Category: Feature

The question for every logistics company is how to maximize performance and supply chain security. The latest generation of smart logistics solutions can help, with tools for optimized vehicle and dock management, end-to-end order tracking, fleet management, employee health & safety, and more, says Harvey Zheng, Senior Solution Manager for Logistics Industry at Hikvision Supply chain globalization, the booming e-commerce market and rising demand for manufactured goods have all driven growth in the logistics industry. To take full advantage of this industry boom, logistics companies need to maximize their performance and throughput, while tracking and securing many thousands of orders and deliveries every day. But optimizing logistics operations is easier said than done. One major issue is that logistics managers often lack the real-time information they need to make fast, accurate decisions. For example, they may not be able to see which facilities are experiencing performance issues, which orders have been delayed and why, or which partners are missing their delivery SLAs. The solution: Next-generation logistics management solutions To solve these and other challenges, more companies are turning to advanced technology for help. They’re implementing the equipment, applications, software, and tools needed to gain better visibility and control over their logistics operations. Next-generation logistics management solutions also make the global supply chain more customer-centric and sustainable. By automating logistics processes, for instance, organizations can enhance the productivity and efficiency of their workflows; increase transparency and traceability in their supply chains; and maintain flexible and dynamic relationships with their stakeholders. The role of smart video in logistics management   One key technology for next-generation logistics management is smart video, an evolution of the cameras that companies have been using in their warehouses, distribution centers (DCs), and yards for decades. While traditional cameras were used for security monitoring only, smart video solutions use AI, machine learning and other advanced technologies to boost efficiency, productivity, and even worker health and safety. The top benefits of smart video By taking the decision to deploy industry leading smart video solutions as part of their logistics management environment, companies can: Enhance personnel management and health and safety: With AI algorithms that send alerts automatically if employees are not wearing the required protective equipment, or if they get to close to dangerous machinery, for example. Optimize vehicle and dock management: With dashboards that display the status of each loading dock in real time, which allow vehicles to load and unload more quickly and help to maximize efficiency and throughput. Improve goods and order tracking: Based on the ability to create an automated, secure, and fully trackable goods management process. This supports the secure flow of goods at one site (or across multiple sites) and includes solutions for accurate, secure goods scanning, tracking and delivery. Increase site security: Based on perimeter protection solutions that provide crystal-clear video footage, even in zero-light environments. Radar and dome cameras can also be combined to detect any unauthorized people or vehicles entering the site; and to trigger automated alerts for any suspicious movements. Optimize fleet management: With on-board infrastructure that monitors vehicles’ interiors and their surroundings. These systems also feature a powerful software platform for live view, video playback, GIS map locations, device health monitoring, fuel consumption checking, goods quality monitoring, emergency alarms, and more. Also Read:- AI, Robotics & IoT Security Tech Got Overwhelming Response

Vikas Bhonsle, CEO, Crayon Software Experts India Since 2020, inconsistencies have become a new norm for businesses globally. Even though the industry is preparing to open up again in full swing and get back to some level of normalcy, it is still unclear if the pandemic conditions are going away any time soon. On the brighter side, businesses have become well versed with pandemic implied difficulties and survival mechanisms for future scenarios. The business models of the past are becoming obsolete for the future. The specific strategies below can help companies to prepare for the better or worse: Multi-cloud adoption In 2020, many companies had to close down their onsite operations and make a swift move to the cloud. However, instead of choosing one cloud provider, it is advisable to diversify the cloud adoption and go for a Multicloud approach. Apart from the regular benefits, like innovation, expansion, and cost-savings, Multicloud mitigates the drawback of ‘Vendor Lock-in’ – the perennial IT problem of being so dependent on a vendor that the costs of moving elsewhere are restricted. With Multicloud, companies can cherry-pick the services and applications that are best suited to their business. It also gives the customer a fair chance to better negotiate when it comes to costs and contracts. Also, in a Multicloud environment, if one vendor suffers an outage, it is reassuring to know about the other options for business recovery and continuity. Re-skilling and up-skilling of Employees The pandemic has brought massive changes to the economic landscape, which requires companies to adopt new approaches for mobilizing their existing talent base. All business models and operations are being reimagined and reinvented. Hence, to build a resilient workforce, existing employees must be trained to adapt to the changes. It will not just help employees become better skilled and stay relevant in their jobs, but it will also create a sense of balance in the talent demand and supply gap. Bring Agility and Purpose to Your Company The pandemic forced many organizations to accelerate processes and be more agile. Now the goal is to maintain the same pace by nurturing it from inside the organization. This will happen by investing in new collaboration technologies. With everyone going pro-digital, there will be a natural demand for the speedy delivery in communication and services. Also, to retain employees for long, companies must bring a sense of purpose to the business. A McKinsey report states that companies with a strong sense of purpose outperform those that lack one. The overall purpose also helps companies recognize emerging opportunities and connect with their customers. This, too, should therefore be seen as a priority and a source of competitive advantage. Use of Data-centric technologies to manage operations in a better way Data is the direct output of digital solutions. Incorporating data analysis and creating new models to enable real-time decision making is the way to go ahead in the future. After the 2008 financial crisis, many risk and financial models had to be rebuilt. Similarly, in the post-COVID-19 era, the use of data and analytics will need to be recalibrated. New data models must be enhanced and validated to enable companies to address demand forecasting, asset management, and coping with massive new volumes of data. The Great Reset Digital transformation is not just critical, but the natural progression for businesses to navigate future times. The above mentioned strategic directions, among many others, will help companies to sustain and support their customers and stakeholders in a better way during these unprecedented times.  

