Physical Security has moved from proprietary legacy systems like Analog CCTVs and DVRs to high definition Internet Protocol (IP) and network video surveillance. It has grown from dedicated architecture to Virtualized Architecture for Security, Applications and Storage. These were some of the technological innovations aimed at preventing crimes that were examined at the recently concluded Physical Security and Building Management System Workshop organized by WECO Systems.
Technology security experts noted that Physical Security and Building Management System have grown beyond just having someone stationed at an entrance of a building complex. It has gone beyond reactionary responses, to preventive measures. That is why organizations and public sectors across the globe are migrating from manual processes and geographically dispersed facilities and personnel to an Internet Protocol based video solution that provides clear video footage to detect threats or criminal activities.
Laurence Summers, National Sales Manager, (High Security, Banking and Commercial Sectors) Quadrant Security Group, United Kingdom, set the tone for the workshop when he noted that an Internet Protocol based video solution that provides clear video footage to detect threats would easily allow users to access, search and review footages from anywhere instantly. This he added is the new direction the management of Physical Security is headed.
He went further by saying; “Adequate deployment of Internet Protocol based Closed Circuit Television System (CCTV), Electronic Access Control System (ACS), Intruder Alarm System (IDS) and Perimeter Detection System (PIDS) are some very important technological innovations that can help in the area of Physical Security and Building Management System. An organization or government agency that currently operates the analogue CCTV for instance can upgrade to the IP based cameras for effective and real time recording. This is because unlike the legacy CCTV, the IP based cameras have video analytic capabilities which mean they can automatically analyze videos or images to detect and determine criminal events not just based on a single but multiple images and can also drill down to chain of events monitored.”
Alan Davis, Head of Systems Engineering, Quadrant Security Group, United Kingdom spoke extensively on Electronic Access Control. He stressed the need for organizations and agencies to implement what he called CREDENTIALS technology. This is a means of personal identification which could be a card, a key held in the persons memory (such as a PIN number), or a unique physical human attribute like a fingerprint known as biometrics… or it could be a combination of all three. All of these however require a device to read the information. These can be card readers, PIN pads and biometric readers. The readers’ in-turn should be connected to a barrier or some form of gateway.
Dafe Oroghi, Senior Pre-Sales Engineer, WECO Systems, spoke on the importance of Single Sign-on Solution as a way of reducing crime and criminal activities in an organization. Speaking on the topic “Leveraging on convergence of Physical and Logical Access security,” he emphasised the need for organizations to ensure identities of employees are protected from theft, cannot be shared, is unique and if stolen or lost, cannot be used by the person who stole it. This he said is possible if organizations can employ what he called theAUTHENTICATION process. This process just involves the migration from the regular username and password to a third factor or an object which cannot be defined by the administrator. These could be any of the following or a combination of PIN CODES, FINGER PRINTS, IRIS SCAN and FACIAL RECOGNITION.
“To achieve this, companies or government agencies must utilise NETWORK and APPLICATION SECURITY to Confirm an employee’s identity, verify if the system he/she is accessing is authorised and approved by the organisation and meets basic security level for antivirus, malware, anti-spyware, OS patch level and necessary services. This would also ensure registry keys and applications are installed and running. Once all of these are established, NETWORK ADMISSION CONTROL can be said to have be achieved” he concluded.
In his closing remarks, Obinna Ekwonwa, Director of Infrastructure Solutions, WECO Systems charged participants to return to their various organizations with a security consciousness that goes beyond dedicated Architecture for Hardware, Applications, and Storage to Virtualized Architecture for Security, Applications, and Storage. “Let us transit from Local storage to Local Data center and Cloud storage. Most importantly, we must develop Centralized security management via IP to deal with the present security challenges in our organizations, agencies and communities.”
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