Critical Information

“Security-by-design” Aims Fall Short, Adding Up to 20% to Construction Costs

Brivo announces the results of its research into integrated physical security in building design by Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) practitioners. The report finds that despite an increased commitment to “security-by-design” principles, the industry is still spending significant time and money post-build to fix security issues, risking dire retroactive effects.

AlarMax Appoints Randy Hall as President

AlarMax announces the promotion of Randy Hall to president. Working with AlarMax for over a decade, including four years as vice president, Hall has contributed immensely to the growth of the company and its invaluable partners. As president, Hall will continue to serve as a trusted beacon to AlarMax vendor partners and dealers, drawing from over 35 years of experience in the converging security, surveillance and AV technology sectors.

US Law Enforcement Agencies Struggle To Connect Digital Evidence Across Multiple Domains According to GBC Poll

Siren released findings of a Flash Poll conducted by the Government Business Council (GBC) focused on the challenges faced by US law enforcement agencies undertaking digital investigations. The research found that 64% of respondents are finding it increasingly difficult to attract employees with the right technical skills, and 42% are very or extremely challenged by an excess of disparate data sources and are having difficulty in connecting those sources. Overall, this data shows that security concerns, timing, and data aggregation were ongoing challenges for law enforcement as new technologies and data streams emerge.

New Survey by HID Reveals Five Pressing Themes Reshaping the Security Industry

HID announced its inaugural State of the Security Industry Report, which gathered responses from 2,700 partners, end users, and security and IT personnel across a range of titles and organization sizes representing over 11 industries. By looking at what’s driving the next innovations and the technology that supports them, the security industry is empowered to create more value for its organizations and its people.

WatchGuard Threat Lab Report Finds Top Threat Arriving Exclusively Over Encrypted Connections

WatchGuard Technologies released its latest quarterly  Internet Security Report, detailing the top malware trends, and network and endpoint security threats analyzed by WatchGuard Threat Lab researchers in Q3 2022. Key findings from the data reveal the quarter’s top malware threat was detected exclusively over encrypted connections, ICS attacks are maintaining popularity, LemonDuck malware is evolving beyond cryptominer delivery, a Minecraft cheat engine is delivering a malicious payload, and much more.

California Bill Enacts Unique Video and Audio Surveillance Requirements for Firearms Dealers

Existing law prohibits any person from selling, leasing, or transferring any firearm unless the person is licensed as a firearms dealer, as specified. Existing law prescribes certain requirements and prohibitions for licensed firearms dealers. A violation of any of these requirements or prohibitions is grounds for forfeiture of a firearms dealer’s license. This bill would require a licensed firearm dealer to have a digital video surveillance system on their business premises, as specified, and would require that dealer to carry a policy of general liability insurance, as specified.

Nuspire Security Experts Witnessed Significant Increase in Exploit Activity with Two New Vulnerabilities in Q3

Nuspire announced the release of its 2021 Q3 Quarterly Threat Landscape Report. Sourced from 90 billion traffic logs, the report outlines new cybercriminal activity and tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs), with additional insight from its threat intelligence partner, Recorded Future. In Q3 2021, Nuspire security experts witnessed an 82.6% increase in exploit activity, including a spike in activity against newer vulnerabilities; ProxyShell and ProxyLogon, which are two particularly aggressive vulnerabilities affecting Microsoft Exchange Servers.

Good Health Pass Collaborative to President Biden

In a letter to President Biden yesterday, the Good Health Pass Collaborative expressed its disappointment at the administration’s failure to recognize the need for verifiable digital health passes as a precursor to large scale vaccination and testing mandates. While the letter commended the President for his plan to require employees of companies with more than 100 employees, federal employees, and healthcare workers to be vaccinated, it stressed the urgent need for systems that would enable employers to quickly and easily verify workers’ vaccination or test status.

Panasonic i-PRO Sensing Solutions Corporation of America Will Change Its Name in April 2022

Panasonic i-PRO Sensing Solutions Corporation of America, announces that it will be changing its company name to i-PRO Americas Inc. on April 1, 2022. Established in 2019, Panasonic i-PRO Sensing Solutions Corporation of America has focused on being a versatile and agile company that is dedicated to delivering new and innovative technologies and solutions. This name change is the next chapter in their story.

Cybersecurity Experts Releases Cyber Defense Guide for CEOs

ProtectedBy.AI, has released Stay Cyber Safe: What Every CEO Should Know About Cybersecurity. The book is authored by leading cybersecurity experts, JT Kostman, Ph.D., and Brian Gallagher, who are the co-founders of ProtectedBy.AI. Stay Cyber Safe is available on Amazon and has already reached the No. 1 spot on Amazon’s Best-Selling Books list for Information Management during the first week of pre-lease sales. Due to its success Amazon has decided to release and ship early sales.