Nikhil Korgaonkar, Regional Director, Arcserve India & SAARC Sophistication in cyberattacks is increasing by the day, with only 1 in 5 enterprises being confident that they could recover from a ransomware attack. In a recent survey conducted by Dimensional Research, 96% of IT decision-makers reported they are worried about ransomware attacks. CISOs are stepping up the protection of their business with prevention solutions, such as firewalls, identity, and access management and passwords. However, there is still one challenge at large – data storage. Understanding the Importance of Immutable Storage When a company falls victim to a cyberattack, every second of business downtime is painful and expensive and can result in a loss of $5,600 per minute, according to Gartner. Cyberattack prevention measures are essential for security. The total cost of recovery from a ransomware attack has more than doubled in a year, increasing from $761,106 in 2020 to $1.85 million in 2021 globally, as per the Sophos report. However, CISOs also need data protection to achieve their primary objective of data security and availability. Achieving this well depends on data backup and storage. Indian companies pay around $76,619 as ransom on average. However, despite paying up the ransom, on average, organisations could retrieve only 75 per cent of their data in India, compared to a global average of 65 percent, and only 4 per cent got all their data back. Solutions such as firewalls, identity, access management and passwords etc., underpin all business operations and are prime targets for hackers during cyberattacks. These solutions should, therefore, also be the top priority when it comes to preparing data security policies. Backup and immutable storage solutions protect data in case of an attack or any other business disaster. They are the last line of defence that guarantees data security and availability. Establishing data immutability for optimal security Implementing a holistic approach to data security by integrating an immutable data storage solution is crucial as it strengthens data resilience. A business can never stop cyberattacks, but neutralizing their effects can ensure business continuity, which is critical. The most important step for a company that wants to protect itself against ransomware is to back up files regularly and store them using an immutable storage solution. The most sophisticated attacks make it possible to encrypt both the files and the recovery points. An immutable snapshot is a copy of your data that ransomware or a user cannot modify or delete. An organization can quickly recover data written to an immutable data storage solution following data corruption or deletion, ransomware attacks, or other issues. Indeed, users can independently recover their data by looking through their files on Windows Explorer or Finder on a Mac. There’s no need to recover data using the previous day’s backup – users look through the files and select the data they want to restore. As well as making their teams aware of security risks, CISOs must also increase their awareness of the importance of data storage. Data security policies are often limited to the basics and are not robust enough in today’s world, where the number of attacks is rising. Data is a huge money-maker for hackers, so businesses should be asking, not if, but when they will become ransomware victims. Now is the time to change your information security strategy and incorporate a holistic approach to data protection.  

