July, 2017 - securitylinkindia

INDIA RISK SURVEY 2017

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaJuly 10, 2017November 14, 2024129 mins

“The sixth edition of the India Risk Survey is based on a comprehensive survey spanning across several sectors of the economy and geographical regions of India. This survey is an endeavor to examine and evaluate the ‘potentially destructive’ risks to business undertakings in India. The survey encompasses 12 key risks that pose a number of threats to the entire economic ecosystem of the country. It is an attempt to sensitize the Government and the corporate world about emerging risks and possible dangers these risks could pose to business establishments. I am confident that this report will be of considerable value and will provide a referral to understand the complexity of these risks across the spectrum of stakeholders i.e., policymakers, corporate and individuals of the civil society.” – Dr. A. Didar Singh, Secretary General, FICCI Emerging as one of the fastest growing economies in the world, India is expected to outperform most other major economies in 2017, according to international rating agencies. India is estimated to grow at more than 7 per cent in GDP growth in 2017. Pro-investor policies have been implemented by the government to improve ease of doing business. Through flagship programmes such as ‘Make in India,’ ‘Digital India,’ and ‘Skill India,’ and effectively addressing FDI prospects across sectors, the government is striving to promote manufacturing activity locally, boost job creation and skilled workforce, local and foreign investment, and ITpowered infrastructure capable of supporting logistically-robust and multimodal networks. As per the latest IMF projection, India’s growth rate is expected to be 7.2 per cent in the 2017-18 fiscal year and 7.7 per cent in 2018-19 owing to critical structural reforms, favorable terms of trade, and lower external vulnerabilities. It is encouraging to note that the acceleration of structural reforms is bringing a new growth impetus. The Goods and Services Tax (GST), having implemented from July 2017, should help make India more of a single market and thus spur productivity, competitiveness, job creation and incomes and investment in the country. Risks to business establishments are detrimental to growth and development of any country. The nature of risks globally have changed enormously; and with their occurrences becoming more unexpected and their effects becoming more profound, risks need to be taken more seriously. Further, due to rapid digital transformation of businesses, underlying infrastructure is becoming more complex. In these changing times it is critical to understand emerging risks. Knowledge about impending risks can benefit investors, so that they could take well-informed business decisions. Given that India is increasingly attracting the international business community with its extensive regulatory, legal, and diplomatic manoeuvres, companies cannot underestimate the multitude of challenges in business operations in India; particularly with reference to the vastly divergent risk landscape the country offers. A lack of preparation against risk mitigation could leave the entire financial as well as operational functions vulnerable to attacks with disastrous consequences for a long time. A holistic risk-management strategy would help businesses to both anticipate