“The role of the new regional office is to support Pelco’s customers in Australasia and the Pacific,” says Pelco’s Terry Yallouris. Yallouris says the regional office will also focus on the introduction of a bigger portfolio of products, including important new digital IP solutions from the Endura range. There will also be new fibre optic products, a range of explosion-proof cameras and a new generation of Spectra domes. “Along with this we’ll have the new SIMD camera based on Pixim technology which gives a higher dynamic range for superior performance in difficult back light,” Yallouris explains. Pelco’s regional office, which will be located on the Sydney city fringe, will devote itself to technical support, training and brand awareness, as well as incorporating a showroom to display some of the company’s products. With Pelco’s total CCTV portfolio numbering many thousands, the local office will have plenty of new gear to choose from.
Assa Abloy Snaps Up Rfid Patents
This includes a large number of radio frequency identification (RFID) transponder technology patents. The most important patents acquired by ITG regard the embedding of insulated electrical wire into synthetic materials, which has significant implications for the manufacturing of RFID transponders and contactless cards. Applications of this technology include electronic passports, contactless payments and animal identification.
Jvc Offers 540 Lines
The range includes the low voltage TK-C920E(A) colour / monochrome camera, the TK-C921EG(A) (AC 220 – 240V) colour / monochrome camera, the TK-C205E(A) colour/monochrome dome camera and the new TK-C625E mini-dome PTZ camera.
Koslowski Guilty Of Stealing From Tyco: Faces 25 Years
The jury rendered guilty verdicts for both Dennis Kozlowski and former Tyco CFO Mark Swartz after 11 days of deliberations. Kozlowski — convicted of grand larceny, securities fraud and eight of nine counts of falsifying business records on June 17— faces 25 years in prison during an Aug. 2 sentencing. Tyco, the parent company of such Tyco Fire and Security properties as ADT and Simplex Grinnell, has steadily recovered from debts built up by Kozlowski through a program of restructuring. That has included the divestment of several security properties including Sonitrol, National Alarm Computer Center (NACC) and Tri-Ed Distribution. In a statement, Tyco spokesman David Polk said the company has left the Kozlowski era behind. “As the victim of the crimes that were prosecuted, Tyco has worked closely with the District Attorney’s Office,” Polk said. “Tyco will continue to pursue its own civil actions against Mr. Kozlowski and other former company officials.” Kozlowski became Tyco CEO in July 1992 after serving as the company’s COO since 1989. At the time, Tyco was only in the fire protection and large valve markets. That changed in July 1997 after Tyco merged with ADT and built up its fire and security division.
Sandia Builds Fire Detection Model
A project to improve the false alarm rate and to standardize the certification of fire detection systems in cargo compartments of commercial aircraft is underway with major participation by Sandia National Laboratories, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and NASA Glenn Research Center. Sandia’s role in the project was to develop a physics-based Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model to analyze smoke transport in cargo compartments. The FAA and other regulatory agencies throughout the world require that cargo compartments on passenger-carrying aircraft be equipped with fire detection systems. Unfortunately, a false alarm for a cargo compartment detection system is estimated to occur 100 times more frequently than an alarm due to an actual fire source. This often results in emergency diversion landings that are costly and that may needlessly compromise the safety of the flight. Current regulations require that the detection systems alarm within one minute of the start of a fire. Flight tests are required to certify detection systems and demonstrate compliance with these regulations. Due to the high costs of flight tests, extensive ground tests are typically conducted to ensure that the detection system will meet requirements during the flight tests. Lou Gritzo, Sandia’s Manager of Fire Sciences, says “The overall objective was to create a model that would help minimize false alarms in cargo compartments of commercial aircraft by assisting in the design and certification of new detection systems. Current detection systems are prone to alarm from various sources such as dust and humidity and are inaccessible by crewmembers for inspection during flight.” Gritzo says new detection systems will likely be multi-criteria detectors, which will be less prone to false alarms since they will require sensing and then comparison of two or more aspects of a fire’s signature (i.e., heat, particulate, combustion gases) before alarming. Work on the model was primarily conducted by Sandia researcher Jill Suo-Anttila, project manager, Walt Gill and Stefan Domino, Sandia senior staff members, and Carlos Gallegos, team member. The CFD model couples heat, mass, and momentum transfer phenomena in cargo compartment fires. The fire source term is specified in the model based on FAA measurements of the heat release rate, mass loss rate, and particulate and gas species generation rates of the newly developed standardized fire source. The model provides information on the transport of particulate and combustion gases in cargo compartments with varying fire and sensor locations, compartment geometry, ventilation, loading, compartment temperature, and compartment pressure. Suo-Anttila says the smoke transport model has the potential to enhance the detection system design and certification process by determining worst case locations for fires, optimum placement of fire detector sensors within the cargo compartment, and sensor alarm levels needed to achieve detection within the required certification time. The model is also expected to decrease the time and cost of the certification process by reducing the total number of both in-flight and ground experiments. The model was verified and validated using full-scale FAA experimental data. It is fast running and user-friendly to allow a large number of simulations to be run by individuals who are not CFD experts. The alpha version of the transport code was released in November 2004, and user suggestions are being collected for improvement. The next release is scheduled for later this year. The computational model and the standardized fire source are two aspects of an overall project to standardize the requirements for cargo compartment fire detection systems and to provide guidelines for more efficient design and certification of multi-sensor systems that are less susceptible to false alarms.
