Traka drives forward discussions on distribution post-COVID

Traka has launched a downloadable White Paper in order to highlight the significance of the logistics sector during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and through the recovery period.

Presenting the dramatic rise of the sector in the pandemic to meet demands to link goods with people like never before, the White Paper (entitled ‘Moving Forward for Distribution and Logistics’) is now available at https://systems.traka.com/white-paper/distribution

Posing the question: ‘How can the logistics sector maximise its new found prominence and proven ability to keep the UK economy moving in a post-COVID world?’, the White Paper explores the unprecedented growth during extended lockdowns and the challenges faced by the industry as it looks to move forward.

Lee Payne, market development manager for Traka UK and author of the White Paper, informed Security Matters: “At no time in the history of the logistics sector has it faced such a unique set of circumstances than those created during the pandemic. COVID-19 has changed the supply chain’s future course and given it an unexpected prominence as a vital element to economic success.”

Payne continued: “In this White Paper, we explore how COVID-19 heightened the UK’s dependence on the industry. Arguably, without it operating efficiently, scaling up quickly and investing in technology, the lockdown periods would have been even more difficult to navigate. Going forward, demand is likely to continue and logistics is well placed to contribute towards the UK’s sustainable economic recovery.”

Pace of change

The White Paper draws on the pace of change in consumer spending patterns and increasing reliance on online shopping. It cites how the distribution and logistics sector, backed by Logistics UK, was quick to respond and transform the way in which it worked.

With the recovery period in operation, the White Paper continues to suggest that, in maintaining success, there’s a need for greater innovation and technology integration.

Included is the suggestion that distribution and logistics companies that embrace the ideals of efficiency tools such as asset management could instantly optimise performance and control and monitor all physical processes as well as reduce the likelihood of human error. All contribute towards lasting social, economic and environmental benefits as part of the UK’s economic recovery.

Payne went on to comment: “Against all the challenges posed by COVID-19, logistics workers were seen by many as ‘unsung heroes’ and regularly applauded for their ‘key worker’ status. Now, with the cautious return to normality, companies have the chance to help to rebuild the economy with fast-moving goods across the UK.”

He concluded: “In this White Paper, we’ve explored the direct impact of the logistics and distribution sector, aligning it with the consumer demand for online shopping and the associated convenience. We highlight the sheer development of various technologies that can now be embraced to ensure the sector can safely maximise its success and maintain consumer confidence.”

*Further information concerning Traka and its range of solutions is available online at www.traka.com

ONVIF goes live on GitHub for open source development

ONVIF, the global standardisation initiative for IP-based physical security products, is now live on GitHub, the online open source development platform. The repository at github.com/onvif/specs will help drive the development of ONVIF network interface specifications. 

“By having a repository on GitHub, ONVIF is making its interface specification development process more accessible, transparent and efficient,” explained Per Björkdahl, chairman of the ONVIF Steering Committee. “We encourage ONVIF members and the global developer community to go to our GitHub site and contribute to the standardisation work of supporting greater feature interoperability and innovation.”

ONVIF interoperability specifications are already publicly available as open standards and implemented by more than 400 manufacturers of IP surveillance cameras, video management software and physical access control systems to enable communication between conformant devices and clients from different vendors.

Opening the development of network interface specifications to the greater developer community will allow for input from other industries, such as IoT, Artificial Intelligence, cloud services and other technology domains.

Source files

The ONVIF GitHub site provides the source files of ONVIF specification-related documents, including schema files, which describe the XML framework of specific ONVIF features and functions. Developers with an active GitHub account may propose changes via so-called pull requests.

A dual licence scheme enables ONVIF to publish these extensions and enables further evolution by the open source community. Changes ultimately accepted by the ONVIF Technical Committee will be published on the ONVIF public website. 

The GitHub platform enables greater automation and efficiency by automating key areas of the process. This includes removing the manual handling of change requests via a ticket system and automatically merging accepted changes into a development branch, which eliminates the need for a dedicated editor to update the network interface specification files.