and preempt existing and evolving risks, and also deal with them effectively. The evolving nature of risks is such that they pose a requirement of being regularly assessed and understood. The inter-linkages between the various risks that exist and demand a holistic approach to safeguard the safety and security of people, assets, and information. India is undergoing drastic changes in terms of development in areas of infrastructure, Information Technology (IT), and so on. As we are blooming into a key business destination, a robust system of protection is crucial. The India Risk Survey (IRS) Report is designed to offer industries and organisations the insight necessary to compete in this increasingly complex operation environment. The India Risk Survey 2017, attempts to highlight the perception of risks from leading businesses, drawing from public voices, as well as professionals from different sectors across the country with a focus on operational safety and strategic risks. The report provides an elaborate telling of the current scenario in terms of global risks and threats. By attempting to cover all the levels of management, from top to bottom, the survey has tapped on various industries including IT, manufacturing, retail, infrastructure, transportation, and finance, amongst others. The survey stretched out to all corners of the country and beyond, including APAC, Americas, and the EMEA region. “The purpose of India Risk Survey 2017 remains to provide a handy guide, calling attention to potential risks, and providing a base for planning the necessary preventive strategies to protect one’s organization from the negative impact of these risks. With every year, the survey aims to engage with the industry, and inform and sensitize all stakeholders about the emerging risks for developing economies like India so that well planned and strategic policy decisions can be made.” – Rohit Karnatak, MD – India, APAC & EMEA, Global Screening, Pinkerton The survey consists of 12 risks that pose the most significant threats to business perception and operations in the country. The threats are inter connected and overlap across domains, sectors and geographies. New risks have been identified on the basis of this year’s survey, which are Risk of Non-compliance, Business Investment Risk, and Legal Regulatory Risk. Information & Cyber Insecurity India Risk Survey ranks ‘Information & Cyber Insecurity’ as the biggest risk in 2017. In the recent past, there has been an increase in incidences of cyber-attacks and potential espionage on cyber-security. Given the security problems, there should be increased emphasis on, and investment in, the security of cyber infrastructure, and also raising awareness for safe usage of cyberspace while on the job and doing personal work. There is an immediate need for more attention to counter future cyber-attacks or attempts thereof via rigorous employee training sessions and stronger cooperation between business and the Government on related cyber-security threats. In India, ‘Information & Cyber Insecurity’ has become more pronounced due to the shift that the nation is undergoing towards digitisation of various assets and services being delivered via internet and mobile platforms; and the ever-present loopholes that hackers breach upon. The WannaCry malware incident has been, by far, the worst incident this year in which several systems were attacked,…