Internal Attacks Dog Banks
About 35 per cent of respondents confirmed encountering attacks from inside their organization within the last 12 months (up from 14 percent in 2004) compared to 26 percent from external sources (up from 23 percent in 2004).
The third annual Global Security Survey acts as global benchmark for DTT and its member firms for the state of IT security in the financial sector and consisted of interviews with senior security officers from the world’s top 100 global financial institutions.
Phishing and pharming (luring people to disclose sensitive information by using bogus emails and websites) are two new additions to the top security threats financial institutions faced in the past year, underscoring the human factor as a new and growing weakness in the security chain.
The trend shift from external to internal attacks and tactics that exploit human behavior vs. technological loopholes is explained by the improved utilization of IT security technologies, mainly by the increased use of anti-virus solutions (98 percent vs. 87 percent in 2004), Virtual Private Networks (79 percent vs. 75 percent) and content filtering and monitoring (76 percent vs. 60 percent in 2004).
“Financial institutions have made great progress in deploying technological solutions to protect themselves from direct external threats, however the rise and increased sophistication of attacks that target customers, and internal attacks, indicate that there are new threats that have to be addressed,” says Adel Melek, a partner in the Canadian member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and Global Leader of IT Risk Management & Security Services within Deloitte’s Global Financial Services Industry practice. “Strong customer authentication, training and increased awareness can play a significant role in narrowing this gap.”
However, as survey results show, security training and awareness have yet to top the agenda of Chief Information Security Officers (CISO), as less than half (46 percent) of respondents have training and awareness initiatives scheduled for the next 12 months.
Training and awareness was at the bottom of the security initiatives list, far behind regulatory compliance (74 percent) and reporting and measurement (61 percent). These findings also align with financial institutions’ future investment plans in security, with the most money targeted for security tools (64 percent), compared to only 15 percent for employee awareness and training. There are very few financial institutions that have any plans for customer security awareness.
“In an attempt to minimize the human risk factor, financial institutions have been focusing on enterprise-wide solutions,” says Ted DeZabala, a principal in the security services group of Deloitte & Touche LLP. “With threats such as identity theft, phishing and pharming on the rise, organizations should be implementing identity management solutions, encompassing access, vulnerability, patch and security event management. These solutions should be augmented by security training and awareness if organizations are to minimize the number of human behavioural threats.”
“In the U.S.,” continues DeZabala, “the incidents of security breaches increased slightly over last year. Clearly, continued vigilance is needed to meet and exceed the requirements and truly protect corporate data from security threats.”
Regional Differences
Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) According to the survey, EMEA has the highest number of financial institutions that have formulated an information security strategy (89 percent), greater than any other region. EMEA has also the highest rate (83 percent) of adoption of security standards such as ISO 17799.
Asia Pacific (APAC) APAC has the highest number of respondents (42 percent) indicating that security is recognized at the C-suite and board level as being critical to the business. For the second year, the region also maintained its lead with almost three quarters (72 percent) of respondents having their employees receive awareness and training on security and privacy. Latin America and the Caribbean Eighty-six (86) percent of respondents from this region have not implemented a program for managing privacy compliance. Additionally, close to 100 percent did not perform an inventory of personal information and only slightly more than half (57 percent) tracked loss of data. Canada Half of Canadian respondents acknowledged that they have experienced some form of information security breach — the highest rate of all regions. On the flip side, with privacy and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance driving regulatory initiatives in Canada, the majority of respondents (78 percent) indicated they have both the commitment of management and the adequate funding to address these requirements. United States Eighty-three (83) percent of U.S. CISOs interviewed confirmed they have adequate funding and commitment to meet regulatory requirements, the highest rate among all regions. Financial institutions in the U.S. also lead the pack with the highest percentage of organizations (76 percent) who delivered at least one security awareness and training session to employees in the past 12 months. Additional Key Findings of the Survey: * While close to half (48 percent) of respondents perceive lack of employee awareness as one of their top challenges, security training and awareness measurements implemented in the past 12 months declined from 77 percent in the previous survey to 65 percent this year. * Almost three-quarters (74 percent) of respondents outsource at least one IT function, but (27 percent) do not conduct regular assessments of the security outsourcer’s compliance with security requirements. * While 86 percent of organizations with a CISO indicated that this function reports directly to the board or to the C-suite, only about one-third of the organizations interviewed feel that security has been similarly recognized as a critical area of business. * Unrealistic timelines and budgets (56 percent) topped respondents’ list of common reasons for security project failures, followed by integration problems due to poor up-front design and architecture (48 percent) and lack of buy-in from business owners (34 percent).
