Tag: Access Control

Security review at UK airports to be introduced

A security review is underway in the UK after the discovery of a viable explosive device at East Midlands Airport in Nottingham.

The home secretary has said after a meeting of the government security committee Cobra on Saturday that no freight from Yemen would be allowed into the country unaccompanied.

UPS officials intercepted two US-bound packages travelling from Yemen on Friday that offered a real threat and could have exploded. This was confirmed by the home office.

It was believed that the target was the American owned UPS and FEDEX aircraft and the aim was to bring them down while it was in the air.

In the UK shippers use only accredited companies to transport goods, so this means not all parcels are screened but this may now be changed and security upgraded to mean that every single parcel is X rayed and checked. The threat level for “terrorist attacks” in the UK is now at severe – the highest rating possible.

Integrated security.

David Cameron, the British prime minister and Barack Obama have exchanged urgent phone calls to discuss the parcel-bomb plot.

The White House said the US president has praised all involved in the interception of the explosive device and promised to step up security to ensure no repeat of the incident could occur again.

Measures including more CCTV and access control integrated with x ray detection devices and better screening methods would be introduced.

Al-Qaeda is thought to be behind the attempt to sabotage the aircraft although this is as yet unconfirmed, but it bought airports across the globe to a halt. The staff at the depot in the UK where the device was found on the ground at East Midlands airport were holed up for several hours as it was deemed safer to do this rather than move them.

However, targeting freight planes is new. Any security mechanism in the airline world is only as strong as the point of embarkation. Electronic security measures will need to be beefed up. More cameras more access control will be essential to ensure there are no weak points, Staff will go through more security checks and parcels from rogue nations will be monitored more closely and global standards for parcel checking will be introduced.

Security alert

The discovery of the suspicious packages in the UK came after a tip from Saudi Arabia and caused US officials to scramble to check all goods bound for the US from Yemen. Disguised as computer printer equipment the parcels were bound for Chicago address to a Jewish place of worship.

Vigilance of staff and international cooperation played its part in the discovery of the devices, it can only be left to the imagination as to what could have happened and the whole world has been spared the chaos, at least for now.

Overtis Vigilance Pro integrated solution.

Overtis active management solutions.
In today’s market place the big retailers are still turning in some good profits despite hard economic times. The question though that could be is asked is could they do better? Well arguably probably not, business models have led them to sharpen their axe, run meaner and leaner and generally drag profits out of a depressed economy.
Reduce shrinkage.
One thing though that they have been unable to address effectively is shrinkage. Figures have shown that many of the big retailers still suffer losses of up to 15% per annum. Huge amounts of money when you consider 50 million a year turn overs are not rare in the high street.Retailers still find it impossible even when using security deterrents such as access control and CCTV to prevent this shrinkage. Criminals have leant that using insiders is now the most effective way of stealing goods. Paying for one item while the person on the till turns a blind eye to a second item leaving the store means criminals not only have one free but have a receipt to return the second item for cash. Easy money for organised gangs and almost impossible to stop.
Stop the rot!
Overtis are a company who have seen this floor in security and by using an active management solution claim to be able to reduce shrinkage by a significant amount. The key to this is integrating CCTV, Access control and epos systems. By using information from all the systems, intelligent software is able to analyse shrinkage against transactions and attendance. With the integration of CCTV, real events of theft can be proven beyond doubt and the criminal element cleansed from the organisation. In addition Overtis are able to prevent IT security breaches especially within data centres, again by recognising keystrokes on the PC and generating alarms to bring unauthorised or irregular events to the attention of management. In doing this they are preventing losses/breaches before they start to cause substantial loss. The level of integration can also include mobile tracking devices to ensure every aspect of a companies IP based operation is micro managed in the finest detail.
Huge savings.
It does not take a great mathematician to work out that if an organisation is suffering from shrinkage in the order of 10-15% it actually cannot afford not to look into what Overtis can offer with the new Vigilance Pro software solution.

integrated security systems

Integrated security solutions.

Integrated security systems are becoming an ever more popular security solution for larger organizations today. Many facility managers are fed up with dealing with lots of different companies for lots of different sites and all the associated paperwork and costs involved. It is now a lot easier with the advent of IP security solutions to integrate fire, intruder, access control and CCTV into one simple package covering a multitude of sites.

