Category: Industry Expertise

Embracing New Technology in Physical Security

Posted on January 12, 2025 by - Industry Expertise

Companies moving to the Cloud

As companies reflect on the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent changes to business operations, the maturity and effectiveness of physical security infrastructure and data has become imperative to a successful transition to remote and hybrid work models. In particular, Cloud-based software solutions have proven critical to maintaining a strong security posture as travel and resourcing constraints limit the ability to monitor and manage security operations in-person.

Cloud-based security software that gives organizations the ability to access and control camera systems, monitor video feeds, conduct maintenance tasks, evaluate system health, and perform updates to firmware/software from remote locations have been identified as must-haves for maturing security organizations.

“While many physical security departments were hesitant to consider cloud-connected solutions in the past, they now better understand the benefits these solutions bring and how it can help them to better utilize their resources to achieve their respective business goals while minimizing their overall operational complexity.”

Answers from more than 2,000 security leaders give insight as to how the physical security industry is changing, with more movement towards the Cloud and an increase in investing in upgrades to legacy and/or disparate access control systems. A recent Genetec State of the Industry report (https://resources.genetec.com/en-infographics/state-of-physical-security-2021) showed that 45% of large companies (those with more than 1,000 employees) have already adopted cloud solutions. An impressive 94% of survey respondents stated plans to deploy Cloud or hybrid-cloud solutions for their long term plans, a major increase from 2020 when 26% of those surveyed said they began implementing their cloud journey. 35% of respondents said the pandemic directly accelerated or triggered their Cloud strategy.

Christian Morin, Vice-President, Product Engineering and CSO at Genetec Inc, stated, “While many physical security departments were hesitant to consider cloud-connected solutions in the past, they now better understand the benefits these solutions bring and how it can help them to better utilize their resources to achieve their respective business goals while minimizing their overall operational complexity.”

Duty of Care – Whose Duty is it to Care?

Posted on January 12, 2025 by - Industry Expertise

Duty of Care is a broad term that encompasses some of the most important responsibilities a business can take on today. It might sound foreign, or even a bit vague, but duty of care is an element every workplace has to consider on a constant basis. With many workplace norms changing in the wake of the pandemic, the conversation around whose duty it is to care continues to be up for debate, even if the protections it offers should never be.

Taking the Physical Security Ecosystem Approach to Access Control

Posted on January 12, 2025 by - Industry Expertise

As a Security Director, I spent a lot of time seeking a single solution that would fulfill all my physical security operational needs — like bending an access control system (ACS) a bit to perform functions outside of its scope and attempting to build custom integrations for video management systems (VMS) – all to create some additional efficiencies. 

Reducing Noise the Right Way

Posted on January 12, 2025 by - Industry Expertise, Tips & Tricks

“Noise” in a global security operations center (GSOC) refers to the numerous alarms coming in for operators to analyze and address. Amongst this “noise” are legitimate security alerts that need to be addressed immediately, crowded by completely false alarms triggered by faulty sensors, environmental factors (wind, rain, animals), and user error. When left unaddressed this noise problem can result in system overload, compromised security, high operator turnover, and complacency. 

Physical and Cyber Security Teams Still Need a Cohesive Vision

Posted on January 12, 2025 by - Industry Expertise

It’s not a secret that physical and cyber security teams are still operating in completely different spheres. And in many regards, cybersecurity protocols are lightyears ahead of the game.

It’s difficult for companies to combine the physical and cyber security efforts of their teams. According to a Nemertes Research study from February 2022, only 10.3% of organizations cited the two coming together at any level. This means that in almost 90% of companies, the two departments are separate. And this can be dangerous. Plus, another Nemertes Research IoT study found that 86.3% of participants reported using networked intelligent devices for physical security in 2021.

“As physical security becomes increasingly dependent on intelligent devices, it’s the cybersecurity team that develops the best practices and policies for managing and securing them,” the same study says. To provide maximum protection today for your people, assets, facilities, and brand, your cybersecurity (both IT and network security) and your physical security systems need to share data and communicate effectively.

PSIM is out. Fusion is in.

Posted on January 12, 2025 by - Industry Expertise

In a global security operations center (GSOC), operators are making decisions about the safety and wellbeing of assets and people. A lot of the challenges across security programs involve many of these decisions being made reactively, which can cause burnout and fatigue among operators and set security programs back from getting to the root cause of emerging threats. 

It’s Time for Physical Security & IT to Come Together

Posted on January 12, 2025 by - Industry Expertise

Taking a new approach to anything is never easy. For so long, security decisions were made by security leaders; but as the lines blur between IT and physical security, and as more security devices need to find a home on the network, it’s crucial for all stakeholders to work alongside both departments.

This means you have to speak IT. Which for some security leaders can seem like a significant learning curve. But think about this, the same challenges you face are the same challenges they face: siloed systems, information management, and risk identification and mitigation. As both departments merge, there is more information than ever to learn how to speak each other’s language (you too, IT.) Here are the ways we encourage both parties to get on the same page.

Security Doesn’t Scale!

Posted on January 12, 2025 by - Industry Expertise

Security doesn’t scale!   

Now before you get offended and stop reading, consider where we are as an industry today and how much we’ve evolved over the past 5, 10, 15, 50 years. Sure, there has been great innovation across certain products:

  • Camera resolution is higher than ever, at a price point that security leaders probably couldn’t have fathomed fifteen years ago. Today, cameras are essentially IP computers that perform advanced edge processing and analytics. 
  • Analytics have progressed from being a buzzword thrown around to actually delivering on many of its promises.
  • Organizations are continuing to replace their analog camera fleets with new IP technology, albeit at an alarmingly slow rate.
  • Facial recognition, object detection & classification, biometrics, drones, counter-drone, access control, tailgate detection, weapon detection, gunshot detection, aggression detection…and the list goes on. 

Yet, with all the amazing product and technological innovation our industry has seen, we haven’t resolved a core problem. Security doesn’t scale.

Reducing Noise in Security Operations Centers

Posted on January 12, 2025 by - Industry Expertise, Tips & Tricks

For so many of us, the picture in our minds when we discuss security operations centers or command centers is the photo of numerous operators with multiple screens, a massive video wall and a chaotic response happening in real-time. The reality for the majority of businesses is a bit different; however, there is still an element of chaos in many SOCs that can give rise to confusion and misinformation.