Axis Picks It Partner In Uk
Axis Communications already has a highly successful partnership with advanced networking and communications solutions provider Azlan, also part of the Tech Data Group. The market for IP-Surveillance has compound annual growth of roughly 30 per cent. IP-Surveillance market is ideal for SMEs looking to optimise their networking resources and minimise ongoing maintenance and management costs. The market is now moving from early adopter phase (primarily in schools and retail firms) into the mainstream market. Firms dissatisfied with the quality and costs involved in maintaining and extending traditional CCTV systems are now turning to IP-Surveillance systems in large numbers. Others are looking to use the technology to address compliance, security, efficiency, quality control and/or marketing requirements. General manager of the networking business unit, at Computer 2000, Lee Perkins, said: “IP surveillance is a very exciting market and is ideal for networking resellers looking to optimise their existing skills and develop new and profitable revenue streams. “We know that many of our resellers would like the opportunity to develop their business in this market – this agreement presents them with that opportunity and we’ll be doing all we can in the coming weeks to make it as easy as possible for them to do just that.” Dominic Bruning, managing director, Axis Communications UK Limited, commented: “Our long-standing, strong and dedicated commitment to the channel through the AXIS Partner Programme1 and now the AXIS Training Academy has been rewarded with this important partnership with one of the most important distributors in the UK and Ireland. It is now high-time that network integrators and resellers looked seriously at this market, it offers massive growth potential.”
U.S. Property Crime Rate Lowest In 8 Years: Fbi
Violent crimes also saw a dip in 2004 for the third consecutive year, while arson-related fires continued to show a sharp drop according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report. Property crimes, which include burglaries and car theft, were down 1.8 percent in 2004 according to the FBI after seeing either an increase or a slight decrease over the last three years. Burglaries were down 1.4 percent, with all regions showing a substantial decrease except for the West, which saw a 0.9-percent increase in burglaries. Violent crimes, which include robberies, murders and forcible rape, were down 1.7 percent for the year. There were 3.6-percent fewer robberies in 2004, with the South seeing more than a five-percent drop. Arsons were down 6.8 percent.
New Aussie Access Control Solution Released
AXEZE proprietary system allows one tag to access to hundreds of sites anywhere in the world. Available in either industry standard Weigand or Axeze proprietary systems Axeze is easily integrated into home automation, lighting, aged care or security product. The Axeze Network System is designed so that regardless of the size of the project, its modular design and distributed processing power ensure that clients are only paying for what they need. The Axeze network system has been designed so that every access point, interface or I/O board is a single module that connects directly to a RS485 network. No need to purchase master controllers, expansion boards or 4 door controllers with features you may not need. Each module has all the processing power and information needed for its intended task without having to rely on resources of other modules on a network. No matter how big the system is or how busy the site, the response times remain constant with all access requests handled at the access point rather than placing reliance on small number devices creating a bottleneck and slowing down response times. This process prevents breakdown in communication or hardware failure, which could cripple an entire system. The distributed intelligence ensures that if the network did breakdown, each controller is able to continue controlling its access point, validating cards (tags) and maintaining its own log of events which can be up-loaded to the monitoring software once the system is back on line. Axeze’s single controller approach ensures Axeze customers can see a per-access-point-cost not visible with other systems. The price of any additional access point with the Axeze system is just the cost of the single door controller, no hidden costs and never an expansion board. This makes quoting easy and allows the customer to see a linear relationship between number of access points and cost of the system. Axeze IO boards allow clients to take control of the Lights, Air conditioners, Garden Sprinklers, Fountains, Alarms, CCTV cameras or any other utilities making the most use of other systems installed at the site whilst saving energy. By taking full advantage of the basic automation features of the Axeze system, installers can use “trigger actions” based on system events such as door forced, door left open, authorised access request, first person in, last person out. The Axeze system will respond to and process external inputs such as intercom door release, break glass sensor, or react according to the day and time You can integrate Axeze access control events to provide a higher level of automation or into existing automation systems using one of Axeze many high level interfaces. Axeze provides high level interfaces to 3rd party systems including alarms, automation and paging systems used to notify other systems of access control events helping you to make the most use of all systems installed at your site. Axeze Tags use an 80-bit unique identification number programmed at manufacture, providing 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 unique codes. All cards (tags) are pre-programmed