There are some things that are hard to control, no matter how good your security is. Hewlett-Packard found that out this week when a report arose that a laptop containing data on some 200,000 current and former employees went missing. Now this was no normal laptop theft of a thief sneaking into an office and grabbing a laptop off an unwatched HP desk. The laptop, instead, was a computer owned by Fidelity Investments, who was handling financial matters for HP, and therefore had the HP employee data. In response, Fidelity and HP are monitoring possible credit and/or identity breaches, and Fidelity has responded by offering credit monitoring for the affected employees. Moral of the story: Your security plans need to consider instances when your assets have been trusted to a third party.
This loss of a laptop and its associated data also underscores the fine line that we often walk between IT and physical assets, and while convergence may happen between IT and physical security in terms of integrated network and building access control, it also has to happen for asset management.
Update for Dealers
Brink's Home Security has upped the volume it can handle in its monitoring and customer service locations with a new call center in Knoxville, Tenn. The company is using a smart phone system so that the new Knoxville operation isn't just a regional facility. Calls, which can also come into its core facility in Irving, Texas, can be sent to the appropriate facility based on which center can respond to the call the quickest, rather than selecting the call center based on geographical proximity.
Speaking of Irving, Texas, the NBFAA is in the middle of its nominations process for its executive committee. The association, which is expected to change its name in the very near future, has proposed four members for the committee, and is seeking nominations from its membership. Details on the current nominees and how to make a nomination can be found in our article.
Straight from the Top
Most of you who've been around the security industry for some years have probably heard the name Steve Walin, who served in GE's Enterprise security operations, and prior to that with Siemens and, even earlier, with integrator Security Technologies Group. Walin has recently made his way to GVI Security Solutions, part of the Samsung family. He sat down on Monday for an interview with SecurityInfoWatch.com to talk about what the link between manufacturers and integrators, education in the industry and creating ROI for customers. See his interview here.
While at ISC West...
Speaking of ROI, we've received word of an interesting ISC West education session which addresses ROI, right down to its core. Titled "Using ROI to Deliver Greater Value for the End User," this Thursday afternoon course brings in a number of high-profile panelists, including a security director from IBM, an analyst from the Los Angeles Police Department, the manager of physical security technologies for Cisco, the president of video surveillance software management company Milestone Systems, and Microsoft's Bill Gustafson. The panel is being moderated by Jim Gompers. The full course catalog is online at www.iscwest.com; make sure to also stop by SecurityInfoWatch.com's booth (#19142) to catch up with SIW and our affiliated magazines ST&D, Security Dealer and Locksmith Ledger.
Complying with FIPS 201
FIPS 201 compliance continues to be the topic eating at most IT and physical security directors for government facilities. The Security Industry Association and Corestreet have partnered to release a free report on FIPS 201 compliance. Get the full scoop on this downloadable report here.
Finally, a look at our most read stories of the week:
- Ten Steps to a Successful IP Surveillance Installation: Step 2
- Preventing Violence in Today's Workplace
- Panasonic Iris System to Be Used in Sea I.D. System
- In Fort Worth Area, Bank Robbers Busy, But Few Escaping the Law
- Disaster Exercise Management, Part 3: Information Technologies
- Safety Tips to Ensure Home Safety for Business Executives