LTO Technology & Video Surveillance

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaJuly 10, 2017November 14, 2024035 mins

Benefits and Best Practices The video surveillance industry has evolved dramatically over the last 50 years. From the days of whirring VCRs, where individuals were literally, ‘caught on (VHS) tape,’ to the introduction of digital video recorders and spinning hard disks – and now, an era of network-based video surveillance and associated IT infrastructure. During this transition, the hard disk drive displaced VHS tape as the typical media for storing video surveillance footage. However, with the number of higher megapixel cameras on the rise and longer retention requirements, end-users are struggling to deal with the data and cost requirements associated with storing this amount of footage. In systems with long-term data retention, end-users can now use file-based tape storage such as LTO (Linear Tape Open) technology in combination with disk, to effectively meet their requirements in a cost effective manner without compromising on the quality of the video stored or the length of time the video footage is retained. Influential factors driving demand for cameras Legislation The level of pertinent legislation and regulation varies both nationally and internationally. Typically in North America and Western Europe there is little legislation relating directly to the general installation or use of video surveillance equipment, however, specific industries such as critical national infrastructure or casinos and gaming may be subject to specific regulations. Compliance with privacy and data protection laws tend to have a large influence on video surveillance installations and their data retention policies. In May 2017, the German government responded to an increase in security threats and the lack of video evidence available in public places including stations and city centers, by introducing new legislation altering current privacy laws to allow greater installation of video surveillance cameras. Legislation and regulations are particularly influential in the Middle East. These can dictate which organizations must install video surveillance equipment, the level of coverage and include equipment specifications such as minimum camera resolutions, frame rates, and footage retention times. For example, in Qatar, hotels and shopping malls must store footage for a minimum of 120 days. Multiple use Today, video surveillance equipment has multiple uses beyond that of traditional security or loss-prevention applications such as: Monitoring, control and recording of business operations. Health and safety – crowd monitoring and control. The collection of consumer marketing information, especially in retail sector. Anti-litigation purposes for collecting potential video evidence in case of lawsuits. Traffic monitoring and enforcement systems. The multiple uses of video surveillance systems has assisted in the propagation of the network surveillance camera as another Internet of Things (IoT) sensor which can be integrated into more complex and larger systems. Decline in camera prices Decrease in average selling prices of equipment is enabling end-users to obtain a larger return on investment. IHS Markit data shows that since 2012 the average price of a network surveillance camera in the American market has more than halved. Over the last five years, the composition of the competitive environment has changed significantly through the growth of many Chinese video surveillance vendors who typically sell cameras and recording devices at prices below their western competitors. Higher specification of cameras IHS Markit has measured uplift in the specification of cameras across several different parameters. Currently the most common network camera shipping is 1080p resolution but there will be continued growth in higher resolution cameras. Four megapixel cameras are increasing in popularity and 4K and even higher resolution cameras are expected to gain market share. Various compression technologies have been developed to mitigate some of the effects of an increase in camera image quality and the associated demands on network transmission, compute and storage. The typical compression used in the surveillance industry in 2017 is based on the H.264 AVC (MPEG-4 Part 10) standard. Many vendors have released innovative proprietary updates in the last 18 months often marketed as some form of ‘H.264+’ and ‘smart bandwidth management.’ The next generation H.265 (HEVC) compression is still some way off mass market adoption in the video surveillance industry. Despite advances in compression technologies demand for storage continues to increase. Increased value of data & longer retention times The vast majority of recorded video surveillance footage is never reviewed. As much detail as possible should be retained until it can be determined which parts are relevant or valuable. For security purposes the value usually relates to the recording of a security incident. However, the uncertainty of which parts of recorded video are going to be useful often means trade-offs between the quality at which video is stored and the length of time it is stored. Typically, extending the retention time for video surveillance data is justified by the perceived increase in the value of video surveillance data. As end-users are realizing the full value of this data, they wish to retain it for longer periods. This may be due to a new application for video surveillance data, or a perceived security threat has increased. Sometimes, retention does not increase uniformly across a system. Strategically important or mission critical cameras may have a different policy to other cameras. In general, retaining footage for longer increases the size of the available potential usable dataset for analysis. Requirements specific to storing video surveillance footage A different approach to traditional IT data storage Video surveillance storage has some specific requirements and differs from traditional IT data storage in the following ways: Video surveillance storage workloads should be configured heavily towards writing data to storage media. Most stored footage is never accessed and is deleted without it being reviewed. Therefore, generally, the requirements to read data are much lower than the requirements to write. This is different to traditional IT workloads which are typically more mixed. Video surveillance workloads can be typified as requiring high bandwidth due to the need for multiple concurrent data streams to be recorded at any one time. The throughput should be designed to cope with these requirements particularly during periods of high activity which may cause spikes in bandwidth required. It is critical in events…