Over the course of its 11-year history, ONVIF has also developed several Profiles (groupings of certain functionalities derived from established ONVIF network interface specifications) that enable the performance of a set of features: Profile S for streaming video, Profile G for video recording and storage, Profile C for physical access control, Profile Q for quick installation, Profile A for broader physical access control configuration and Profile T for advanced video streaming. While Profile development is not open sourced, ONVIF widely expects that specification contributions realised via open source will support the development of future profiles.

*To learn more about ONVIF and contributing via GitHub visit https://www.onvif.org/about/faq/

Wisenet Retail Insight launched in Europe by Hanwha Techwin

Hanwha Techwin has introduced a business intelligence application which enables retailers to gain a greater understanding of customer behaviour and buying patterns. Wisenet Retail Insight uses people counting, heat mapping and queue management applications running on board selected Wisenet Q and Wisenet X fixed lens and fish-eye cameras to display statistical analytics on a centralised dashboard.

Accessed from anywhere on the network, Retail Insight is a web-based application which consolidates the data captured by the three analytics applications running on up to 500 Wisenet Q or X Series cameras and presents it on a customisable dashboard.

Retailers are able to take advantage of the captured data to measure the impact of advertising, online promotions and other marketing activities on the number of people who enter their stores, as well as making best use of Human Resources in order to manage the peaks and troughs of customer flow at checkouts.

“With revenues and profitability under threat at present due to the Coronavirus pandemic, retailers are understandably looking at ways in which to improve productivity going forward,” said Uri Guterman, head of product and marketing for Hanwha Techwin Europe.

He continued: “In terms of the business intelligence which could be made available to operations, marketing, merchandising and store management, the metadata traditionally extracted from Electronic Point-of-Sale systems is unlikely to be sufficient for retailers to identify opportunities to increase productivity or improve the customer experience.”

Retail Insight generates reports in a variety of formats including PDF, Excel, CSV or HTML. With the help of five customisable tabbed screens, end users are able to view real-time updates on a wide range of activity, including the number of store visitors for any particular time of day or cumulatively over a specified period of time.

Security professionals can also access valuable data on queue congestion times as well as heat mapping information showing the busiest areas of a given store.

360 Vision Technology “leads the way” in high security, CAPSS-approved cyber security

360 Vision Technology has announced that its ruggedised PTZ surveillance cameras are now the only camera product in the sector to be Cyber Assurance of Physical Security Systems (CAPSS) approved by way of the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI), as well as being ISO 27001 compliant.

In addition to advanced built-in cyber security capable of protection against the very real threats faced by surveillance system operators, 360 Vision Technology boasts an enviable track record in delivering specialist camera solutions designed to meet with specific customer and application-driven requirements.

This product engineering flexibility, coupled with high security protection, has paid real dividends, with significant sales and specification of the firm’s cameras for high-profile Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) projects.

“360 Vision has worked very hard to be ahead of the game in the vital area of system security,” said Mark Rees, managing director at 360 Vision Technology. “We recognised some time ago that robust cyber security would become a determining factor in the selection of camera technology for CNI and other high-security applications, so our team of software developers was briefed to ensure that these threats can be averted.”

Rees added: “As a UK-based surveillance camera manufacturer, we’re extremely adept at responding to customer requirements, which has resulted in some very exciting product deployments. Today, 360 Vision finds itself in an enviable position in the security camera market, whereby system designers and end users looking to fulfil product performance flexibility and high security applications are choosing the company as their ‘go to’ camera technology partner.”

Hanwha Techwin awarded Milestone Platinum Technology Partner status

Milestone Systems has accredited Hanwha Techwin as a Platinum Technology Partner. The Milestone Technology Partner Programme, which formalises a high level of co-operation between Milestone and leading manufacturers, comes with a rich set of benefits and well-defined requirements.

The main objective of the Partner Programme (which has three levels, with ‘Platinum’ being the highest) is to ensure that mutual end user clients are able to achieve maximum value from their video surveillance systems.“We’re delighted to be acknowledged by Milestone in this way,” said Uri Guterman, head of product and marketing for Hanwha Techwin Europe. “The Platinum Partner accreditation reflects our ability to co-operate with Video Management Software (VMS) developers to assist system integrators in providing end users with easy-to-implement and easy-to-operate integrated video surveillance solutions.”