UK Smart Home Users To Pass 10M in 2021

Smart technology has broken through the mainstream in the most developed markets around the world including the UK. In 2020 smart home penetration rate was recorded at 32.9% which is projected to rise to 37.4% in 2021. By 2025, smart home penetration rate in the UK is projected to reach an impressive 63%. Out of the 6 main smart home segments, Control & Connectivity had the largest penetration rate in 2020 with 20.57%.

Cybersecurity Training Lags, While Hackers Capitalize on COVID-19

Ninety percent of companies faced an increase in cyber attacks due to the pandemic, according to a survey of 1,000 CXO’s conducted in June 2020. 93% of these CXO’s said they were forced to delay security projects in order to help manage their company’s transition to remote work. TalentLMS partnered with Kenna Security, an industry-leading penetration testing and vulnerability management firm, to survey 1,200 employees on their cybersecurity habits, knowledge of best practices, and ability to recognize security threats.

Security Software Revenues to Hit $45.5B in 2021, a 20% Jump in Two Years

The digital transformation accelerated by the pandemic and the growing number of data breaches and cyberattacks has forced online users, companies, and organizations to increase their spending on security software solutions. According to data presented by Stock Apps, global security software revenues are expected to hit $45.5bn in 2021, a 20% increase in two years. The security software market includes all software solutions that aim to protect individual computing devices, networks, or any other computing-enabled device.

GateHub Launches Wallet Protection To $100k Of Cryptocurrency Assets Per Wallet

GateHub launched Wallet Protect, a new service for XRP ledger wallets that provides back-up key creation, secure key storage, fund recovery, and theft cover. These new safety features, which are provided by Coincover, offer peace of mind for anyone looking to guarantee the safety of their cryptocurrency holdings. With 1.5 million customers, GateHub is one of the world’s largest XRPL gateways, allowing its users to send and receive payments from any supported network.

Average Number of Networked Cameras Increases to 3.4 from 1.9 in 2018

Parks Associates’ new Smart Product Market Assessment research finds US broadband households with networked cameras now own on average 3.4 of these devices, a rapid increase from less than two devices in early 2018. Additionally, over one-third of those who bought a smart video doorbell in the past 12 months are first-time buyers. The firm will host the 15th annual CONNECTIONS Summit: Smart Home Growth Strategies virtually on January 14, in cooperation with CES® 2021, featuring executives from ADT, Alarm.com, Brinks Home Security, Nice, Notion, SimpliSafe, and Yonomi.

Physical Security Integration: Unlocking its Full Potential

For any operation with assets needing to be protected from theft or vandalism —such as car dealerships, truck fleets, equipment rental companies, or contractor lots— fully integrating the latest capabilities of physical security and access control systems can drive down costs significantly. This “virtual” approach combines video surveillance, access control, and information technology (IT) integration to replace many of the functions of in-person security personnel.

Why Interoperable Communication is Essential in Today’s New Normal

COVID-19 shut down the United States seemingly overnight back in March. Students couldn’t return to school, thousands of employees shifted to a completely remote workstyle and many businesses closed their doors to visitors to try curbing the spike of cases. Nearly every industry faced many new challenges, and communication proved critical to navigate the new normal. Historically, communication has been vital in nearly every crisis.

Calipsa Survey Shows Video Monitoring Centers Surviving COVID-19

Owners and managers of video monitoring centers have generally fared well during the COVID-19 pandemic, with nearly half increasing business according to a recent international survey conducted by Calipsa. The Calipsa Video Monitoring Report 2020 found 47% of respondents said the pandemic had stimulated business growth, providing an average 33% increase in clients and a 30% boost in revenue. More than a third (37%) of businesses reported no change in performance.

Securing Your Business before Disaster Hits: Planning for Extreme Weather By John Torres, Guidepost Solutions

Businesses face an overwhelming array of external hazards and threats. While the coronavirus pandemic has introduced a bevy of new concerns to address and operational hurdles to tackle this year, extreme weather remains a threat that companies of all kinds cannot ignore. The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season is already the second most active in history, according to Accuweather. It seems as though these storms have more destructive winds and cause more flooding than those we experienced in years prior.

City of Schertz, TX Chooses Athena Security Temperature Checking

Athena Security announced that the City of Schertz, TX, with over 40,000 citizens not far from San Antonio, chose Athena Security’s Elevated Temperature Checker system on the Apple iPad as part of a holistic and proactive employee health approach to keeping it’s public infrastructure running safely. After seeing the system working well at nearby Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM), City of Schertz Fire Chief Kade Long championed the effort to acquire Athena Security’s solution.