Eagle Eye Networks delivers 4G ‘direct-to-cloud’ body cameras

Eagle Eye Networks, the cloud video surveillance solutions developer, has introduced the ‘first-of-its-kind’ 4G ‘direct-to-cloud’ body camera designed specifically for commercial use. This new offering provides commercial customers with affordable access to feature-rich, professional-grade body camera services, which improve staff safety and accountability, trigger immediate response and deliver valuable evidence, all while protecting assets and keeping communities safe.

Body cameras dissuade aggression, improve accountability and reduce false accusations. Employees from private security officers through to retail staff, in-home service providers and delivery workers feel safer and more valued when wearing such cameras. 

Earlier this year, global research organisation Omdia identified body cameras in non-law enforcement applications as being a top trend for 2021, suggesting that the potential addressable market for commercial body-worn cameras dwarfs that of law enforcement.

“The commercial body-worn camera market is ripe for new entrants,” observed Paul Bremner, principal analyst in Omdia’s critical communications group. “Features such as cloud connectivity, 4G, live streaming, GPS and the price-point are important to retailers, delivery services, security officers and others in the commercial sector. New bodycam providers who can break the old law enforcement body camera mold with reasonably priced, feature-rich, professional-grade solutions are positioning themselves to fill a growing need within the commercial market.”

Extension of video cloud services 

Resellers are welcoming the arrival of body cameras that meet their needs. Jaime Abad Valdenebro, CEO at OmniCloud, is “excited” that Eagle Eye Networks has launched commercial body camera support for its Eagle Eye CameraManager platform. “Fixed IP cameras integrated with 4G-enabled body cameras represent the extension of video cloud services in a real mobile environment,” stated Valdenebro, “providing a new disruptive video surveillance solution.” 

He continued: “In a smart city application, Eagle Eye Networks’ new 4G, ‘direct-to-cloud’ body cameras will provide extra protection for security officers and ensure that patrols are completed on time. The 4G connectivity is important. It gives the user live access to body camera video. It will make a high- performance ‘true’ cloud video surveillance system even more powerful.”

With Eagle Eye Networks’ body cameras, end users can:  

*Use 4G or Wi-Fi for live streaming, real-time remote viewing and ‘direct-to-cloud’ recording

*Blend fixed, mobile and body-worn cameras, in turn making it easier for the entire surveillance system to work together

*Stream to a dedicated Monitoring Centre or Security Operations Centre and use geo-tagging for immediate response and support

*Experience a larger viewing area with fisheye capabilities (the latter are ‘de-warped’ in the Eagle Eye Networks Cloud Management Application

*Manage a large number of cameras in the cloud and observe the generated images from a dedicated Control Room

*Use two-way audio to clearly communicate

*Protect individuals at work and in the community 

*Future-proof the investment made with hardened cameras that offer ‘law enforcement-level’ durability and quality at an affordable price

*Gain flexibility for live streaming and video retrieval during docking with rapid recharge capabilities

Demand growing

“The demand for high-quality body cameras that connect to the cloud has been growing for several years now,” commented Dean Drako, founder and CEO of Eagle Eye Networks, “but has accelerated even more due to the pandemic, social unrest and the shift towards providing more remote services. Traditional law enforcement body cameras use a high-price subscription model, which is too steeply priced for commercial customers. Eagle Eye Networks will support the new Eagle Eye body cameras at the same low subscription cost of fixed cameras, making the solution affordable for commercial customers accustomed to paying up-front for advanced cameras with affordable long-term subscriptions.”

Body cameras are initially available on the Eagle Eye Networks CameraManager platform, with availability on the Eagle Eye Cloud Video Management System (VMS) in 2022. The Eagle Eye Networks body cameras can also be protected with Eagle Eye Networks’ rapid replacement service.

*Further information is available on the Eagle Eye Networks website

Radiation detection company Symetrica lands £4 million investment to accelerate international growth

Symetrica, the manufacturer of radiation detection products for military and homeland security applications, has closed a £4 million funding round. The round was led by Parkwalk, the investor in start-ups spun out of UK universities, with participation from other existing investors and the management team. It includes a provision for a further £2 million commitment from a specialist defence and security investor.