Guterman added: “The ability of Milestone’s VMS to support existing as well as future generations of Wisenet cameras means they can be controlled and monitored alongside devices and systems produced by other third party manufacturers, as well as being integrated with specialist analytics applications.”

Institute of Risk Management launches Regional Group focused on Belgium and Luxembourg

The Institute of Risk Management (IRM) has formed a Regional Group for Belgium and Luxembourg. The objective is to fill a gap in the Benelux market where there’s a lack of opportunity for risk management practitioners to network and learn from each other.

The all-new Regional Group will focus on connecting risk management professionals in the area and raising the profile of important risk management topics and developments within each industry represented.

Ultimately, the Regional Group will provide a forum for members from a diverse range of organisations, risk disciplines and sectors to network, exchange views and share Best Practice with peers on a local footing. Specifically, the Regional Group will host events and enable cross-industry pollination.

The initiative is to be run by senior risk professionals emanating from various industries including life sciences, financial services, risk advisory and construction. The chairman is David Lannoy (technical specialist at the IRM). The treasurer is Pierre Poncelet, with the new secretary being Kenneth Willems. The community manager for Belgium is Nicolas Renard, with this opposite number for Luxembourg being Simon Muir.

David Lannoy informed Risk Xtra: “The Initial priority will be to attract members and build a network. We aim to host four events each year focused on relevant topics and aim to include contributions from high-profile international speakers with proven backgrounds in risk management activities. There will also be round table discussions with current IRM members to inform thought leadership and shape industry practice.”

Lannoy continued: “Aside from these specific activities, we’ll also aim to bring together IRM members in a friendly environment and encourage networking, spreading events across the region to increase the participation of willing professionals. We will bring members together who, in turn, will have the opportunity to share their own knowledge and experiences during events. The Regional Group will also look towards developing a risk talent incubator by reaching high-profile students and professionals through challenges to promote the profession.”

Socrates Coudounaris CFIRM, chairman of the IRM and risk management director at the RGA International Reinsurance Company, added: “We’re pleased to have the opportunity to launch this Regional Group with the support of experts. Our relationships with firms in the Benelux region have always been excellent and we welcome the opportunity to strengthen them further. Excellence in risk management requires a strong understanding of general concepts and techniques, but also an appreciation of the detailed risk landscape in particular sectors. This new Regional Group will help to enhance our interconnectedness.”

*Those professionals interested in joining the Regional Group should contact: marketing@theirm.org

Leading ASSA ABLOY security brands form High Security and Safety Group

Leading security brands Chubb Locks Custodial Services (CLCS), Intelligent Locking Systems (ILS) and Pickersgill-Kaye have formed the High Security and Safety Group, a new division of ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions UK and Ireland. 

As strong heritage brands in the high-security and rail industries, CLCS, ILS and Pickersgill-Kaye each offer their own specialisms and sector expertise. By bringing these well-known brands together under one new group, ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions UK and Ireland will provide a stronger, more comprehensive offer to different sectors.

Each brand enjoys its own areas of expertise, with CLCS a prominent supplier of high-security locks to custodial, secure healthcare, Government and secure education environments. ILS is a leading manufacturer of high-security locks for safes and vaults, providing solutions to the banking, construction, leisure and jewellery sector. Pickersgill-Kaye is a specialist in the design and manufacture of highly robust, specialist door locks for the architectural and railway industries.

Simon Teagle

The CLCS, ILS and Pickersgill-Kaye divisions will continue as distinct brands within the High Security and Safety Group, which will sit alongside ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions UK and Ireland’s other specialist business units. These include the Door Group, the Door Hardware and Access Control Group and the Project Specification Group.

Simon Teagle, managing director of the High Security and Safety Group, said: “The creation of the new High Security and Safety Group will help signpost our specialist high-security, safety and rail brands to the market, giving security professionals one point of contact and access to a wider range of products, as well as a more tailored solution. Using the strength of the brands, the quality of the products and their experience in these areas, ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions UK and Ireland now has a dedicated Group covering the specific needs of high-security and safety customers.”

