Security Flaws Found On Campuses Across Nation
The University of Washington devised a plan six years ago to protect students and faculty after a struggling medical resident shot to death his mentor, then killed himself.
A new safety team would be alerted to all threats. It would move potential victims to a new dorm or office, assign them police protection or take steps such as changing their phone numbers.
In March, when university employee Rebecca Griego told supervisors and campus police that her former boyfriend had threatened her in two recent calls to her office, no one told the safety team.
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Acquisition Pushes Cisco Further Into Surveillance
Terrorists, vandals and other villains skulking in the shadows should take note of Cisco Systems' recent acquisition of BroadWare Technologies, financial community observers have pointed out.
The BroadWare deal, while small in dollars, highlights the rising demand for companies that make video surveillance gear. Driving that trend is the confluence of Homeland security concerns in the U.S. and the spread of sophisticated security networks based on Internet technologies.
In 2006, for example, following the lead of London and other cities around the world that use high-tech tools to monitor vital infrastructure, New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority signed a $212 million contract with Lockheed Martin for the defense contractor to develop a video surveillance system to monitor the city's subways, bridges and tunnels. Other cities, such as Cleveland, Dallas and Akron, Ohio, plan similar projects.
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Lawmaker Seeks Change In California RFID Laws
Attempting to prevent a potential clash between privacy rights and the latest technological advances, a Palo Alto lawmaker is trying to dissuade the California government, schools and private businesses from tracking people through the use of radio frequency identification technology such as electronic cards and implanted devices.
A legislative package of four measures by Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, was introduced in an Assembly committee on June 18, according to the San Jose Mercury News. The measures would prohibit an employer from implanting tiny ID chips in workers, block RFID technology from being embedded in driver's licenses, prohibit schools from issuing ID cards to track student attendance and make it a misdemeanor to skim identification cards - a method by which identity thieves secretly read the cards of unsuspecting people and clone new versions.
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IT Professionals Losing Database Security, Study Says
Databases are among the most widely deployed, complex, and fastest growing technologies in corporate infrastructures, according to Dark Reading, a security news source for enterprise IT and network security professionals. Stocked with vast amounts of business-critical, sensitive records, they're now the focal point in highly-damaging data breaches. It's a safe bet that perpetrators will target databases even more in the days ahead.
Yet, as businesses rush to provide real-time information flow inside and outside their organizations, database security remains one of the least understood and most under-funded aspects of corporate security -- and IT is yelling for help.
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Security Technology Needs Human Guidance
Diverse, accurate methods for detecting bomb material and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are entering the marketplace, but even when fully automated or integrated with each other, these technologies offer little protection without personnel trained to think like the adversary, say industry and research experts.
"The advances we're seeing in detection technologies are impressive, and it's an area where people are trying to fully automate the process, but, at the end of the day, security is human-based," says Amotz Brandes, a former Israeli soldier and currently director and managing partner of Chameleon Associates, Canoga Park, Calif., a security consulting firm.
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NCTA Convention Shows Intelligence And Risk
A lineup of government and business security experts warned attendees at the North Carolina Technology Association's "Five Pillars" conference that competitors, foreign agents and even disgruntled employees pose serious risks to keeping trade secrets safe.
The conference's goal, according to News 14, Cary N.C., was to bring businesses together with the intelligence community. It's a partnership the NCTA hopes will offer ways to protect valuable assets.
"An example is an e-mail sent from another country which has a program in an attachment that once it's open, it can draw information from that company," says Nathan Gray, FBI Special Agent in Charge.
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"Street View" -- Illegal Or Annoying?
Google's Street View stunned many with its photos of the unsuspecting, from a man climbing a front gate to another walking out of a strip club, but it's hardly the first time the company has compiled a massive database of material that some would want to remain private -- and that raises security issues.
Street View is a map that allows users to zoom down to street level, viewing 360-degree panoramic photos and they stroll through town one mouse click at a time. Like so many technologies, it began as something useful for military purposes before people saw a more general use -- or potential abuse, say in the case of a criminal that might use it to choose a possible target.
But now with Google serving up images from the sky with Google Earth, creating street-level images with Street View and tracking customer behavior in cyberspace, some are starting to ask: how much is enough? ...
Proposal Standardizes Video Analytics For Loss Prevention
In order to boost the effectiveness of retail loss prevention and to improve the in-store customer experience, Cisco submitted a proposal to standardize how computers describe surveillance video for image analysis to the Association for Retail Technology Standards (ARTS), a division of the National Retail Federation. A group of retailers asked Cisco to work with them to develop a consistent way to access video analytic metadata from various vendors.
Video surveillance has traditionally been used in retail for loss prevention. With the aid of computer processing and analysis of video, retailers can further enhance loss prevention efforts and better understand customer behaviors, as well as improve the customer experience.