Everyone knows that high definition (HD) is amazing, dramatically improving viewing quality and experience. For security, that’s super important. For example, HD images can significantly assist in event investigations, particularly in terms of reviewing incidents and verifying claims. On the other hand, if video of license plates or other key evidence is grainy and blurry, it can make cases time-consuming, difficult, and expensive to solve. Likewise, for business owners that are looking for peace of mind, high-definition footage supports faster, more effective incident responses. But HD deployments don’t always give the benefits customers expect, especially if it’s a retrofit, meaning that cameras are being upgraded at the front end. In fact, getting an upgrade right requires an in-depth review of your end-to-end security infrastructure to ensure that HD cameras can be supported effectively. For example, many networks can only handle three to four Mbps (megabits per second), while HD cameras typically require 5-8Mbps to stream videos. In such a case, the performance of HD cameras would be negatively impacted, and investments wasted. Here are our three tips for ensuring that your end-to-end security infrastructure can support new HD cameras, and deliver all the benefits your organization expects: Select a high-definition camera that suits your needs Some HD cameras are designed to give visibility across large areas, while some focus on small spaces; and some can zoom in on a person or vehicle of interest while others can’t. That’s why you need to choose cameras that are right for your specific needs, whether you’re looking to monitor a large parking lot, or the front yard of a family house. You can ensure you choose the right HD camera by clarifying the use case you’re with your local security installer. They can help you choose the right kit and the right lens and image resolution options based on whether you need to detect, observe, recognize, or identify an object and on how far, and how clearly your cameras need to ‘see.’ When it comes to analog… I t is obvious that network cameras or IP cameras have gained a lot of popularity in the market as they are flexible to deploy, expandable, and can incorporate a number of intelligent functions based on algorithms. However, this doesn’t mean that customers with existing analog system can’t upgrade their systems to HD. On the contrary, they can deploy HD capabilities without replacing the whole infrastructure. This is made possible with the High Definition Transport Video Interface (HDTVI) standard, which is available with Turbo HD products from Hikvision. With Turbo HD, HD-over-coaxial solutions allow customers to achieve superior picture quality in the analog world. Choose technologies that maximize storage efficiency and lower costs Compared to conventional CCTV, the transmission of HD images consumes more network bandwidth and storage space. This means limiting the bitrate from HD video streams is critical. Advanced video encoding technology like the Hikvision H.265+ can solve this problem, greatly reducing the bitrate of recorded footage, as well as bandwidth and storage costs. According to a 24-hour testing in a busy café restaurant, with cameras at the same resolution and frame rate, we found that the H.264 codec yielded an average of 22.7 GB. Strikingly, Hikvision’s H.265+ averaged only 3.9 GB, demonstrating an 83% improvement in storage consumption. It’s also possible to maximize transmission and storage efficiency with the right video recording plan. In some cases, for example, when it’s important to capture specific events in a video timeline, customers can implement a video recording plan only when the pre-defined event rules are triggered. In other cases, full-time video recordings is necessary, which requires a continuous recording plan. Alternatively, a mixed recording plan can be used, for example, for continuous video recording on weekdays and event recording on weekends, or for any other configuration of times and days. Make sure your monitor delivers the right HD viewing experience It would be a shame if you have had good quality HD security cameras and network environment, but the video images on the monitor are in low resolution. In other words, if you deployed an HD camera at 2MP, and your monitor supports up to 720P, ultimately you would get video images with 720P resolution, instead of 1080P your camera is able to provide. So, to get the most out of the HD cameras and infrastructure you have, you need a monitor that is at least 1080 pixels. Preferably, it should also be equipped with proper image rendering and processing technologies to deliver true-to-life HD images. Only this way will you get the crystal-clear images that the leading HD cameras can provide. Basically, the more pixels per inch (PPI), the higher the resolution is. Therefore, with the same 1080P resolution, monitors in a 22-inch format will provide sharper images than monitors in a 24-inch format. So, if customers need monitors for small business use, for instance, a café restaurant, a monitor with smaller size would do the job well. For larger scenarios like industrial parks and stadiums, big-sized video walls with 4K resolution are ideal. Implement your HD retrofit plan with Hikvision From high-quality image capturing, to efficient HD image transmission and storage, HD image display and viewing, Hikvision has thought about all of these key steps and designed our solutions to optimize your HD deployment. As an IoT solution provider with video as its core competency, Hikvision provides a wide range of HD cameras featuring various resolutions and top-notch image processing technologies, which dramatically address customers’ needs under different scenarios and budgets. The company’s inhouse H.265+ video encoding technology ensures that HD images can be transmitted and stored in an efficient way without compromising image quality. Its display products including monitors, video walls, and the latest LED products offer unrivalled visual experience to suit every security need, indoor and outdoor.  