at the manufacturing plant and Axeze controllers only accept “read only” cards. This ensures that copied cards will not be accepted by the system enhancing security. The Axeze tags are so secure that many car manufactures are using the same chips in their keys as a part of the ignition system replacing the easily copied key. The cost of the tags is sometimes an issue so Axeze interfaces with Weigand systems to ensure that economically priced access control cards can be used. Where clients want a higher level of security the Axeze proprietary system takes over. Distributed processing means each controller at each access point is capable of completely monitoring and controlling all inputs and card (tag) presentations which occur at the access point. This makes the system very powerful whether it is on-line with the Network Monitoring software granting access and recording events or off-line where all access and event logging is processed at the access point by the controller. So even if the network is cut or becomes busy the functionality and reliability of the Axeze Keyless Entry system is never compromised. The distributed nature of the system also makes the system very scalable and cost affective as each module is not dependent on other modules or the resources of a central controller, and there is no need for expander modules as each controller is uniquely addressed on a RS485 network. So it does not matter if you want to monitor 1 or 10,000 access points the software and hardware is the same and you only buy the number of controllers you need. The beauty of the isolation of each controller, network and even each system is that installation can be done in stages without affecting other components in the system and clients don’t have to pay for large control units with functionality they will never use. The flexibility of the Axeze network allows any combination of up to 62 modules per network. If a site grows beyond 62 modules, simply add another network converter to expand the system a further 62 modules. The monitoring software seamlessly links up to 32 networks. If at a later stage more access points, a new interface or more I/O is required all previous hardware remains and the additional module is just added to the network. This makes the Axeze system very easy to expand install and quote and it is fully upgradable. More than 1800 access points can be handled by an Axeze system. The Axeze network system has been designed so that every access point, interface or I/O board is a single module that connects directly to a RS485 network. No need to purchase expensive master controllers, expansion boards or 4 door controllers with features you may not need. A mixture of standalone and network systems or a mixture of Weigand and Axeze is available for all sites. This makes it easy for a retrofit when someone wants to upgrade a site. A Graphic User Interface enables further modularity and flexibility by allowing building owners, security and site managers to monitor and manage any Axeze network system across the Internet or Intranet using a fully encrypted password protected TCP/IP interface. This allows installers to set up complete isolation for isolated floors, multiple tenancies or separate sites such that users of one system are unable to see or modify the information on any other system and any failure of one system would not affect other systems The KEN-Mon software allows the end user to control their system, no complex programming codes or need to call out an installer to add a new card. The familiar Windows look and feel allows the average computer user to add and update information easily and quickly. By utilising the hardware of the PC, the monitoring software allows more complex TCP/IP interfaces and full zone control over multiple networks. The Axeze Controller, with its own Real Time Clock and unrestricted time zones, is capable of handling 1000 cards and 1000 events at each access point. These are actual time logged events, and do not include system checking and other irrelevant information. This means that when the system is offline it will be able to keep track of times for the logging of events and time restricted access control. Online the number of users and events is only limited by computer hardware. Facilities managers and the like are able to fully administer all User and Access permission’s, view current and previous access control events, program system outputs events and track a cardholder’s movement. The power of the KEN-Mon software allows those 32 networks to seamlessly link a network of up to 1984 modules. For more information contact Axeze on 61-8-83408200.
Ge Completes Visiowave Buyout
“VisioWave’s technology, customer relationships and industry insight fit well with our business and will help our customers accelerate improvements in their security infrastructure,” said Louis Parker, COO, GE Infrastructure, Security. “We view digital video networks as a critical component for fully integrated intelligent security platforms. VisioWave focuses on customers’ business needs, which enables them to create a compelling value proposition.” VisioWave focuses on the security market (intelligent CCTV, video surveillance and monitoring) and also has an expertise in media applications such as multimedia intranets, corporate TV or information broadcasting. VisioWave offers a comprehensive range of solutions for applications that require the integrated transmission, management, analysis and storage of extremely high-quality digital video. Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, VisioWave employs approximately 90 designers and sales professionals. The company has subsidiaries or sales & support offices in the US, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy and Hong Kong.