Police Superintendents’ Association elects new presidential team

Chief Superintendent Paul Griffiths has been elected as the new president of the Police Superintendents’ Association, while Chief Superintendent Ian Wylie has been elected as the Association’s new vice-president. Both appointments will begin on 25 March when the Association’s Annual General Meeting takes place. 

Griffiths, who is currently vice-president of the Association, said: “It has been my privilege to have served as vice-president for three years and I will take enormous pride in now leading the Association. This is an extremely challenging time for policing as a service and for our members, which makes the role and purpose of the Association more important than ever.  I want to pay tribute to Gavin Thomas’ leadership over the last three years. He has been a consistent and valuable voice on issues that are critical to the future of policing and the service we give to the public, and has modernised the Association to ensure it stays relevant and effective for members.”

He added: “The Association will continue to face many of the issues on which Gavin has led. Through my presidency, I intend to continue our focus on funding, vulnerability and demand management, leadership and valuing difference, the role of new technology and the integration of public services.”

Thomas responded: “I have worked with Paul and Ian for many years and am delighted they’ve been elected by our National Executive Committee. They are both highly experienced leaders who are dedicated to improving policing for our members, for the service and for the public.”

Chief Superintendent Wylie, who serves with the Avon and Somerset Police, has been active in the Association for many years, including chairing C District since 2011. He said: “My policing career has given me many great opportunities, and being elected to the role of vice-president of the Association is another such opportunity. I’m very much looking forward to working with Paul and to representing our members at a national level. As the senior operational leaders in policing, the Superintending ranks are a critical part of policing and public services and I very much hope to play a key role in ensuring their voice continues to be heard.”

Vanderbilt’s SPC solution accredited to CNPP’s NF A2P Cyber-RTC cyber security standard

Vanderbilt, the state-of-the-art security systems developer, has announced that its award-winning SPC system has been accredited to the NF A2P Cyber-RTC cyber security standard from the CNPP.

The SPC intrusion system was tested by CNPP to ensure that it meets the latest needs for cyber security. This is part of Vanderbilt’s continuous endeavour and commitment to work with approval bodies to ensure both Best-in-Class security and afford end users the confidence that their chosen security system is secure.

“By certifying our SPC intrusion ranges on the latest CNPP NFA2P at Cyber Type 2 and 3 repositories, Vanderbilt provides all of its customers with high-level security for all remote monitoring transmissions, as well as for cloud applications such as our service SPC Connect to combine user-friendliness, availability and security,” stated Hervé Houy, Vanderbilt’s Country Manager for France.

An IP-ready intrusion alarm system, SPC has been designed with communications and security at its core. Using the FlexC protocol to communicate with AES256-CBC encryption, the communications between SPC and other system are secure and protected. This communication also allows for flexibility using the SPC user models.

The rights and permissions of users protect the user and the system from malicious attacks. Customers can use the system with confidence whether they are on-site or using the SPC Connect to enable cloud services. Their data is secure, while communications are always protected.

Vanderbilt has been working with CNPP for many years to ensure the quality of intrusion products for the French market. This innovative step by the approval body to have a defined standard for cyber is a clear indication of the path of security systems.

“The market is saturated with cyber security standards, but the NF cyber security standard from CNPP is the first specifically developed for intrusion alarm systems,” concluded Nick Pegtol, Vanderbilt’s Country Manager for Benelux, Greece and Cyprus. “It’s a great way to benchmark and improve our SPC intrusion systems,”

*To obtain Vanderbilt’s latest product certifications visit https://vanderbiltindustries.com/compliance-documents. For more information on SPC visit https://vanderbiltindustries.com/spc

Dell “reinvents” endpoint security portfolio through strategic collaborations with Secureworks and CrowdStrike

Cyber criminals are continuously shifting their attack techniques to better target endpoints. As more than one-third (39%) of cyber attacks are now non-malware based, adversaries can exploit gaps in traditional anti-malware solutions used in isolation.

Considering that 50% of organisations also have insufficient endpoint or network visibility during incident response engagements, it’s clear many businesses are injecting ineffective security tools into their environments, ultimately adding complexity without directly addressing the problem.

