Category: Feature

When choosing a video management software, a person wants something easy to install, operate, and maintain as well as scaling up. The recently improved AXIS Companion is a user-friendly and cost-effective VMS that works for many installations. Read on to find out how. To make the most of your network video surveillance system, you need the right video management software (VMS) to get the features and functionalities you need. Also, you want something reliable and which provides ease of use, from design to maintenance. Axis’ network VMSs, AXIS Camera Station and AXIS Companion, are the heart of Axis’ all-in-one and validated end-to-end security systems. AXIS Companion is constantly improving when it comes to features and functionality. “With the most recent release of AXIS Companion, we have added new functionalities that make it much more competitive,” said Mitch Mershon, Business Development Manager End-to-End Solutions, “It’s a very cost-effective solution, as the software comes included with the hardware. It works with any Axis-branded camera, and we can do onsite recording, either to an SD card or to a recorder.” Today, AXIS Companion is a well-rounded and secure VMS that is easy to set up and operate. And it is scalable and flexible. Depending on your needs, you can integrate network video, audio, and door stations. Moreover, if your needs change considerably, you can migrate easily to AXIS Camera Station to access its extra features and functionalities. Crucial to focus on the user needs Traditionally, project size and the camera count have dictated what surveillance VMS you would choose. But this perspective can set you off in the wrong direction. “Axis is trying to shift the conversation away from any camera count or licensing structure to refocus on ‘what are you looking to do?’” Mitch said, “What are the end-user needs, and based on that, we can discuss which is the best software?” Many end-users have the need just for a system to record, playback, and export video. AXIS Companion provides the much-appreciated Axis quality for end-users where cost can be prohibitive. AXIS Companion is a cost-effective and solid solution that can also serve large multi-site installations in a great way. It is true even if you have thousands of cameras distributed across hundreds of sites. Among the several customers using AXIS Companion, there is a large oil and gas company with around 100 sites. Another example of a large multi-site installation with AXIS Companion is a chain of convenience stores in Latin America that uses AXIS Companion to manage approximately 9,000 stores with more than 35,000 cameras. An easy to use and reliable solution In fact, there is more to AXIS Companion than many realize. Dan Vogl, Business Development Manager End-to-End Solutions, said that – “If a customer is looking for an easy to install, reliable, plugand-play solution, AXIS Companion is a great fit. Anyone with access to internet and Axis cameras can benefit from the wide variety of functionalities with live viewing and forensic research, which this end-to-end solution provides.” Mitch agrees, explaining – “AXIS Companion is very much a hybrid system. You have the cameras and all the recording on-premises in your local network. Then there are all the remote functionalities such as user administration, remote access, health monitoring, which is done by our backend, by the cloud.” Open platform offers new functionalities The ability to integrate AXIS Companion with AXIS Camera Application Platform (ACAP) opens up many possibilities. This open platform makes it possible to download and install value-adding analytics that can significantly improve the performance of your system, for example, within security or business intelligence. One example is AXIS Guard Suite license-free analytics that provides motion, intrusion, and loitering detection. Another is AXIS object analytics for AI-based object detection and classification of humans and vehicles. These analytics can be used to send push notifications to a mobile phone. By pressing these notifications, the recording of a specific incident will instantly open. This functionality is available in the apps but also on the PC client. Dan added, “We have just recently implemented support for I/O based notifications, which provides the possibility to integrate third-party sensors like Alarm Panels or relays to receive push notifications.” New recorder improves cybersecurity The launch of the new, compact network video recorder AXIS S3008 opens many possibilities, bringing more overall performance to the system. For example, Axis has improved cybersecurity such as encrypted hard drives – a welcome feature. “Preventing cyberattacks is crucial,” Dan said, “We’ve made extensive investments to make AXIS Companion highly secure, especially as it’s an IoT solution relying on the internet.” All in all, AXIS Companion offers excellent bang for the buck. When choosing an Axis endto-end solution and AXIS Companion as your VMS, you get installation and operation simplicity, for example, through low maintenance work and automated updates. And with the entire system from one supplier, you also get a tailor-made solution with matched products and a technical support team trained on every product.  