Integration is the way forward.

Honeywell, Cortec and Risco are just a few of the big manufacturers out there who have recognised that integrated security systems over IP offer the end user huge advantages and exceptional cost savings, once that is the initial outlay is taken into consideration.

So easy.

The beauty of  total integration of security systems is detailed mapping and fault analysis from one location. It is difficult if not impossible within larger organizations to control costs on fragmented security arrangements with lots of different security companies, sorting all the different administration and keeping track of engineer visits. Quite frankly this can be daunting.

Integrated access control.

It is also true that within large organisations and multiple site locations that staff movements and employment changes make it difficult to control and administer access control rights. However one person using one lot of integrated security software in one location will have far more control. This is also true of compulsory fire tests, CCTV maintenance visits CCTV camera outages and so the list goes on. IP has now made it possible to get a realistic view of the whole company suite and keep control of what may have previously been uncontrollable.

Expensive?

So what would you expect to pay for an integrated security system? This is difficult to assess without knowing the full specification of the sites you wish to integrate and the security systems that will be integrated. Most CCTV security software packages have a basic product and then additional bolt ons that require a licence per module. It is crucial therefore that when specifying a fully integrated security system that detailed planning is put into place before any decision is made on the software package you decide to purchase.

Specify an integrated security system.

If you require further guidance or information on integrated security solutions that are out in the market place today, feel free to make contact and we will be happy to help

Risco SynopSYS. CCTV integration software

Risco.

Risco group have released SynopSYS a new security interface that can integrate together all security and building management requirements.

It has been designed to simplify and integrate all the following disciplines

Access control

Video monitoring

Building security

Fire detection

Building automation systems.

This can all be done using one single interface and can be used across multiple sites helping reduce costs, increasing security and reducing employment needs. Detailed  site mapping is the key to simplifying all processes using  WAN or LAN to monitor and administer and control security requirements across a company network.

In summary.

Synopsys is a general user software interface that allows the operator to control multiple security disciplines over a TCP/IP network. This network can be LAN or WAN promoting local or remote management. The solution promotes site specific graphical images, & bespoke automation commands. In addition to core security products including net-workable intruder, access, & DVR,  SynopSYS can cater for other third party drivers including Honeywell intruder, Milestone XProtect, Lenel OnGuard, Siemens SiPass, & currently software is being designed and written to include the Paxton & DM Net View.

BACKNET.

Risco also have included the BACNET protocol, therefore subject to a configuration file, can also communicate with any BACNET enabled device.

Innovation.

SynopSYS is another good innovation from the Risco group who pride themselves on producing advanced solutions for integrated security.

Biometric finger print reader

Biometric fingerprint readers.

Biometric finger print readers are undoubtedly the future of access control. The traditional methods of access control solutions uses either fobs , proximity cards or key codes. All of these suffer from one basic floor, they are all easily compromised.

Security floor.

Quite simply , a code can be told to anyone , a card and fob passed to a friend or colleague. Of course its not always that easy as access control software does have some basic security functions to recognise misuse. However, ultimately once this is discovered the system has already been compromised and quite simply this is not acceptable .

Total security.

So how does the biometric fingerprint reader protect against this. Well we  all have a unique fingerprint , this cannot be replicated, so the person presenting their fingerprint data is the person who is genuinely allowed through the door.

Why use anything else?

Why have businesses not adopted this means of entry before then? Well they have tried , but  biometric readers are to say the least unreliable, dirt, dust and rain all affect the quality of of the data being read from the fingerprint and to be fair they are very slow. Fingerprint data takes a lot of processing power to ensure it is correct and standing outside a door for 3 or four seconds may not seem a long time but on well used doors it is untenable

Integrated access control solution.

So has anything changed? Well yes, companies know it is the way forward and in the last couple of years big steps have been taken to improve the technology.  iEVO are one such company that has now produced a full proof solution. By integrating their technology with partner companies such as Paxton we see a fast, full proof solution.

They actually save money!

large organisations that get through numerous employees and vast numbers of cards will see huge savings by migrating to biometric solutions. It will not be long before these fingerprint readers are common place and we will all soon get used to fast effective entry solution. Best of all, we carry the key on our own person.