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Lockheed Martin Opens Biometrics Center
Lockheed Martin opened the Biometric Experimentation and Advanced Concepts (BEACON) center in White Hall, W. Va., to serve as a collaborative center for the corporation, its customers, academia and other industry partners to develop integrated biometrics solutions for both current and future initiatives.
"Biometric technology offers great promise for the future, especially in initiatives that are important to the security of our nation," says Judy Marks, president of Lockheed Martin Transportation and Security Solutions. "Research and development is key to realizing this type of technology's full potential."
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Security Appliances Market Growth Expected
Research and Markets has announced the addition of "Worldwide Security Appliance Market: What Businesses are Buying and Why" to their offering.
Security appliances are an integral part of the noisy and crowded network security market. Over the last several quarters, two key trends are impacting the overall security market. One is the integration of security into underlying equipment and infrastructure. Another is the continuing cost and complexity of managing security in a multi-vendor, multi-product environment, which many believe will open the door for managed security services from trusted brands.
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Cisco And Microsoft Executives To Present At Conference
The Security Standard conference brings together senior corporate, security and IT professionals to examine how to develop an effective security strategy that can advance overall business needs and goals of an organization. The second annual conference, which will be held Sept. 10-11, 2007, in Chicago at the Fairmont Hotel, will feature keynotes from Cisco Systems' executives and a Microsoft security executive.
A special Thought Leaders' Roundtable on Sept. 10 will feature Cisco's security pros discussing the changing threat landscape. The roundtable participants will include Cisco executives Richard Palmer, senior vice president of the security technology group; Jeff Platon, vice president and CMO of the security and application networking group; and Scott Weiss, co- founder and CEO of IronPort Systems. ...
Plans For A Fla.-Based Security Training Campus
A proposed $100 million facility envisioned as an extensive security training center has targeted 3,000 acres in Charlotte County, Fla., for a university-style campus with such areas as gun ranges, caves, tunnels and a watercraft assault lake.
The center would train FBI, CIA, military and local and state law enforcement officers -- turning even private security guards into GI Joes able to protect ports, refineries and other vulnerable areas in the United States.
Millions of dollars in federal contracts are up for grabs for the proposed center, named The Grove.
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Still Time To Nominate The 2007 Security Director of the Year!
Each year, we honor one outstanding security director who best exemplifies the qualities that every security director should strive to acquire. He or she is a person who embodies technology and business leadership, inspires employees and demonstrates unparalleled devotion to advancing the security of his or her organization.
If you know someone who fits that description, there is still time to nominate him or her for the honor.
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Companies
Mergers & Acquisitions Verizon Business, has agreed to acquire Cybertrust, Herndon, Va., a privately-held provider of global information security services....
From The Field
HEALTH CARE How Potomac Hospital Ensures Network Security Potomac Hospital in Woodbridge, Va., has selected SonicWALL's network security, secure wireless,...
Businesses Not Prepared For Disaster, Says Study
Despite another year filled with hard-lessons learned from tornadoes, floods and fires, 30 percent of businesses across the country are still not prepared for the worst-case scenario, according to AT&T's annual study on business continuity and disaster recovery preparedness for U.S. businesses in the private sector.
Key findings from the 2007 AT&T Business Continuity Study include:
Of the 10 cities surveyed this year, businesses in New York ranked first in terms of being the most prepared for natural and man-made disasters, and businesses in Cleveland came in last. ...
In Search Of Answers About Campus Security
Many schools and universities are looking for better ways to get the word out to students and others on their campuses when an incident occurs. On large campuses such as Virginia Tech, which has more than 26,000 students, it is unlikely that any one method of sending out news will reach everybody. Some students may be in classrooms, others may be napping in their residence halls; some may be strolling across campus; others may be hunkered down in the library for uninterrupted study.
Among the systems that schools around the nation are using or considering are ones that can deliver messages by intercom, telephone, computer or wireless devices. Using a variety of delivery methods, a school is more likely to get the message out in ways that students are accustomed to using. ...
Airport Security Prevalent This Summer Travel Season
As the busy summer travel season begins, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) reminds travelers to be prepared and plan ahead for security. Passenger preparedness for the security process can have a significant impact on wait times at the checkpoint.
Officials from TSA, airports and major airlines anticipate high numbers of passengers between Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends. TSA is prepared for summer travel and is working with aviation industry partners to ensure a high level of security and customer service for travelers. ...
NASCO Hosts Security Summit
The National Association of Security Companies (NASCO), the nation's largest contract-security trade association representing firms employing nearly 450,000 security officers, held the 2nd Annual NASCO Annual Contract Security Summit Hill Day in Washington, D.C., May 15-16.