Critical Infrastructure Security and Smart Cities

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaJuly 10, 2017November 14, 2024018 mins

Recently there have been several policies, simulations, active designing and implementation of smart city concepts in several locations around the world including India. Today, the world is talking about connecting everything to the internet. The fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0), a term used to draw together cyber-physical systems, the Internet Services and Internet of Things (IoT), has started to revolutionize projects such as smart grids and smart cities. There is no universally accepted definition of a smart city, with different schools of thoughts describing this concept in terms of annotations depending on their geographical scope, location and socio economic settings. Faced with rapid urbanization, city planners are turning to technology to solve a wide range of problems associated with modern cities. To provide for the aspirations and needs of the citizens, urban planners ideally aim at developing the entire urban eco-system, which is represented by the four pillars of comprehensive development – institutional, physical, social and economic infrastructure. This can be a long-term goal and cities can work towards developing such comprehensive infrastructure incrementally, adding on layers of ‘smartness.’ Ideally the planning of a smart city originates from the end user. The needs of the end user are assimilated in a systematic manner and are then distributed into several smart layers such as transportation, energy, utilities, finance, social, and logistics, amongst others. A true smart city is networked in such a manner that there is a balance between sustainable socio economic growth and urbanization. There are several examples of successful smart cities in the world such as San Diego in southern California and Glasgow in Scotland. The above illustrations show a few aspects of steps required to convert a city into a smart city. There are also several aspects of smart cities that are directly related to critical information systems and critical infrastructure. These components directly connect an end user to the service provider in terms of information display and service availability. For example, an end user can directly monitor the usage of piped gas from a mobile application; at the same time sensors in a house detect motion and usage, and the service can be cut off in case no one occupies the premise. This close networked platform is usually achieved through machine to machine communication (M2M) or an IoT platform. So how do we define these critical infrastructure platforms? Critical infrastructures are usually divided into physical and socio-economic infrastructure systems. Physical critical infrastructure encompasses all basic services such as electricity and water supply, waste (water) management, transport or information and telecommunication technologies. Socio-economic infrastructures instead include facilities such as banks, hospitals and schools but also public administration. Critical infrastructure is also a term used by governments to describe assets that are essential to the functioning of the society and economy. Future cities will challenge existing safety and security engineering models e.g., the United States electricity blackout in 2003 showed that in interdependent networks a very small failure in one network might lead to catastrophic consequences. New and complex cascading failure modes will arise out of unforeseen or emergent system characteristics as they are developed in an incremental and ad hoc fashion, especially where more sophisticated technologies are added to an already ageing physical infrastructure. A common concept between smart cities and critical infrastructure is cyber physical systems with city as the platform or (CPS). There are a number of definitions of CPS. Common features effectively describe control systems, networked and/ or distributed, incorporating a degree of intelligence (adaptive or predictive), and work in real time to influence outcomes in the real world. These definitions point to the diverse nature of CPS found in transportation, utilities, buildings, infrastructure, manufacturing, and health care. Although CPS have similarities with traditional data processing systems e.g., their networked or distributed nature and a degree of automation, the real-time nature of their interactions with the physical world is a significant difference. Interactions are sensors detecting and measuring physical parameters with actuators to control physical processes. Feedback loops allow data about the environment and the physical processes to be collected and computed. Actuation may be automatic or by an alert to a human operator. Critical infrastructure systems are CPS, whose failure would have economic or social impact. Society expects systems will operate in a safe, secure and consistent manner. In response to environmental, demographic and societal pressures, cities may no longer conduct business as usual. Traditional city models are no longer appropriate, as transport and utility infrastructures become unsustainable and require significant investment. Some cities have embraced the concept of the ‘city as a platform,’ a hyperconnected urban environment that harnesses the network effects, openness, and agility of the real-time web. The focus has been on access to data, leading to development of smartphone apps and portals allowing citizens to ‘connect’ with city services and institutions. To address cyber security requirements, we need to understand the proliferation of functions in this hyper-connected world. Where functions in individual CPS interact, they will create new functions that will proliferate over time. To protect these complex systems, we need to understand their network of functions, relationships and interdependencies. A study of critical infrastructure interdependencies led to the identification of six dimensions, which can be used to examine CPS and supporting infrastructures: Type of interdependency e.g., cyber, physical, logical or geographic. Environment e.g., business, economic, public policy, legal, regulatory, security, technical, health/ safety, or social/ political. Coupling and response behavior e.g., adaptive, inflexible, loose/tight or linear/ complex. Infrastructure characteristics e.g., spatial, operational, organizational or temporal. Type of failure e.g., common cause, escalating or cascading. State of operation e.g., normal, stressed/ disrupted, restoration or repair. Identifying critical city infrastructure in every smart city project is of prime importance. Whilst there are a number of definitions for critical national infrastructure, from a city perspective the concept of critical infrastructure is not well defined. The UK’s definition of critical national infrastructure (CNI) is: “Those facilities, systems, sites and networks necessary for the functioning of the country and the delivery of…

CAPSI Launches Rakshak Awas Yojna (RAY)

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaJuly 10, 2017November 14, 202404 mins