Symetrica was founded back in 2002 by the former head of Physics and Astrophysics at Southampton University. The company now manufactures, supplies and supports a wide range of devices, from hand-held and backpack-mounted sensors through to vehicle-based detectors and drive-through scanners. Its solutions are used by customs, border protection, law enforcement, the Emergency Services, military personnel and first responders, enabling them to identify threats and respond accordingly.

According to the business, its proprietary Discovery Technology – a combination of patented algorithms and hardware – enables Symetrica detectors to be two-to-three times more accurate than equivalent conventional detectors.

Every day, the technology removes radiation alarms not of regulatory interest and provides police and customs officers alike with high confidence nuclear material identification in hand-held isotope identifiers with smart phone-like connectivity to technical authorities for operational assurance.

Accelerate global growth

Symetrica operates from offices and manufacturing sites in both the UK and the US and employs 75 members of staff. The new funding will be used to accelerate global growth by enhancing the company’s international sales programme.

Symetrica already supplies its products to Government departments in the UK, the EU and the United States, as well as to partners worldwide. Its technology is employed by the US military.

Commenting on the impact of the funding for the business, Heddwyn Davies (CEO at Symetrica) explained: “In these extraordinary times, this investment gives us the capacity to increase our sales and business development resources and sell more into international markets where we’ve already won prestigious contracts. It also enables us to capitalise on multi-year procurement opportunities. We’re pleased to have our existing investors follow on in this round, and also very excited to see what we can achieve with their continued support.”

Neil Cameron, investment director at Parkwalk, said: “Symetrica’s Discovery Technology is a huge leap forward for radiation detection and testimony to the high-class science and engineering capabilities of the team, as well as to the importance of patient capital for R&D-rich companies. We’re pleased to be leading a round that will enable the team to capitalise on some significant customer wins and accelerate international growth.”

Echosec launches security-focused anonymous search tool for The Dark Web

Online data aggregation and information discovery specialist Echosec has introduced Beacon, a search platform for The Dark Web purpose-designed to help discover threats and prevent future attacks.

Beacon is an intelligence tool that helps security teams and public safety professionals alike to find key information from The Dark Web safely through a regular web browser. Previously, the only way to access The Dark Web was through a TOR browser.

The Dark Web is non-indexed and non-secure, yet searching it is crucial for security and public safety organisations as it’s a veritable hotbed for nefarious activity. Beacon provides end users with a single point of entry into The Dark Web and presents critical information in a structured and consistent way.

Organisation of Dark Web data makes analysis of it more efficient and threat intelligence actionable for law enforcement, security and risk managers.

“Beacon helps teams to quickly identify information that can prepare them for the worse case scenario,” said Michael Raypold, CTO at Echosec. “Through Beacon, end users can identify threats quickly and enable efficient issues management.”

A basic Beacon search can provide intelligence on subjects like drug trafficking, the sale of firearms and hacker data. A UK search conducted on 12 April found 14,849 instances of hacker data using the keyword “UK + hacking,” while “UK + credit card” returned 16,600 and “UK + guns” 2,650 results respectively.

More advanced search functions in Beacon have produced thousands of results for information on the sale of identities, e-mail addresses and other personally identifiable information. One excerpt from a credit card search result on a Dark Web site reads: “Hello all clients ! – I’m a hacker, good seller, best tools, sell online 24h. – I want introduce to you my services and sell fresh cvv (visa/master,amex,dis,bin,dob,fullz..) all country, Dumps track 1&2, Account paypal, SMTP, RDP, VPS, Mailers, do WU transfer and Software Bug Transfer Western Union. – I sell cvv Fresh – Fast and Good price.”

Beacon is commercially available and simple and safe to interact with for users of all backgrounds. However, due to the sensitive nature of The Dark Web, Echosec meets with potential customers to review and approve their case before providing access. Echosec also takes steps to ensure that Beacon use is compliant with the current privacy laws and data provider terms.

