Videonetics announced its entry into the European market by unveiling the world’s leading AI and deep learning enabled visual computing platform at the recently concluded IFSEC International in London. Commenting on the grand success, Dr Tinku Acharya, Founder & MD of Videonetics said, “This year was our first experience with IFSEC International. We garnered huge response throughout the three days with record high footfalls ranging from manufacturers, distributors, installers, integrators, consultants to end users. IFSEC International provided an excellent opportunity to launch our AI and deep learning enabled visual computing platform which was well received and appreciated by the consultants, end users and system integrators. We were excited to see the response and the keenness shown by them towards our platform.” Continuing to bring the indigenous innovations and technological advances to the global market, Videonetics has been setting new benchmarks in the field of security and surveillance by using their patented intellectual property.

NEC Technologies India together with NEC Corporation has implemented intelligent transportation management system (ITMS)/ automatic fare collection system (AFCS) for BRT system in Ahmedabad with Smart City Ahmedabad Development Limited (SCADL). NEC in consortium with nCode Solutions (A GNFC Company) was awarded this project by SCADL to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the existing bus rapid transit (BRT) system and city bus service with the help of most advanced cutting edge global technologies with the objective of providing seamless, fast, reliable, safe and convenient public transportation system to the citizens of Ahmedabad. This is one of the many techno smart initiatives being taken by SCADL to make Ahmedabad a truly citizen friendly and world class smart city. The system for BRT is now fully operational while the service for the city buses (AMTS) is expected to be operational in the following month. BRTS and AMTS are the lifelines of Ahmedabad serving 150 thousand BRTS passengers and 600 thousand AMTS passengers daily. This ITMS project will upgrade 230 BRT buses, 158 BRT stations, 850 AMTS buses and 11 major city bus stations. NEC has implemented many world class cutting edge technologies like automatic fare collection system (AFCS), automatic vehicle location system (AVLS), passenger information system (PIS), vehicle planning scheduling & dispatch (VPSD) and depot management system (DMS), apart from dedicated Mobile App and Web Portal for both BRT and city bus service, and also entrusted with the operations and maintenance of all these systems for next 7 years. Use of advanced ICT and cashless services in the city are the two main components of the smart city projects envisaged by the GoI. Under this new system being implemented by NEC, passengers can use smart phones and Rupay based common mobility payment smart cards for fare payment at BRT stations and inside the city buses. Automatic fare gates equipped with validators at BRT stations will ensure most convenient and foolproof access to the BRT buses for authorized commuters. Advanced GPS tracking units installed in all buses will enable the real time tracking and monitoring of all these buses from central command center. Real time PIS system installed in buses and at bus stations will provide accurate and timely information regarding expected time of arrival (ETA) of next bus, announcement and display of next bus stop and many similar useful information to commuters. Other advanced systems like VPSD and DMS will help bus operation agencies to optimize their resources and assets resulting in overall operational efficiency of the public transport system in Ahmedabad. “Efficient and sustainable public transport system equipped with modern technology such as ITMS/ AFCS with cashless payment is the need of the hour in view of smart city mission of the Govt. of India. We hope that ITMS and AFCS systems implemented by NEC will make our bus operations more efficient and help us in providing world class public transport service to commuters in Ahmedabad. We have also integrated the Rupay based Janmitra card with AFC system by NEC making it convenient for commuters to travel seamlessly across BRT and AMTS buses. In future we plan to extend the reach of this card to other modes of public transport in the city like taxis and Metro as well,” said Rakesh Shankar, IAS and CEO Smart City Ahmedabad Development Ltd. “In order to satisfy growing demand, NEC will utilize its extensive experience with traffic systems, both domestically and internationally, to introduce and integrate a variety of traffic systems to comprehensively support the achievement of a safer and more accurate bus service in Ahmedabad,” said Takayuki Inaba, Managing Director, NEC Technologies India.

Hikvision has recently organized training programs in Punjab’s Patiala and Chandigarh cities to impart security product knowledge and training – first on 22nd June at Hotel Shourya, Patiala; and the second on 23rd at Hotel JW Marriott, Chandigarh. A comprehensive product introduction, live demos and training program were the key highlights of the event that got overwhelming response from the security professionals in both cities. It was a great experience for Hikvision team to meet with potential partners and SIs. This was instrumental in building trust and confidence for the quality and services offered by Hikvision. Ashish P. Dhakan, CEO and MD, Prama Hikvision India Pvt. Ltd., said in his introductory note, “The future of the security market in India is very bright due to robust growth prospects. Hikvision is the world’s leading provider of innovative video surveillance products and solutions. We are offering the latest products and innovative technologies including artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning, big data, IoT (Internet of Things). The Hikvision Training Program is our initiative to impart training and product knowledge to the security professional community.” Hikvision team organized the Training Program in Patiala and Chandigarh in association with its respective regional distributors Bandagee Computers and Bright Computers. The events were one of the firsts in the regions hence they got overwhelming response from the security professionals.

