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Virginia Tech’s impact on campus security
by Joel Griffin - Friday April 20, 2012
There are certain profound events that take place during the course of life that you will always remember where you were and what you were doing at that specific moment. I’m sure most everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing on September 11, 2001. That happened to be the first semester of my freshman year in college. I had built a break into my schedule that fall so that I could grab a bite of breakfast and study after an early morning class I had. I was standing in the cafeteria line buying a smoothie when the woman behind the register asked me if I had heard that an airplane had struck one of the Twin Towers. Initially, I shrugged the news off, thinking that it was probably the misfortune of a pilot of some... -
'Cake cam' unveiled at ISC West
by Joel Griffin - Thursday March 29, 2012
Having covered the security industry for four years now, I think I'm pretty well-versed in your typical deployments for commercial video surveillance systems. Retailers, critical infrastructure and government facilities are some of the applications that come immediately to mind. I must admit, however, that I've never thought about bakeries as being good case studies for the advantages of implementing CCTV. That was until I heard Buddy Valastro, star of the TLC network's "Cake Boss," speak glowingly of how an Interlogix surveillance system has helped provide him with peace of mind. "How do cameras help a business like mine? It's a tool I can't really live without," the Carlo's Bakery owner told a throng of media members and attendees... -
Another threat from mobile devices
by Joel Griffin - Friday February 24, 2012
As if there weren't enough threats to worry about when it comes to the security of mobile devices, researchers at the University of Minnesota say they have found a way to easily track the physical location of a cell phone user. According to the research findings, which were recently released in a paper and presented at the 19th Annual Network & Distributed System Security Symposium in San Diego, the vulnerability stems from cell towers that track cell phone subscribers in an effort to provide efficient service. "For example, an incoming voice call requires the network to locate that device so it can allocate the appropriate resources to handle the call," said computer science Ph.D. student Denis Foo Kune in a statement . Kune worked on... -
More on retail parking lot security
by Joel Griffin - Thursday December 15, 2011Over the past several weeks, SIW has extensively covered retail security in the wake of this year’s Black Friday sales. The behavior of shoppers during these sales events has become even more abhorrent in recent years, but what we’ve discovered is that while some incidents that occur inside stores grab most of the headlines, in reality, many of the most dangerous crimes occur in store parking lots. These crimes are usually perpetrated by people looking to take advantage of holiday shoppers that are either flush with cash or recently purchased merchandise. Obviously, one of the best ways to curtail crime in parking lots is by having security officers patrol the premises, which not only helps to ward off potential threats, but also... -
Gearing up for Black Friday
by Joel Griffin - Monday November 21, 2011This week, people across the country will show up hours before retailers open their doors (and in some cases will even camp out) to take part in the annual day after Thanksgiving sales phenomenon that has become known as Black Friday. Many retailers this year, however, are not waiting until Friday to hold these special sales, opting instead to hold them Thanksgiving night. One Target worker has even started an online petition aimed at persuading the retail giant to remain closed on the holiday. I have to admit, my wife and I used to partake in these sales until one day a couple of years ago we decided that the money saved was not worth the time and hassle. The items we targeted were usually gone by the time we made it through the...