Johan Paulsson, CTO, Axis Communications It only feels like five minutes since we published our 2021 technology trends post. The past year has flown by. I hope it’s been a positive one for all of you, and though we’re still experiencing an uncertain environment, you’ve remained healthy and safe. As ever, I tend to start thinking about next year’s technology trends in the context of those which we predicted for this year. However, having published annual technology trends posts for a while now, I looked back through them all to prompt some thoughts. What’s very clear is that the concept of ‘trust’ has appeared in most of the posts in one form or another. The context has changed slightly over the years, sometimes focused on trust in the use of data, trust that systems are secure, or the fundamental need to trust that organizations are doing the right thing. But it’s clear that matching the ongoing pace of technology innovation through an equal evolution in building trust in the use of technology is vital. We don’t think that 2022 will be any different. Now more than ever there’s a healthy desire – from individuals, organizations, and legislators – to ensure that new technologies are being developed, manufactured, used and secured in ways that we can trust are positive. For Axis, of course, that means always working towards our vision of a smarter, safer world. As we move into 2022, it’s interesting to see how many of the technology trends we see for year can be linked back to the need to build a trusted technology ecosystem. Universally connected across hybrid environments To the end user of technology – from a consumer using their mobile phone to security personnel managing video surveillance – the technology architecture being used to deliver services has become invisible. Whether processing takes place on a device, local server or in a remote data center doesn’t matter – everything is simply ‘connected’. Last year we talked about the world going ‘horizontal,’ where the combination of cloud, on-premise server and edge technologies would be increasingly used together, each employed to its strengths, in so-called hybrid solutions. This hasn’t changed, but it’s very apparent that the question of architecture is unique to each customer and needs to take account of both internal resources and policies, and of external factors such as local and international regulation. As a security solution vendor, it’s not up to us to define for the customer the environments and architecture they should use, but rather to equip them with the tools and flexibility to decide on the best solution for their unique situation. Given that ‘connected’ has become the default, we do believe that most surveillance solutions will ultimately be hybrid – indeed, many already are – which in itself has implications. Cybersecurity born from a healthy skepticism We don’t always think of skepticism as a positive trait, but in relation to cybersecurity it can be a prudent one. The billions of connections that now exist between devices, networks, and data centers have made the concept of securing a perimeter around any organization almost completely obsolete. The walls that might have previously existed have become permeable, and a new approach to security has therefore emerged – zero trust networks. Regular readers of our annual technology trends post may question the move to zero trust networks as a trend for 2022, given it was mentioned in last year’s post. But while a year ago we foresaw the rapid acceleration towards zero trust network architectures, we now believe it to be a default approach. The COVID-19 pandemic has played a role here too, as much more flexible work has seen more devices previously used within the organization’s walls connected remotely over the public internet. When zero trust networks means that the security profile for each device and application connecting to a network is independently evaluated each time it connects, it has significant implications for the video surveillance sector. Signed firmware, regular software updates, secure boot, encrypted data/ video and secure identity will become hygiene factors in customer solutions, moving from ‘nice to have’ to ‘must have.’ Authenticate everything While taking a zero-trust approach to cybersecurity is focused on authenticate the credentials of connected devices and applications, the ability to establish the authenticity of video surveillance itself is fundamental to trust in its value. Tampering with video after it is captured, along with the increased sophistication in creating manipulated images, means that we may see the authenticity of video surveillance footage being more regularly questioned. It is therefore going to be imperative that video surveillance can be undeniably established as genuine. Our approach is to add a digital signature into the video stream at the point of capture – a hash in each video frame – supplying proof that the video was produced inside a specific camera and that it hasn’t been tampered with since. But this is an issue for the security industry as a whole. It is therefore imperative that the industry aligns behind initiatives to standardize on approaches to secure the authenticity of video footage captured by video surveillance cameras, ideally based on open-source software and initiatives. AI becomes established and accepted (with appropriate controls) It seems impossible to write a technology trends post without mention of artificial intelligence (AI). Many would also argue that AI is no longer a trend, and that the AI ‘genie’ is well and truly out of the bottle. Indeed, we’re all using and being exposed to valuable AI and deep learning-based services on a daily basis. Our view remains that technology in itself shouldn’t be regulated, but that use cases of new technology should be. Legislation and regulation relating to the development and use of AI-based technologies and applications should be developed at a local, regional and international level. And it goes without saying that it should be adhered to by every organization employing AI. While we’re still positive about the potential for AI and deep learning in…

More and more buildings are being billed as having a mixed-use component. This means that instead of only having a single application they combine different applications like office and retail and residential. With this in mind, architects and building designers are taxed with the challenge of designing effective security with smother people flow management systems. The goal of integrating electronic access control with an elevator destination control system is to ensure people are transported efficiently to their destination floor rapidly without compromising physical security protocols. Simply put, an efficient elevator destination control system ensures authorized users are able to gain quick and efficient entry to an elevator. Which will bring them to predetermined floors of a building without compromising security. COVID-19 As we navigate the challenges of a global pandemic, there is heightened focus on site security, safety and tracing of employees and visitors. Minimizing physical contacts and creating a frictionless access control environment is a priority. In addition to optimizing lift operation and reducing waiting times, users are transported to their destination without having to engage with reception staff or concierge services. Cost savings Traditional access control and elevator integration used to mean each floor was hardwired to the elevator controlling device. Now, the destination controller is a catch-all for integration via API to the elevator server. And what this really delivers is an efficient throughput of the population within the building. Without the need to wire relays and inputs between the two systems, this high level integration significantly reduces overall installation and maintenance costs.  