These disconnected solutions require ongoing diligence and expert resources to analyse a multitude of security alerts and identify compromised devices. Yet, with the growing cyber security skills gap, businesses don’t have the resources needed to manage their security infrastructure effectively.

To help organisations in addressing these challenges, Dell is introducing Dell SafeGuard and Response, a portfolio of next generation endpoint security solutions that combines the managed security, incident response expertise and threat behavioural analytics of Secureworks with the unified endpoint protection platform from CrowdStrike.

Dell’s modern and effective approach designed to prevent, detect and respond to the shifting threat landscape makes it easy for organisations to protect their data with the industry’s most secure commercial PCs.

With Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven and cloud-native endpoint protection powered by CrowdStrike and expert threat intelligence and response management by Secureworks, Dell SafeGuard and Response provides end user customers with the essential capabilities they need to protect their PCs and data. CrowdStrike endpoint security solutions prevent more than 99% of malware and non-malware-based threats, detect 100% of vulnerabilities and respond to sophisticated attacks rapidly.

Secureworks’ RedCloak behavioural analytics are built into the prevention, detection and response capabilities, so customers benefit from an ever-smarter network effect of protection. When an emerging threat is discovered in one environment, countermeasures are created and deployed to all customers who may be affected. 

Prevent, detect and respond to threats

With Dell SafeGuard and Response, customers no longer need to worry about complex implementation involving numerous agents. Dell’s modern approach to security simplifies the buying process, allowing customers to order these new solutions alongside their new PC. Businesses will receive outstanding prevention combined with the ability to quickly detect compromised devices and remediate cyber incidents.

Customers can select from the following new Dell SafeGuard and Response solutions to meet their unique security needs:

CrowdStrike Falcon Prevent: This next generation anti-virus (NGAV) solution uses AI and machine learning to stop malware and malware-free attacks, offering organisations enhanced protection without requiring signatures and the heavy updates that come with them

CrowdStrike Falcon Prevent and Insight: In addition to the NGAV solution, customers can advance their threat prevention capabilities with Device Control and Falcon Insight, the leading endpoint detection and response solution. This enables full visibility into endpoint threat activity and real-time remediation designed to prevent, detect and investigate incidents and stop threats

Secureworks Managed Endpoint Protection: Combined with CrowdStrike Falcon Prevent and Insight and Device Control, this offer provides customers with 24×7 managed services from Secureworks to monitor the state of endpoints for indications of threat actor activity. Secureworks’ Security Operations Centre and Counter Threat Unit will investigate events to determine severity, accuracy and context to suggest remedial actions, in turn giving organisations peace of mind around the clock

Secureworks Incident Management Retainer: In the event of a serious security incident, Secureworks will deploy its on-demand incident response specialist team who are highly skilled to respond to and mitigate a cyber incident at any time. Now, organisations with and without SOCs can have the support and expertise needed in critical times. This service can also be used to build a proactive response plan for future security incidents.

Devices and data secure 

“Organisations are faced with what may feel like an exponentially expanding threat landscape and a mixed bag of solutions to fix it,” said Brett Hansen, vice-president and general manager of client software and security solutions at Dell. “To meet the evolving needs of our customers and stay ahead of ever-evolving threats, Dell is offering organisations the tools they need to keep their devices and data secure.”

Wendy Thomas, senior vice-president of business and product strategy at Secureworks, added: “Attacker techniques are becoming more sophisticated. Customers need managed solutions that are actively guarding against threat activity. Our modern approach with Dell ensures a co-ordinated defence against cyber threats at the scale and speed required for any customer’s evolving security needs beyond the network.”

Matthew Polly, vice-president of worldwide business development and channels at CrowdStrike, concluded: “Being selected by Dell is a testament to CrowdStrike’s market leadership and the proven value of our platform. Together, we are equipping customers with a unique and compelling solution to deliver an end-to-end approach to endpoint security that effectively stops threats, while also reducing enterprise complexity and modernising threat detection and management.”

*Dell SafeGuard and Response will be available globally in March through Dell and its authorised channel partners. Additionally, the comprehensive CrowdStrike Falcon platform can also be purchased through Dell