*More information about Beacon may be found at https://www.echosec.net/darknet/

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.”

Police set to use Artificial Intelligence to help predict spikes in hate crime

Following the news that the police service is setting up a new ‘Hate Lab’ using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help predict spikes in hate crime on the streets following Brexit, Andy Davies (consultant on police and intelligence services at SAS UK) has highlighted the importance of using data to mitigate preventable or predictable trends.

Davies has stressed the need for law enforcement to find new and innovative ways to make analytics and resulting insights accessible to officers. Ultimately, AI and data analytics has the power to help police do their jobs more efficiently and effectively.

“Law enforcement operates in an increasingly complex environment, with investigators facing unprecedented amounts of data,” said Davies. “Social media has further complicated this environment in the last ten years with data being published online at an unmanageable rate. Clearly, the police are overwhelmed and overworked. The new ‘Hate Lab’ is no silver bullet for eliminating hate crime, but it’s a clear step in the right direction to mitigate preventable or predictable trends.”

Davies continued: “Making sense of this data and understanding the underlying connections is critical in any investigation or intelligence-development activity. Data analytics is already reviewing huge volumes of intelligence data rapidly so that police officers can cut through the noise and focus on real and emerging threats. AI and data analytics can help the police to do their jobs more efficiently and effectively, so we need to find new and innovative ways to make analytics and resulting insights accessible to today’s officers.”

Davies referenced Gloucestershire Constabulary, which has employed analytics software to improve policing strategies, gain real-time insight into incidents and identify crime ‘hotspots’.

“Gloucestershire officers will now be able to draw together data from numerous systems and sources, including its electronic incident log, phone system, GPS-capable radios and demographic data from other sources. Using analytics, it will also be able to use the data available to identify crime ‘hotspots’, monitor trends, forecast future crime/incident levels offenders across the county and see a live breakdown of crime statistics.”

In conclusion, Davies told Risk Xtra: “It’s vital that the police service looks for every opportunity to operate more efficiently and use the latest data-driven tools in the fight against crime. By using data analytics, our police forces will be in an even better position to derive intelligence from multiple sources of potentially life-saving information.”

“EMEA now top source of phishing attacks worldwide” suggests NTT Security’s Global Threat Intelligence Report

Over half (53%) of the world’s most recent phishing attacks have originated in the EMEA region, according to the 2017 Global Threat Intelligence Report (GTIR) published by NTT Security, the specialist security business within the NTT Group.

Analysing global threat trends from 1 October 2015–31 September 2016, the report also shows that, of all phishing attacks worldwide, 38% came from the Netherlands, second only to the US (41%). The data highlights that 73% of all malware globally was delivered to its victims because of a phishing attack.

According to the GTIR, which highlights the latest ransomware, phishing and DDoS attack trends and the impact of these threats against organisations, the UK was the third most common source of attacks against the EMEA behind the US (26%) and France (11%).

In terms of top attack source countries globally, the UK was second only to the US (63%) accounting for 4% of all attacks, just behind China on 3%.

The report reveals some of the biggest regional differences related to brute force attacks, which are commonly used to crack passwords. Of all brute force attacks globally, 45% started in the EMEA, which is more than the Americas (20%) and Asia (7%) combined. In addition, 45% of brute force attacks that deliberately targeted EMEA customers also started in the region.

“While phishing attacks affected organisations everywhere, the EMEA has emerged as the top region for the source of these attacks,” stated Dave Polton, global director of innovation at NTT Security. “These figures, combined with those for brute force attacks, should be of very serious concern for any organisation doing business in the EMEA, especially with the European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation just around the corner. Any organisation processing data belonging to EU citizens needs to demonstrate that their information security strategy is robust.”

Polton is calling for more active collaboration between business, Government and law enforcement agencies to tackle global threats and ensure measures are in place that will have a long-lasting and positive impact on global security.