Last year WannaCry created havoc across the globe, and due to its lateral movement, it penetrated into the networks and skipped across the countries and continents. The security community has been highly proactive in taking down the infrastructure associated with WannaCry, however, due to its ability to move across networks, eScan observes that it still exists in its dormant form.   eScan’s telemetry servers have been picking up reminiscent artefacts of WannaCry ransomware on regular basis. Over the period of last few months, they have observed a steady decrease of incidents involving WannaCry, and hopefully by the year end WannaCry should meet the same fate as that of Conflicker worm/ DNS changer botnet. eScan has been observing various variants and newer ransomware being added into the family, however very few of them have shown active development viz., GandCrab and ZZZ. In the last few weeks, GandCrab has taken center-stage and is evolving at a much faster rate, which suggests that the ransomware developer/ criminal nexus is growing stronger and many of the criminals are now switching their loyalties to GandCrab. It is a sheer fact that the developers are taking keen interest and adding numerous weapons to its arsenal. The next step of the evolution for ransomware would be Crypto miners with Info stealers and a ransomware – all bundled into one.     India has seen its share of ransomware attacks and Maharashtra is leading the way for the week, however, in states like Gujarat, Telengana, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala eScan has observed a rise in activity of the GandCrab ransomware attacks, and xtbl, korean, Dharma and CrySiS variants of ransomware family are making rounds. Prevention measures To stay safe from such ransomware attacks, all the organizations and users need to ensure that the patches released by Microsoft have been updated or patched immediately Administrators should block all executable files from being transmitted via e-mails. Administrators should isolate the affected system in the network. Administrator can restore the encrypted files from the backup or from system restore point (if enabled) for affected systems. Install and configure eScan with all security modules active: o eScan real time monitoring. o eScan proactive protection. o eScan Firewall IDS/IPS intrusion prevention. Users shouldn’t enable macros in documents. Organizations should deploy and maintain a backup solution. Most important, organizations should implement MailScan at the gateway level for mail servers, to contain the spread of suspicious attachments.  

