July 5, 2018 - securitylinkindia

International

Dahua Presenting FPGA in AI with Intel

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaJuly 5, 2018November 14, 202402 mins

Dahua Technology held a technical session together with Intel at IFSEC 2018 at London on 21 June to introduce AI NVR based on FPGA technology for security applications. Steve Norman, Sales Director of Dahua UK & Ireland highlighted Dahua’s new AI NVR based on Intel FPGA technology, which is able to realize real-time face recognition powered by AI, thanks to the deterministic low latency performance of Intel FPGAs. Moreover, Intel FPGAs are highly flexible and easy-to-use, which has enabled Dahua to better design its unique AI products. Todd Matsler, Director of Intel Global IOT Video also introduced Intel’s vision product technology including the Intel® FPGA & Intel® Movidius™ VPU, which are both equipped on Dahua’s new Deepsense series AI products. He especially pointed out the deterministic low latency, superb performance, power efficiency and future readiness of FPGA make it suitable for deep learning inference. Intel® Movidius™ VPU enables low power visual intelligence, delivering dedicated imaging, vision, and deep neural networks at the edge. With the in-depth presentations, participants of the technical session were fascinated by the great future AI could bring to the surveillance industry.

Case Study

Hikvision Safeguards Senegal International Airport

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaJuly 5, 2018November 14, 202408 mins

Senegal’s new Blaise Diagne International Airport has chosen to minimise its parking lot headaches and secure its massive freight zone with intelligent smart surveillance from Hikvision. Officially opened by Senegalese President Macky Sall in December 2017, Blaise Diagne International Airport (AIBD) covers 4,500ha of land located near the town of Diass, 47km from the capital of Dakar. Built at a cost of $575 million, the new airport is one of the largest travel hubs in West Africa, with a main runway designed to accommodate long-haul aircraft such as the A380 and B787. Approximately 3 million passengers are expected to travel through AIBD annually, increasing to 10 million by 2035. With a two level 42,000m2 main passenger terminal and 12,800m2 cargo terminal building designed to handle 50,000 tons of cargo and 80,000 aircraft movements annually, the new airport of fers a long-term solution to intra-African economic activity, providing excellent levels of aviation connectivity. Parking management To address the security, efficient management and profitability objectives of the airport’s 17 car park entrances and exits, operator Senecar enlisted the help of Hikvision authorised distributor, CST Securite, which capitalised on the support of the Hikvision Technical team, and all parties worked to confirm the final specification to meet the needs of the airport’s car parking and freight zone security surveillance, and site management requirements. Drawing on specialist products from Hikvision’s Smart Parking Management Solution, for the airport’s car park areas, CST Securite installed 17x DS-TCG225 2MP HD resolution ANPR cameras, featuring built-in whitelist, LPR identification support, barrier/ gate control and audio output. Effective access management The Hikvision smart parking management system employed at AIBD uses the latest barrier technology combined with Hikvision industry-standard ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) to ensure seamless, managed vehicular entrance and exit from parking lots. Fast vehicle identification and integrated barrier control software means queues are kept to a minimum – which means greater vehicle flow can be handled to increase the productivity and efficiency. The Hikvision Darkfighter and True WDR imaging technologies employed in the airport’s ANPR system are specified to deliver crisp and clear recognition, alongside a recording of every vehicle using the car parks day and night. A development beyond traditional technology, the airport’s car park barrier activation is not driven by traditional sensor coils in the floor (that detect a vehicle waiting to enter or exit), but by highly accurate ‘radar’ sensors. This technology enables far simpler installation and maintenance, as no ground works are required to dig across roadways or pedestrian pavements to install the traditional sensing coils and their cables. Additionally, the Hikvision radar solution is not affected by local environmental influences such as light, dust or rain that can inhibit the performance of traditional sensing coil based solutions. Helping Senecar to maximise their operation, the system provides invaluable statistical and analytical parking lot information, supplying status history, parking usage rate and parking vehicle flow, to name but a few. Underlining the advanced performance capability of the Hikvision smart parking management system, a range of configurable alarms helps the ANPR system operators to manage daily activities such as unauthorised parking, overtime parking and illegal access, which all helps support highly-effective vehicle and security management. High-level freight security AIBD’s cargo terminal building located to the south-west of the runway accommodates the airport’s freight handling, and incorporates a number of storage areas, freezers, office facilities and electromechanical service areas. To integrate with the airport’s mix of security measures and site management, CST Securite liaised with the airport security team to identify the most advantageous locations to install the freight zone cameras. Designed to capture a comprehensive view of all key internal and external areas, a mix of Hikvision DS-2CD2T42WD 4MP/ DS-2CD2T22WD 2MP full HD EXIR bullet network cameras with built-in IR to 50m, and DS-2CD2142FWD 4MP/ DS-2CD2122FWD 2MP full HD vandal-resistant network dome cameras with built-in IR to 30m and edge storage – all with IP67 protection have been installed. Supporting the Hikvision cameras’ high-performance imaging, their on-board VCA alarm activation parameters was set-up for individual camera scenes, to provide automated alarm activations and situation awareness of any predetermined set of events within each cameras’ view. To provide the airport’s security and management teams with effective real-time and playback monitoring, at the control room, Hikvision NVR-7332NI-E4/ 16P, embedded plug & play NVRs and a DS-7716NI-I4 NVR were installed to provide up to 6MP resolution recording. Simple and intuitive systems control is provided by Hikvision’s iVMS-5200E Control software, enabling all aspects of the surveillance system to be managed effectively. Commenting on the AIBD installation, Kevin Zhu, General Manager of CST Securite said, “Having used their products many times before on other high-profile projects, we had no doubt that the choice of Hikvision surveillance products would provide the customer with an efficient and reliable intelligent surveillance solution. We can confirm the good reputation of Hikvision products’ quality is backed by an equally good experience of their after-sales service.”