Other key EMEA findings

In the EMEA, over half (54%) of all attacks were targeted at just three industry sectors: finance (20%), manufacturing (17%) and retail (17%). Over 67% of malware detected within the EMEA was some form of Trojan.

Top services used in attacks against the EMEA included file shares (45%), websites (32%) and remote administration (17%).

Frank Brandenburg, COO and regional CEO at NTT Security, said: “We all know that no security plan is guaranteed and that there will always be some level of exposure, but defining an acceptable level of risk is important. Clients are starting to understand that, by default, every employee is part of their organisation’s security team. Businesses are now seeing the value in security awareness training, knowing that educating the end user is directly connected with securing their enterprise.”

Brandenburg added: “Expanding cyber education and ensuring employees adhere to a common methodology, set of practices and mindset are key elements. Clients see that assisting and coaching their employees on the proper use of technology will only enhance the organisation’s overall security presence.”

*Download the NTT Security Global Threat Intelligence Report by accessing the following web address: https://www.nttcomsecurity.com/en/gtir-2017

ISM heralds success of ‘Technology Days’ aimed at promoting benefits of PSIM in the Middle East

Intergrated Security Manufacturing (ISM) has hosted the first of a series of ‘Technology Days’ in Oman to demonstrate the design, development and thinking behind the latest Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) technology.

The company, whose Genesys PSIM platform is already installed in a number of high security sites throughout the Middle East, organised the events to promote the key considerations in specifying a PSIM solution: system architecture (ie how the system works, its resilience/redundancy and the impact of networks, etc), ease of use (including the simplicity of operator training) and life-cycle costs (as well as the overall return on investment).

Petri Hitches, ISM’s sales manager for the Middle East, enthused that the response to the presentations has been overwhelming. “The days were designed to be informative and educational, to heighten the awareness of what today’s PSIM systems are able to achieve and what makes a project successful. They were extremely well received.”

Audiences included high ranking officials from the regulators and local law enforcement agencies, as well as consultants, security integrators and end users responsible for various critical infrastructure projects.

The Technology Days were in part co-hosted by Ingenuity Technologies LLC of Oman.

ISM intends to organise and announce further dates later in the year.

Innovation and Technology Award win for Evidence Talks

Evidence Talks, a dedicated specialist in the development and marketing of digital forensics techniques, has won the Innovation and Technology Award category at the Milton Keynes Business Achievement Awards 2017.

The winning submission for the company highlighted its pioneering SPEKTOR technology developed by CTO Andrew Sheldon, drawing attention to its role in digital triage, overt and covert forensic acquisition, forensic e-mail investigation and remote forensics.

The latest development from the business has been the global launch of SPEKTOR Cascade Forensics and client-server architecture that combines the core SPEKTOR technology with policy-based automated processing logic designed to reduce the number of steps between seizure and review, reducing delays in procedures and speeding up the entire process.

Evidence Talks works with security, defence, law enforcement and corporate governance sector professionals around the world, helping to combat child exploitation and abuse, crime and fraud, people trafficking and cyber bullying.

Accepting the award on behalf of the company, CEO Elizabeth Sheldon (pictured above with Andrew Sheldon) said: “We’re delighted to have won this award against competition from the likes of Marshall Amplification and Lohmann Technologies, which are themselves world class organisations. It’s an honour to have won in the Innovation and Technology category.”

Europol hosts inaugural ‘Project Diamond’ Conference on jewellery theft and burglary

From Tuesday 17 January to Thursday 19 January, Europol hosted its first international conference on jewellery robbery and burglary under the banner ‘Project Diamond’. SaferGems – a joint initiative established by the British Security Industry Association, T.H. March Insurance Brokers and the National Association of Jewellers (NAJ) – was invited to deliver a presentation at the event, which took place at Europol’s headquarters in The Hague.

‘Project Diamond’ was initially created as a follow-up to ‘Project Pink Panther’, which was initiated by Interpol back in 2007 in an effort to assist law enforcement around the world in apprehending members of the international network of jewellery thieves that had originated from the Western Balkans.

