-related news, advocacy, editorials, a comic strip, parodies and forums. Its opening banner reads "This is a private website not affiliated with the U.S. government ... so speak freely." The site was created by a military and law enforcement veteran whose wife worked as a TSA screener before leaving the organization with four official... -
New Hampshire: Videotaping your front door is against the law
By Greg McConnell - Monday January 22, 2007So in case you missed this story on SIW , a man was arrested last year in New Hampshire for video recording police officers at his front door. Apparently when he went into the police station to complain about the officers' conduct he brought tapes as evidence. He was arrested and the tapes were never returned because the police said they were "illegal." I could understand if the guy had invited the police officers into his house and secretly recorded them using the restroom, but the front door? The good news is that this case has resulted in a new bill being introduced in the state's House which would allow property owners to record their own premises without giving notice. Although, we can't beat up... -
Believing in Biometrics
By Geoff Kohl - Thursday January 11, 2007Robert LaPenta believes in biometrics. After all, you don't put your money where your mouth is if you don't believe. This is the guy who just today has offered $1.05 per share for each share of ComnetiX, a Canadian biometrics company that does fingerprint recognition, especially ones for police departments. Of course, LaPenta (via his biometrics investment arm L-1) isn't the only one going after ComnetiX . BIO-key, another fingerprint recognition player is also making a thirsty offer for the shares of Comnetix. So, who are they after? Well, Comnetix has been around for quite sometime. I dug up some earlier info on this company and it seems that back in the summer of 2004, for every 2 dollars they brought in, 3 dollars went out the... -
Rolodexing Your Way to Lower Security Costs
By Geoff Kohl - Wednesday January 10, 2007Since the title of my blog is The Security Check, it's only appropriate that I address a topic of marginal importance at the TSA's security checkpoints. A great story from USA Today (now posted on SecurityInfoWatch.com at this link ) makes note of how the TSA is selling advertising space in the bottom of the security bins that we all deposit our laptops, shoes and belongings in as we make our way through metal detectors and X-ray machines at U.S. airports. Now at first, I'm a bit miffed by this idea. If TSA has me captive for a security check, should I be treated like a captive audience and shown marketing messages? ( Rolodex was the first advertiser -- who knew that company was even still in business since the age of the computer... -
New Public/Private Partnership
By Marleah Blades - Tuesday January 9, 2007Right now, the U.S. House is debating HR1, "Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act of 2007." Some news outlets (Fox) have noted that HR1 will require private companies to prepare for terrorism. From a quick reading of Title XI of the bill, "Private Sector Preparedness," I would say "require" may be a strong word. In its current form, the bill seems to be after only voluntary preparedness standards. But however this bill turns out, it's something you're going to want to keep an eye on. You can read the text of the bill in its original form at http://thomas.loc.gov . Search for HR1. Marleah -
2007
By Greg McConnell - Friday January 5, 2007Well, the year 2007 is here and, believe it or not, this decade is already more than 70% over. Although, I'm not sure if we have a name yet for this decade... is it the 00's (i.e., Zeroes)? Anyway, the year is young and full of promise. For those of you in the field of security, keep up the great work. Here's wishing you the best! -Greg -
Residential Security in Afghanistan
By Geoff Kohl - Monday December 18, 2006I have a very good friend of mine who has been employed in recent years trying to help rebuild Afghanistan. He tries to create collaboration, improve education, and assist a war-torn country to move beyond that devastation and into the 21st century. I'd say he has a tough job, and he'd probably agree. We spent some time going though a couple hundred of his best photos of Afghanistan, and afterwards our talk turned to security, as four of us -- my friend, myself, my friend's brother (who served a tour of duty in Afghanistan with the U.S. Army) and a former CNN.com reporter who covered the middle East extensively -- burned the midnight oil to talk about the situation in Kabul. My friend turned from time to time to discuss the... -
The Resolution Revolution Will Be Televised
By Greg McConnell - Friday December 15, 2006Last week I had the chance to chat with Paul Bodell, VP of sales and marketing, IQinVision , which makes high-definition network cameras. One of the key things Bodell mentioned was that a year and a half ago IQinVision was a niche company with a few targeted products, but its growth in the IP video market has "exploded." With IQinVision's sales growing 100% each of the last three years, he said those numbers are even higher than what they had originally projected for their investors. Bodell pointed to what IQinVision likes to call "The Resolution Revolution" as to why IP video and digital megapixel cameras are impacting the market. Contrary to what some may say, the screen resolution on IP video is passing...