Developed to facilitate networking among contract security executives and their federal counterparts, the two-day program brought together more than 75 CEOs, presidents, vice presidents and owners from national and regional contract security companies with Congressional leaders, representatives from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Service (CJIS). ...
Expo Seguridad Mexico Celebrates Fifth Anniversary
Expo Seguridad Mexico 2007 celebrated its fifth anniversary April 24-26, 2007 at Centro Banamex in Mexico City with three days of new technology, more than 50 international experts offering 80 specialized seminars, an increased number of exhibitors and attendees and a gala dinner commemorating the milestone.
Expo Seguridad Mexico, Latin America's premier electronic security event, consistently draws important decision makers in the public and private sectors and generates tremendous leads and referrals for exhibitors....
Webinar Hosts Panel of Video Analytics Experts
"It's not just for military or government anymore, it's a usable business tool."
The topic was video analytics, and with that comment, moderator Larry Anderson, editor of Access Control & Security Systems magazine, launched a webinar to provide helpful information to users of the technology.
Access Control & Security Systems magazine teamed up with Verint Systems, a supplier of networked video solutions, to present a webinar to video analytics enthusiasts and end-users on May 15. With a panel of four speakers, the webinar addressed topics ranging from analytics' market view, to trends, adoption and education, to an integrator's view and solutions for today. The session is still available on demand at securitysolutions.com
The panel included Larry Anderson, editor of Access Control & Security Systems; Mariann McDonagh, vice president of global marketing for Verint Systems; Mark Moscinski, vice president of SD-I and Chris Taylor; national accounts director for Verint Systems....
Security Platform Offered for U.S. Chemical Industry
ARINC Inc., Annapolis, plans to unveil an integrated security platform targeted to the current and future needs of U.S. chemical facilities. The solution expands on ARINC's expertise, spanning over 25 years, in supplying 10 CFR 73.55-compliant security systems to Nuclear Regulatory Commission Licensee facilities.
ARINC is cooperating with two other technology providers, BroadWare Inc., Santa Clara, Calif., and Hirsch Electronics, Santa Ana, Calif., to demonstrate a set of integrated, field-proven security technologies for the chemical industry at the Chemical Sector Security Summit, June 11-13, Booth #9, at the Fairview Park Marriott in Falls Church, Va. The companies have formed an open consortium -- the Open Standards Security Alliance -- to move the U.S. chemical facilities security industry toward open standards.
The Department of Homeland Security has recognized that chemical facilities require regulation and compliance standards similar to those that ensure security for the nation's nuclear facilities. The platform at Booth #9 will include command and control, intrusion detection, video surveillance, access control and biometric integration....
Awareness Increases About Identity Issues
The Smart Card Alliance Identity Council provided education on and increased awareness of identity issues and technologies in its first year, focusing particularly on new government initiatives REAL ID and the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI). The Council has announced its accomplishments for the last year, plans for the upcoming year and newly elected officers and steering committee members, including chair Neville Pattinson, vice president of government affairs and standards for Gemalto North America, Arlington, Va.
"I am proud to be elected chair of a council that addresses the need for trusted and secure identities, a topic critical for citizens, governments and enterprises today," says Pattinson. "I look forward to working with the Smart Card Alliance and participating organizations to educate and campaign for solutions that enhance privacy and the security of identity information."...
Tri-Ed's Access Training Offers New Opportunities
In addition to Tri-Ed's national training initiative (its Master's Training Program which comes complete with state and/or national accreditation), the independent distributor continues to offer other specialized training events at its many branch locations. One example is the Keri/Rutherford Controls Access Control training seminar held recently at Tri-Ed's Pennsauken, N.J. branch.
The program included instruction on how to install Rutherford Controls door strikes and electromagnetic locks courtesy of Bob Chartrand of BCA Sales. Joe Lee of Keri also delivered to participants a comprehensive overview of the Keri product line. ...
Study Shows Businesses Lack Adequate Security
According to a new study commissioned by Scott & Scott, LLP, Dallas, and conducted by privacy and information management research firm the Ponemon Institute, Traverse City, Mich., 85 percent of businesses have experienced a data security breach. Despite the frequency of such security failures, 46 percent of businesses failed to implement encryption solutions even after suffering a data breach, and 82 percent did not seek legal counsel prior to responding to the incident despite having no prior response plan in place.
The survey, entitled The Business Impact of Data Breach, examines the responses of more than 700 U.S.-based C-level executives, managers and IT security officers in mid-size to large businesses spanning all industries. Analysis of the results shows that businesses are struggling to implement the proper policies and controls required to prepare for and mitigate the legal, regulatory, and financial risks associated with a security failure. In addition, many businesses may be discounting the long-term threat to customer retention and corporate reputation....