Interpol’s project ended last year, and it was then decided that ‘Project Diamond’ would be more extensive in its focus, targeting criminal networks involved in jewellery robberies and burglaries from Europe as well as the Baltic Sea and Western Black Sea areas.

In attendance were over 70 experts from nearly all of the EU Member States, as well as other representatives from third parties from Europe, Asia and the Americas, including private jewellery and watch companies.

Intelligence officer Lee Henderson represented SaferGems, an initiative sponsored by the NAJ and T.H. March Insurance that co-ordinates data on jewellery crime and facilitates information sharing between jewellers, pawnbrokers and the police. At the event, Henderson delivered a presentation about the background of SaferGems, crime trends and statistics, the SaferGems Watch Register and the initiative’s success stories.

Positive support and feedback

“The presentation was very well received by the experts in attendance and raised many questions from the audience,” stated Henderson. “We also received positive support and feedback from our colleagues that attended on behalf of the Metropolitan Police Service and the West Midlands Police.”

The project comes at a vital time, with the EU facing increased trends in jewellery robbery and burglaries. It has been reported by Europol that these criminals are becoming more violent in their tactics, using heavy vehicles in order to infiltrate jewellery stores and putting the lives of customers and staff at risk.

The aim of the conference was to harness the existing knowledge and expertise of attendees in order to discuss the best ways in which to fight this rising tide of crime.

Given the increased trends in jewellery robbery and burglaries, the conference came at a crucial time and provided SaferGems with an opportunity to share information and intelligence with police officers from the New York Police Department, The Garda, Federal Police Belgium, Organised Crime Finland and Antwerp Diamond District.

Henderson concluded: “As a result of our participation in the conference, law enforcement agencies from across the world are now more aware of the capabilities of the SaferGems initiative and the successes that it continues to have.”

*For more information on the SaferGems initiative visit: https://www.safergems.org.uk/

30% of NHS Trusts have experienced a ransomware attack” finds SentinelOne

30% of NHS Trusts in the UK have experienced a ransomware attack, potentially placing patient data and lives at risk. One Trust – the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust – admitted to being attacked 19 times in just 12 months. These are the findings of a Freedom of Information (FoI) request submitted by SentinelOne.

The Ransomware Research Data Summary explains that SentinelOne made FoI requests to 129 NHS Trusts, of which 94 responded. Three Trusts refused to answer, claiming their response could damage commercial interests. All but two Trusts – Surrey and Sussex and University College London Hospitals – have invested in anti-virus security software on their endpoint devices to protect them from malware.

Despite installing a McAfee solution, Leeds Teaching Hospital has apparently suffered five attacks in the past year.

No Trusts reported paying a ransom or informed law enforcement of the attacks: all preferred to deal with the attacks internally.

Ransomware which encrypts data and demands a ransom to decrypt it has been affecting US hospitals for a while now. The Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles notoriously paid cyber criminals £12,000 last February after being infected by Locky, one of the most prolific ransomware variants.

With the infected computers or networks becoming unusable until a ransom has been paid* or the data has been recovered, it’s clear to see why these types of attack can be a concern for business continuity professionals, with the latest Horizon Scan Report published by the Business Continuity Institute highlighting cyber attacks as the prime concern. This is a very good reason why cyber resilience has been chosen as the theme for Business Continuity Awareness Week in 2017.

“These results are far from surprising,” said Tony Rowan, chief security consultant at SentinelOne. “Public sector organisations make a soft target for fraudsters because budget and resource shortages frequently leave hospitals short changed when it comes to security basics like regular software patching. The results highlight the fact that old school AV technology is powerless to halt virulent, mutating forms of malware like ransomware. A new and more dynamic approach to endpoint protection is needed.”

Rowan continued: “In the past, some NHS Trusts have been singled out by the Information Commissioner’s Office for their poor record on data breaches. With the growth of connected devices like kidney dialysis machines and heart monitors, there’s even a chance that poor security practices could put lives at risk.”

*Note that the data isn’t always recovered even after a ransom has been paid