Product

Hikvision EasyIP 4.0 Cameras and NVRs

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaJuly 5, 2018November 14, 202404 mins

Hikvision has recently announced a new range of EasyIP 4.0 cameras and NVRs. Building on the capabilities of their EasyIP 3.0 range, they provide simple, practical and affordable surveillance solutions for small and medium size businesses. The EasyIP 4.0 products are built on Hikvision’s H.265+ smart codec, which reduces bandwidth and storage requirements by up to 50% over H.265, delivering major IT savings for small and medium size businesses. As an additional benefit, the EasyIP 4.0 range introduces a number of new technology innovations to help businesses maximize their surveillance and security. They include: Hikvision AcuSense Integration of Hikvision AcuSense into EasyIP 4.0 IP cameras and NVRs, helps filtering out false alarms with more than 90% accuracy, and faster reaction to real security threats. Hikvision AcuSense works by detecting humans or vehicles, and effectively filters out false alarms triggered by natural movements such as rain or leaves. With automated strobe light and audio alarms, Hikvision AcuSense enabled cameras also deter would-be intruders before a security breach occurs. Besides, they further incorporate Hikvision ‘Powered by DarkFighter’ ultra-low-light illumination technology, which provides superior surveillance images, even at night. Combined with ultra-high-definition video capabilities, Powered by DarkFighter ensures that organizations can identify and react to security threats effectively, and provide great video evidence in the event of a security breach. As an extension to Hikvision AcuSense, EasyIP 4.0 NVRs offer a ‘quick target search’ feature that allows security teams to find footage quickly in the event of a security incident. This saves many hours for teams who would otherwise search for footage manually. Hikvision ColorVu EasyIP 4.0 ColorVu cameras use warm, supplemental lighting to deliver bright color video images, even at night. Round-the-clock color-boosting capabilities are powered by an F1.0 super aperture, a more advanced sensor, warm supplemental lighting, and a range of other technologies. With brighter, more colorful video, EasyIP 4.0 ColorVu cameras support protection against security breaches whenever they happen, day or night. Unprecedented site security for small and medium businesses EasyIP 4.0 cameras and NVRs provide high-grade, costeffective surveillance solutions for small and medium size businesses. Frank Zhang, General Manager of International Product Marketing Department at Hikvision said, “In the past, surveillance features such as ultra-high-definition video, nighttime color video and automated strobe light and audio alarms were out of reach for many smaller organisations. Now, with the EasyIP 4.0 range, we have now made these features accessible to small and medium size businesses, helping them achieving much higher levels of site security.”