  The Indian retail sector has now opened successfully after a long phase of the lockdown enforced due to the pandemic. There is an urgent need for safe reopening strategies, policy framework, and implementation plan with adequate smart public safety measures. As India’s vast retail sector is slowly and surely returning back to the pre-pandemic growth rate, there is a critical need for compliance and vigil. Retailers can’t afford to lower the guard even as the latest data shows the pandemic cases are lowest. Its time to rethink instore and online customer experience. As malls and stores are open across the country, retailers should keep in mind key considerations from a customer, associate, store, and operational perspective. Retail sector must prioritize the smart public safety measures while finding safe options to enhance the customer experience and engagement. Compliance with guidelines In the context of the Indian retail sector, retailers and retail managers need to work on risks and challenges to ensure compliance with guidelines. There are similar worries about compliance of social distancing and density control guidelines. Social distancing plays an important role in public safety measures related to preventing the spread of the pandemic. The recommended physical distancing guideline of maintaining a distance of a meter or more (3-6 feet) is a perpetual challenge for the retail managers and retail security personnel to follow. In addition, retail store managers also need to identify and mitigate areas where shoppers may congregate, so as to ensure safe shopping spaces. Technologies incorporating social distancing and occupancy detection can be put into places like these to assist the process. Hikvision’s Flow Control system utilizes highly accurate people counting technology. A clear, dynamic display and real-time alerts ensure pre-defined capacity thresholds are never exceeded, even in locations with multiple entrances and exits, such as, for example, shopping malls and supermarkets. A digital sign can be integrated at entrance areas to display real-time occupancy data. It can help in letting the customers know when it is safe to enter premises. In waiting areas such as cash counters in supermarkets and indoor ATMs in malls, Hikvision’s video security solution provides the necessary features and functionalities to assist with the process of social distancing. These technologies use people counting and 3D modelling to measure the distance between people accurately. Touch-free access control for hygienic authentication Retailers have to rethink traditional access control and time attendance systems such as ID card swiping, PIN codes, or fingerprint scans to ensure safety of the staff. With a touch-free access control terminals, organizations can not only eliminate the risk, but greatly enhance their daily operational efficiency. Hikvision’s MinMoe Face Recognition terminals can help in ensuring touch-free access control and time attendance for the organised retail establishments. Hikvision has developed a Smart Retail Solution that provides comprehensive video security to protect staff and customers and assist loss prevention. The Smart Retail Solution features data collection and analytics for enhancing business value. Benefiting from deep learning technology, three intelligent functions for retail support include people-counting to track customer traffic and volume, heat mapping to know the popularity of goods in the shopping area, and queue detection to monitor the queuing situation in real-time. People-counting Hikvision’s dual-lens people-counting camera provides accurate customer counting and generates customer flow trends to evaluate performance and strategic initiatives. The people counting data sets are useful for taking public safety measures in terms of social distancing and crowd flow density. By analyzing customer flow data, store management can optimise the allocation of the workforce to reach higher profits and ensure better customer service. Store managers can schedule staff strategically for peak and off-peak hours while ensuring compliance with norms to safeguard visitors, staff and customers. Heat mapping When customers enter the store, retailers are concerned about what merchandise customers are interested in. Before that, what’s more important is how to get what route they walk and where they stop. With Hikvision’s Heat Mapping function, retailers can determine the amount of time shoppers spend in specific areas of a store, identify hot spots and dead zones, and measure the number of people who actually shop for specific products, rather than just casually walk by. Heat Mapping is traditionally used to monitor and measure the size of target traffic in a region. It is a graphical representation of data represented by colors, and it is usually used to analyze the visit times and dwell times of customers in a specified area. The Heat Map offers customers’ preferences and insights. According to the latest best practices overcrowded areas in malls or retail stores are identified with help of Heat Mapping and get frequently sanitized. Hikvision’s Fisheye cameras, equipped with heat mapping function, not only capture a panoramic high-definition image, but also learn about heat conditions in different regions within a store. Queue detection Hikvision’s Queue Detection function can help retailers manage checkout lines while ensuring safety and security of customers. When too many customers enter a queue, it can notify management to open a new checkout line. More specifically, these queue detection cameras monitor the queuing situation in real-time and offer a quick solution. Hikvision Smart Retail Solution is designed to help retailers make their retail establishments safer and smarter, allowing data to support management and operations. And it will promote retailers’ technological transformation in response to increased challenges through the use of innovative retail technology to address key issues arising out of safety and security. Also Read:- Hikvision India Unveils Smart Boom Barrier Solutions for Easy Vehicle Access Control at Toll Plazas & Housing Complexes