UBM India has recently organised the 5th edition of the Occupational Safety & Health (OSH) (28-29 June) as well as the 4th edition of the Security and Fire Expo (SAFE) South India 2018 (28- 30 June), for the first time in Hyderabad. Held at the Hitex Exhibition Center, the expos brought together internationally renowned exhibitors, consultants, industry experts and key government officials on a single platform from the Indian and the international industries. Speaking on the occasion of the maiden launch of OSH South India and SAFE South India in Hyderabad, Yogesh Mudras, Managing Director, UBM India said, “Governments all over the world recognize the importance of a safe and a healthy environment for citizens and firmly believe that without these vital components, social justice and economic growth cannot be achieved. Besides, education, training, consultation and exchange of information and good practices are essential for prevention and promotion of such measures. Through OSH and SAFE South India 2018, we have provided an opportunity for stakeholders across the health, safety and security industries to showcase their innovations and technology, understand new industry trends, and network and create new business connections. This is an industry that banks on newer and improved technological innovations on a constant basis. Naturally, there is an immense growth potential along with the learning and networking opportunities for suppliers and service providers at these expos.”   “Notably, for the first time since their inception, the co-located OSH and SAFE expos for South India have been brought to Hyderabad this year as a strategy to rotate them across several key Indian cities in South India. This move also aims to bring the expos closer to the end-user community and spread awareness across this region on health and safety best practices. The response we have got here has been extremely encouraging,” he further added. SAFE South India 2018 SAFE was Inaugurated by T.V. Sashidhar Reddy, IPS, Addl. Director, RBVRR (Telangana State Police Academy), and R Nanda Kumar, President, Electronic Security Association of India, among other key dignitaries. SAFE 2018 brought together over 70 renowned Indian and international brands from surveillance, entrance and home automation industry, as well as consultants, business experts and key government officials from the industry to congregate, interact, network, view the latest innovations, source business solutions and gather invaluable expert support, all under one roof. The expo is supported by the Electronic Security Association of India (ESAI) and Asian Professional Security Association (APSA). Some of the key exhibitors present at SAFE India 2018 included Mark Electronics Corporation, Timewatch Infocom Pvt. Ltd., Road Point Ltd., N S Enterprises, ACJ Computronix, Advance Infotech, WYSE Biometrics Systems Pvt. Ltd., Mantra Softech (I) Pvt. Ltd., Matrix Comsec Pvt. Ltd., Prama Hikvision India Pvt. Ltd., Pictor Telematics Pvt. Ltd., Axestrack Software Solutions Pvt. Ltd., R G International, Lana Technologies Private Limited, Tekno Electro Solutions (P) Ltd., Face ID Systems LLP, HiFocus Electronics India Pvt. Ltd., Enterprise Software Solutions Lab Pvt. Ltd., Futureeye Global Technologies, CAMTECH Solutions, Dahua Technology India Pvt. Ltd., Vamo Systems Pvt. Ltd. etc. The event also organized a unique conference on the first day focusing on in-depth speaker sessions and panel discussions on ‘Corporate Risk Management,’ ‘Key Strategies and Technologies to Mitigate Threats,’ ‘Bolstering Security of a New-Age City,’ ‘The Changing Role of a CSO in Crisis Management,’ and ‘Threat of Cyber Attacks on Security & Surveillance Systems.’ OSH South India 2018 OSH South India 2018 saw an inaugural ceremony attended by Chief Guest – B. R. V. Susheel Kumar, IAS, Director of Mines and Geology, Government of Telangana, along with key dignitaries such as Hemant Sapra, President, Safety Appliances Manufacturers Association (SAMA); S.P. Garg, Executive Director, Corporate HSE, Gas Authority of India Ltd.; C. Laxiprasadh, Addl. Director, Telangana State Disaster Response & Fire Services, Hyderabad; M. Vijay Kumar, Director of Boilers, Govt of Telangana; Pankaj Jain, Group Director, UBM India and Yogesh Mudras, amidst an august industry gathering. Supported by associations like Safety Appliances Manufacturers Association (SAMA), IPAF, Indian Technical Textile Association, Indian Society of Ergonomics, and other safety training institutes, OSH brought together over 80 prominent safety brands including Venus Health & Safety, Acme Safetywears Limited, Draeger Safety India Pvt. Ltd., Indomax, Midas Safety Pvt. Ltd., Motorola Solutions India Pvt. Ltd., NIST Institute Pvt. Ltd., Oil & Gas Plant Engineers (I) Pvt. Ltd., Oshkosh India Pvt. Ltd., Prolite Autoglo Limited, Rupa Enterprises, to name a few. OSH also includes a two-day conference including workshops focusing on the significance and business benefits of investing in the health and safety of the workforce and in-turn, the health of its own organization and the economy at large. The seminars focused on topics like fire safety strategies, hazards to workers’ health and solutions, challenges in implementing laws and legislation related to OSH in India, redefining mindsets in the construction industry regarding OSH etc. UBM India has also strategically tied up with prime organisations such as the International Power Access Federation (IPAF) that is holding an IPAF operator training program, while the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) held a workshop on ‘Indian Standards on Occupational Safety and Health.’

  Hikvision participated in the recently held Retail Technology Conclave 2018 (ReTechCon) in Mumbai to showcase its smart retail solutions enabled by artificial intelligence and advanced video analytics. The theme for the two day conclave hosted by the Retailers Association of India (RAI) was ‘Intelligent Retail: What is Smart.’ “Hikvision’s AI based smart retail solution equipped with deep learning algorithms was showcased at Retail Technology Conclave (ReTechCon) – 2018 where retailers also understood how Hikvision’s R&D effort is helping the retail business operation through smart retail solutions. We got a great response from the retailers community to do (proof of concept) POC for Hikvision AI product range. There is a lot of interest in deep learning technology and business intelligence functions for retail support, including People-Counting, heat mapping, queue detection and face recognition,” said Ashish P. Dhakan, MD & CEO, Prama Hikvision India Pvt. Ltd. K. Dakhara, Vertical Head (Retail, Logistics, Warehouse, Gems & Jewellery), Prama Hikvision India Pvt. Ltd., gave insights about Hikvision’s India plans, Market share and global position in surveillance and retail AI technology. He said, “Hikvision’s retail specific artificial intelligence solutions help brick-and–mortar stores (actual physical store) as well as online platforms, and shows as to how Hikvision’s AI technology is useful for behavioural analysis. It can help increase the retail business efficiency and work as a tool for loss prevention in both small as well as large retail enterprises.” The showcased latest products and solutions included footfall count system, heat map analysis, CCTV integration with POS, artificial intelligence based facial recognition, integrated solution for CCTV, intrusion and fire, loss prevention solution, access control, time & attendance, Hikvision’s consumer product range, Amazon Alexa integrated IPC range and central monitoring command and control system. The event was the preferred platform for the release of several products and a report by RAI & ValueFirst titled ‘Eyeing Consumer Intelligence in Retail,’ that helps in understanding the state of e-retail in the Indian marketing context. For Hikvision, Retail Technology Conclave 2018 proved to be the suitable plat form for showcasing the cutting-edge Smart Retail Solutions.