National

AXIS Extended Warranty for Range of Network Video Products

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaJuly 5, 2018November 14, 202402 mins

Axis Communications has introduced the AXIS Extended Warranty programme, a service offering for its line of network video products. This warranty covers an additional two years to the initial warranty of three years. It includes all repair, maintenance and replacement of products including cameras, video encoders, video decoders and physical access control products. Integrators and end users will now be able to avail a prolonged warranty to a maximum of five years. “We wanted to ensure that our customers benefit from increased level of support and service after they have purchased Axis products. The Axis Extended Warranty programme gives them additional cover with better choices especially for those with larger installations,” said Sudhindra Holla, Sales Director – India and SAARC at Axis Communications, “Furthermore, this programme reiterates our commitment to quality and our customer first approach. AXIS’ Extended Warranty opens up new possibilities for system integrators in offering warranty service agreements to end users. The AXIS Extended Warranty is available via all Axis’ distribution channels, and the product must be registered within 6 months of the product being purchased.

Latest

VPNFilter Malware: What is known so far

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaJuly 5, 2018November 14, 202407 mins

Recently, a malware known as VPNFilter was discovered infecting various types of routers. VPNFilter is a modular, multi-stage malware that works mainly on home or small office routers. Since 2016, when the malware was initially introduced, it has compromised more than 500,000 home and small office routers and NAS boxes. Infection of such a large scale could allow the malware’s creators to utilize the affected nodes as a private VPN, making the trace back to the origin of a targeted attack very difficult. Though the infection vector is not yet clear, it is most likely to exploit known vulnerabilities affecting the various routers. There is no indication at present that the exploit of zero-day vulnerabilities is involved in spreading this threat. Some researchers and other US governmental bodies such as the FBI link this attack to the constant cat-and-mouse game between Russia and Ukraine. VPNFilter affected devices Devices infected by the VPNFilter malware include home and small office routers made by Linksys, MikroTik, Netgear and TP-Link, as well as network attached storage devices from QNAP. Magnitude of VPNFilter attack VPNFilter has been active since 2016, affecting some 500,000 devices in more than 54 countries. During May of 2018, two major attacks have been spotted targeting devices located in Ukraine. Threat behind VPNFilter The FBI hints to readers in its post that the VPNFilter malware attack could be the work of Sofacy Group, also referred as APT28, Sandworm, X Agent, Pawn Storm, Fancy Bear and Sednit. They have also seized a key domain that was used to infect home routers. It was also noted by Cisco researchers that the pattern of the attack indicates that the malware is part of a state-backed effort to create a versatile and effective botnet or data harvesting campaign, and shows the hallmarks of previous Eastern European malware efforts. Additionally, parts of this malware overlap code from the BlackEnergy malware which was responsible for multiple large-scale attacks that targeted devices in Ukraine, which was also attributed to a Russian government backed threat actor. VPNFilter infection process McAfee has provided a write-up on VPNFilter’s three-stage infection process: Stage 1 – completes the persistence on the system and uses multiple control mechanisms to find and connect the Stage 2 deployment server. Stage 2 – focuses on file collection, command execution, data extraction, and device management. Some versions possess a self-destruct capability to render itself unusable. Stage 3 – includes two known modules, possibly there are more to come: A traffic sniffer to steal website credentials and monitor Modbus SCADA protocols. Tor to communicate with anonymous addresses. How to prevent VPNFilter attack on the router Steps to protect against this malware are very generic and include the following: Reboot your device; if the device is infected with VPNFilter, rebooting will temporarily remove the destructive elements (outlined in stages 2 and 3 above). Perform a hard reset of the device, restoring factory settings to wipe it clean (removes elements from stage 1 above). Make sure you have the latest firmware installed. How Skybox Security can help defend your network Skybox Security can help identify vulnerability on a network quickly and provide recommendations for patching or other forms of mitigation – based on security controls such as firewalls and intrusion prevention systems (IPS). For this purpose, information about the vulnerability is analyzed in the Skybox Research Lab. A team of security analysts scours dozens of public and private safety data sources every day and investigates websites on the dark web. This allows Skybox to provide validated and up-to-date threat information. The Research Lab also provides vulnerability information regarding exploitability levels, exploitation preconditions and effects, and configures attack patterns to be used in Skybox’s patented attack simulations. By means of a vulnerability assessment without an active scan, the existence of vulnerability in a customer environment is to be derived. Vulnerabilities are then integrated into an attack surface model that includes the network topology, security controls and resources. The model performs attack simulations using information feed data to identify vulnerable assets directly or indirectly exposed to a potential attack. With Skybox, customers can quickly respond to threats such as theVPNFilter malware. Instead of focusing solely on the severity of the vulnerability, Skybox analyzes more factors than any other solution to determine the risk of attack. This can prevent an exploit like this from becoming a risk for companies. By Marina Kidron – Director, Threat Intelligence, Skybox Research Lab