Southeast Asia’s diverse mall scene offers unique shopping experiences for tourists as well as locals, with highend boutiques to one-of-a-kind night markets. Megabangna Shopping Centre (the Centre), located in Bangkok, is one of Thailand’s largest retail complexes. With 4 million square feet of space, over 840 retail shops, and parking for 10,000 vehicles, the Centre is the first shopping mall of its kind in the region – creating a unique security need. AVIGILON SOLUTIONS IMPLEMENTED Avigilon Control Center (ACC) video management software Simplified screen layout, intuitive controls, and customizable features that enhance how security professionals interact with high-definition surveillance video. HD Multisensor cameras Flexible design can capture multiple angles of a scene, to maximize scene coverage and minimize blind spots. H4 Dome and H4 Bullet Cameras Available from 1 MP to 4K Ultra HD resolution, our H4 platform cameras provide excellent coverage for seeing activity in complete darkness, and are embedded with Avigilon self-learning video analytics. HDSM SmartCodec technology helps reduce bandwidth when viewing HD video. Network Video Recorder (NVR) A high-performance, high-cap With the motto ‘everything under one roof,’ the Centre quickly earned a reputation as the perfect place to spend the weekend with friends and family, or to pick up everyday household needs. As a result, excessive crowds pack the walkways and the mall’s 10,000 parking spots are regularly filled. Security needs for a cultural hub Given the complexity of the Centre facility, and the high foot and vehicle traffic acquired onsite, the security solutions in place needed to be reassessed. Commonly reported incidents at the mall included cars being vandalized or broken into while parked in on-site structures, and busy shoppers losing personal items throughout the mall grounds during their visit. By addressing gaps in coverage throughout the mall, the Centre’s security team knew that they could more easily track down lost items for distressed visitors, monitor suspicious activity, and in turn prove or disprove claims. The safety and security of customers – along with ensuring a great customer experience for every visit – are top priorities for the Centre. Implementing a comprehensive security system was also an important part of the Centre’s loss prevention strategy to save the company time and money. Mega mall, big solutions To enhance safety, the Centre, in partnership with security systems integrator Entech, deployed a complete Avigilon surveillance solution, including 500 cameras, which were installed throughout the mall and the parking lot to provide full coverage of open areas. Chosen camera models included Avigilon HD Multisensor, H4 Bullet and H4 Dome cameras. This combination directly addressed the Centre’s security team’s specific needs in their expansive area of coverage. H4 dome and H4 bullet cameras provide exceptional image quality in a range of different settings, while the HD multisensor camera has up to four cameras that cover up to 360 degrees of viewing range. These combined camera solutions help minimize blind spots, which allows the Centre’s security team to monitor important activity throughout the premises, both indoors and outside. The cameras are only half the solution for the Centre. The hub of the security solution is the Avigilon Control Centre (ACC) video management software. With advanced and fast video search features, the software enables security operators to quickly find and review surveillance footage, helping the Centre security team resolve thefts and similar claims at a higher rate than with the legacy solution. Benefitting security Professionals and shoppers The installation of Avigilon solutions took half the estimated length of time, making the transition easy for the Centre’s team from the start. Once installation was complete, ACC™ software further simplified things for the security team by allowing them to identify problematic situations with powerful and efficient software. When searching footage of areas with heavy foot traffic, the Centre’s security team was able to identify problems around the busy mall in record-breaking time. “Security operators are expected to turn around footage necessary to address a problem within 10 minutes,” said Miss Paphitchaya Suwandee, Megabangna Shopping Centre’s President. Since deploying ACC software, the Centre has shortened a process that at times could take hours or days – Avigilon’s easyto-use software helps them search footage in under 10 minutes, while saving effort and money during an investigation. Given this measurable success, the Centre recently expanded the use of Avigilon solutions into an additional parking structure. Today, the Avigilon solutions implemented help make the mall security team’s jobs easier and keep patrons safe.  