Private Security Sector employs over 70 lakh individuals who are the source of livelihood, support and security for over 2 crores 80 lakhs dependents. Almost all security guards belong to economically weaker section (EWS) of the society and often live in slums and destitute due to their very low wages. The security guards who are ever ready to safeguard all, are themselves constrained to live in the most insecure environment. They are deprived of even their bare fundamentals of life including the basic civic infrastructure, social amenities and decent shelters; albeit they deserve them the most. The recent up gradation of the status of the security guard from an ‘unskilled person’ to a ‘skilled worker’ has brought tremendous motivation, and pride in the profession of guarding in terms of remuneration and standing. The skill ecosystem and policy interventions by the Government have made a holistic impact on the security workforce by empowering them to break through the poverty trap successfully. Central Association of Private Security Industry (CAPSI) launches affordable housing for these security guards under ‘Rakshak Awas Yojana (RAY)’ – offering home for every security personnel under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. CAPSI through its State Chapters has announced to form co-operative societies in multiple metros/ cities by availing the benefits under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna for constructing houses through public-private partnership (PPP). In the endeavor to provide shelter to every security person, an MOU has been signed with Golden Gate Projects, a Bangalore-based company, and CNTC India Company Limited for multiple housing projects – first one to start with the construction of 5000 dwelling units at Mysore, which would also act as a pilot project to assess the demand for these ventures. “We are hopeful of getting the good response from prospective buyers since the houses will be priced competitively compared to private ventures. Moreover, our guards can avail government subsidy under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana with an easy pay back scheme through monthly installments,” said Mahesh Sharma, General Secretary, CAPSI. V.V. Katti, President of CAPSI expressed his happiness for the pilot project being initiated at Mysore in Karnataka State. He intimated that the delegation of Karnataka chapter of CAPSI will meet Mr. Siddaramaiah, Chief Minister of Karnataka, and request him to launch similar housing projects near Bengaluru and other towns in the state so that security guards may able to get affordable houses to live. “Being first responders, a concentration of security guards in a single location of living will ensure their instant availability to deal with any national disaster situations and other unforeseen internal security emergencies. Moreover, this project will have a far reaching socio-economic impact on our national agenda of sustainable growth and poverty alleviation.” – Kunwar Vikram Singh Chairman, CAPSI

Case Study

Uniview Protects Grolleman Coldstore, Advanced Freeze and Packing Company

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaJuly 1, 2017November 14, 202404 mins

Grolleman Coldstore is one of the most advanced freeze and packing companies in Europe which provides a complete service for companies who want to package, cool, freeze and store their products. With 2500 employees among 4 locations in the Netherlands and 1 in Germany and doing transport with their own transport company, Grolleman Coldstore is the number one in the Benelux market. Grolleman Coldstore used analog system with 600 TVL but currently the company has new requirements to have high quality, high resolution video surveillance system which can help monitor the production process, employees and cargos. Solution Uniview provided 2MP 30x IR network PTZ dome camera, 2MP fixed dome, 2MP minifixed bullet and 2 SATA NVR, and covered all over the company floor, outside of the factory and employee entrances. Highlights Storing, activating and working on extreme low temperature Uniview IP cameras are capable to work, store and cold start under extreme low temperature. The cameras are embedded with high efficiency heater which enables it to work up to -40°C. Smart solution applied on production process control The company had the requirement to have a complete overview of the factory so they could monitor their actions and the damages they cause. Hence it is very important that the camera’s image is very clear in every situation, so they can identify people and process flow and cargos. User-friendly Uniview’s camera and NVR feature long range PoE function which help install products conveniently. In this project, cameras are installed separately inside and outside of the company building. Nearly 1.7km cables are used for this project. In order to easily manage the overall status, Uniview NVR provides statistical form of people counting which is illustrated by time period. It visualizes the smart function which enables users to discover and manage problems easily. Cloud surveillance Uniview NVRs support P2P cloud whereby users can watch live view or recording with smart phone conveniently at anytime, anywhere. Customers of Grolleman Coldstore use Uniview cloud service to watch the process of packaging, cooling, freezing and storing their products with their smart phones. Security manager Harry Grolleman of Grolleman Coldstore said, “With Uniview system, we can give quick response in case of accidents, emergencies or problems. We are very happy with the perfectly clear images of the chosen cameras. We are also using the mobile app for demonstrating to new customers. We are pleased with the professional and convenient products.”