Sonit Jain, CEO, GajShield Infotech The sight of spammy and fake comments on social media posts and other websites is not uncommon today. Any post on a public platform is likely to be flooded with repetitive, inappropriate, and generally hate-fuelled comments in today’s day and age. This problem is particularly seen on comment forums of social media websites if proper response management and censorship is not ensured by individuals, organisations, or social media companies. As we know, social media is a big tool for marketing and optics today. When your organisation posts something on Facebook or Instagram, they wish to gauge how their target audience reacts to them. For organisations, social media response from the general public represents an important channel of communication for future research and development. So, if the comment sections of such posts are riddled with vulgar messages generated by pornbots or thousands upon thousands of other junk messages, then the purpose of social media presence for organisations is entirely defeated. One of the main technologies used to generate fake comments is AI. AI-powered bots are capable of generating spam on the internet. Misinformation through these bots can spread like wildfire over the web. From a data security angle, many of these spam comments or emails received by individuals may contain malware that can damage user devices and corrupt the data stored in them. AI systems’ ability to generate fake comments AI-powered systems can be used to create comments that may seem human-generated to an uninitiated viewer. However, the thousands and thousands of fake comments serve the purpose of overshadowing the views of actual people regarding a product, an incident, or the overall performance of a ruling government. It is well-known that people in power can use social media platforms to draw out the opinions of those who do not agree with their views. As we know, two of the main principles of cybersecurity are fairness and transparency. The generation of fake likes, comments and responses on an online platform goes against those principles, and, by extension, data security in general. Cybercriminals or big, powerful organisations, public bodies, and individuals can list the services of IT and telecommunications companies to use AI and text-generating tools to create thousands of ‘public’ comments on social media posts. The comments are generated in every forum and place where online audience interaction is present. The service-providing companies not only create fake comments but also steal information related to us ernames and profile pictures of individuals before duplicating data to create fake accounts. Due to this, the concept of net neutrality is severely threatened. If one observes the fake comments closely, they are often copy-paste jobs with a few minute variations. Often, even spelling mistakes appearing on one comment will be replicated onto several identical comments. So, how are the comments generated? Misinformation spreaders use powerful tools such as the Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3 (GPT-3), the most powerful natural language generator in the world, to create fake text and replicate it. As stated earlier, fake comments are created in such a way that they seem real. Organisations must assign a team of social media moderators to deal with this issue. Moreover, there are several AI tools that can be used to counter the problem of spamming and misinformation too. In a way, AI provides both the problem and solution in such instances. AI-generated spam can disrupt the internet As we know, spam is not just restricted to comments but other things such as emails, instant messaging texts and connected mobile devices. Text-generating devices make large volumes of data in the form of bogus blogs, spam videos, and even entire websites. Such content is driven by specific keyword phrases, and as a result, usually goes undetected by search engines such as Google Search. As expected, the relentless generation of spam content causes excessive traffic online and can be debilitating for the speed and efficiency of search engines as well as your organisation’s online operations. Such platforms must employ tools that closely monitor data all kinds of data and filter it out. The internet will not function with its characteristic nimbleness if it keeps getting inundated with spam and fake AI-generated data. While this may not be a cybersecurity-related issue, it does have a detrimental impact on the digital operations of your organisation. Ways to deal with fake accounts and comments There have been several examples of big websites eliminating millions of fake accounts to reduce clutter and misinformation spread. On their end, organisations can also take certain measures to get rid of fake accounts and comments to reduce the possibilities of malware attacks and extensive spam infestation of their social media posts. The measures to be taken to deal with fake accounts and comments are: Using some of these social media management tools can be useful to increase the traffic in your online pages in the right way. This second measure involves having a rough idea of how many followers on social media pages are real and how many are fake. While this step may be challenging, it can be countered by increasing the number of ‘real’ followers. There are specific web tools that can be used to differentiate real users from fake ones. Using these tools, the number of fake accounts can be detected, reported and blocked. A periodic audit of your online pages can be useful to get rid of fake comments on your posts. Additionally, users must be made to pass through digital gateways to scan whether they are humans or AI-generated bots. Tools such as Captcha are currently being used for the purpose. As stated earlier, fake accounts and comments threaten to take away the sovereignty of the internet and place it in the hands of a few powerful entities. On top of that, the presence of malware and Trojan horse viruses bring cyber threats into the mix. Therefore, apart from using anti-spam tools, your organisation needs to deploy the best data security products and services in order…

Every sector of industry and society has certifications and standards. Covering every area – from the origin of ingredients in our favourite foods to the robustness of industrial machinery – certification plays an important role in trust between organizations and their stakeholders. The surveillance and security sector is no different, with local, regional and international certifications and standards applying to hardware, software and the way that businesses operate. A common misperception is that two products with the same certification are of equal quality, however, this is often not the case. Axis has a philosophy of looking ‘beyond the standard;’ seeing certifications as a baseline not a target, and often bringing new products to market that far exceed the require ments of any existing or future certifications and standards. There is no doubt that certifications and standards are important. This is reflected by the need for products, services and technologies to be certified being something increasingly mandated by organizations searching for new solutions. Governments, too, in an effort to meet national objectives and goals in areas from sustainability to security, are creating new standards that they demand any businesses operating within their borders adhere to. Every business in any sector will quickly find its ability to operate and attract customers severely impeded if it can’t show that its products have achieved the required certifications. What may have once been ‘nice to haves’ are today ‘must haves.’ However, there’s also a risk associated with adherence to certifications and standards becoming too much of a ‘box-ticking’ exercise; that once this is achieved, subsequent measures of quality are less rigorously examined. Becoming too reliant on certifications and standards as the de facto measure of product quality – in all factors – can be dangerous, particularly in innovative sectors. The natural ‘lag’ in certifications While meeting certifications brings a certain peace of mind to customers and governments, they also come with challenges. In highly-innovative areas – the security and surveillance sector is certainly an example – where new technologies and capabilities are constantly being developed and brought to market, certification inevitably lags behind. Put simply, it’s impossible to define certifications and standards for something which is yet to be created. Axis and certification The fact that certification and standards lag behind innovation means that it is essential that organizations operating in such sectors set their own standards in key areas of product quality, security and ethical practices. This is certainly the case at Axis, where quality in everything the company does has been in the company’s DNA since it was founded, as it created products such as the world’s first network video surveillance camera and in each innovation since. While quality as a core value is central to what Axis develops and produces, there are three broad areas of focus for the business: Hardware: Functionality, robustness, safety, sustainability. Software: Reliability, availability, cybersecurity. People and partners: Codes of conduct, ethical behaviour, anti-corruption. In all of these areas there are established international, regional and local certifications, and Axis obtains the relevant certifications and demonstrably meets the standards required in any market in which it operates. In the vast majority of cases, the process of Axis obtaining certification is one of ‘proving’ that the company’s technologies, products and solutions meet the requirements of the certification – whether existing or new – rather than needing to ‘improve’ them to reach the standard required. The company’s internal systems, processes and frameworks mean that its products usually go far beyond subsequent certifications. Staying across certifications and standards As mentioned, it’s vital that companies like Axis are aware of the ever-changing certification and standards that are relevant to the different aspects of the business; in different sectors and industries; in every country around the world where Axis operates. It’s no small task, and one which takes the combined efforts of teams across the organization. From the perspective of hardware and software, specific Axis teams developing new strategic technologies and products will ensure that they go well beyond the industry standards. In just one recent example, Axis has taken the decision to create a new subsidiary to design and manufacture explosion-protected cameras and which has had its quality management system audited and found to be in compliance with the appropriate international standards. In doing so – and in controlling the production of the explosion-protected cameras from chip to casing – Axis can take full responsibility for product quality. Many industry segments also have specific certifications and standards, and the segment teams at Axis – from retail to transport – ensure that relevant certifications are obtained (and which can vary significantly from country to country). For instance, in the UK, the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) will approve technologies that it regards as being of the standard required to help secure the nation’s most important facilities. Similar bodies exist in every industry around the world. Membership of international standards organizations is also an important way to stay informed and achieve relevant certifications. The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is one such body, and has established more than 7,000 standards for electrical devices and systems. With more than 500 new standards being published by the IEC in 2020 alone – and this being just one of many international standards organizations – the challenge of staying current is obvious. Other industry organizations, associations and forums – such as ONVIF, of which Axis was one of the founders, and the Security Industry Association in the USA – can be valuable places for discovery and discussion around relevant new standards. Compliance can’t mean complacency As highlighted in the headline of this article, Axis regards certification as a ‘baseline’ – a minimum requirement rather than a target. It’s a common misperception that two products which have the same certification or meet the same standard are of the same quality. This is rarely the case. Unfortunately, certifications can become a ‘box-ticking’ exercise which takes place during the early stages of a purchasing process and which is then…