Alexey Parfentiev Senior Business Analyst, SearchInform What are other key security threats except for the risk concerning remote work amid the pandemic and the upsurge of phishing related to Covid-19, charities, sellers of protective equipment, hand sanitisers? Let’s dig into the risks which had been gaining significance even before the lockdown and only took deeper roots during it. Ransomware Ransom attacks are on the rise and present a tremendous threat to multiple businesses denying companies access to their own data and demanding huge payment to get it back. Two large-scale ransom incidents cause FBI director Christopher Wray emphasise the need to discourage the attackers by not transferring them any money in a doubtful exchange for the data. Colonial Pipeline oil and gas transport network as well as JBS USA, one of the biggest meat producers, paid ransom up to $4.4 million and $11 million in June. User awareness User awareness still requires boosting. 97% of users can’t identify a phishing email. Companies begin to focus on security policies more actively than ever to successfully conform to corporate and general rules and regulations. Healthcare sector attacks I t’s no surprise, the pandemic affected healthcare security in a major way. Cybersecurity of this sector will receive $125 billion by 2025, which is 4 times more than it was planned to invest till 2027 back in 2019. Multi-factor authentication As far as many violators have learned how to bypass these authentication methods, it is recommended now to use app-based authenticators and security keys, hardware multi-factor authentication. Machine learning Ever-growing cybersecurity significance needs data to be analysed with implementation of machine learning. Threat patterns and violators’ behavior can be constantly learned by the program to respond to incidents proactively. The number of SOC will increase SOC (security operations centres) is expected to grow to $1.6 billion by 2025 from $471 million in 2020, according to Markets and markets. A security operation center is created within a company to unceasingly monitor and assess the level of corporate security. The center detects, analyses and manages incidents continuously as they occur. The key point of SOC is to track an organisation’s activity inside and outside the perimeter in real time. SOC teams are responsible for employee and customer data control, ensure that hardware and software usage is super vised. A SOC accumulates and processes all the data sent via various communication channels within a corporate network. Passwordless authentication People tend to forget their passwords no matter how much they would want their details to be safe, and begin to use passwords which are easy enough to remember and too simple to break. Non-password authentication principles are provided by FIDO Alliance, where access is enabled via logging with biometric data, tokens etc. Zero Trust Due to having to ensure access to a big number of remote users, zero trust approach is gaining momentum. Least privilege access is required to be given to both gear and users. The security levels are to be represented by any of these 3 concepts – enhanced identity governance, micro-segmentation, network infrastructure and software defined perimeters (SDP). Cloud security In order to cut the costs and due to remote work necessity cloud deployment software models are becoming increasingly popular, as well as cloud security measures which have to be taken and cloud storages. Surge of cloud usage influences hacker to refocus onto cloud sometimes poor security or lack of password protection, but also it promotes further developing of predictive security, thanks to which it will be possible to identify potential threats. GDPR compliance GDPR compliance keeps being a popular objective. The personal data protection issue appeared to be a complicated one, the bigger the company is the more the data it processes and stores. Higher education threats Switching to remote studying impacted the safety of students’ data. In the US education isn’t a priority sector for cybersecurity improvement. Besides, 11% of attacks on US educational institutions are motivated by espionage. Supply chain The attack might stem from international espionage, state enemies, or get originated by hacktivists. The purpose is to destroy the systems, exploit the vulnerabilities, undermine the work of suppliers and contractors by making use of inadequate security practices, inserting a time bomb, compromise the assets. IoT The majority IoT gadgets present high risks of information security issues. Irrespective of whether it is consumer-facing or enterprise-focused, the reality is that IoT devices need better security. Manufacturers must take responsibility to protect these devices and warn users of possible cybersecurity threats. Sadly, making the sale seems to be the only priority. But the situation might improve if vendors are motivated to take IoT security more seriously. For example, regulators could fine manufacturers if found guilty of neglecting their corporate responsibilities when it comes to securing devices. One of the biggest problems is the login and password details of connected devices. These are typically preconfigured by manufacturers. Using sophisticated tools, hackers can ‘snoop’ the Internet for these standard details and can easily gain access to them, severely compromising the user. Another challenge is how easy it has become for manufacturers to send through updates to connected devices. Because this communication is unencrypted, patches can be installed remotely for bug fixes. While ostensibly a good thing, they do leave back doors open for malicious users to exploit. Financial services cyberattacks Phishing is both a remaining and growing problem depending on which sources it exploits – it’s still as prevalent via email and is increasing in number via social networks and other messaging platforms. Malware and data breaches are among the popular security problems for financial institution as well. Boston Consulting Group found that financial services companies are 300 times more likely to face cybersecurity attacks than enterprises in other industries. Moreover, cyberattacks on financial institutions spiked by a massive 238% from the beginning of February to the end of April In 2020 cyberattacks on financial institutions were rocketed by 238% amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Infosecurity Magazine. Eventually, attacks cost the banking sector $18.3…

Iqbal Singh Technology Expert & Senior Corporate Executive in a European MNC Imagine you booting your laptop in the morning to start your workday and you have the below message staring at you from your laptop screen. This is an example of a screen-locking ransomware that holds your computer hostage by blocking your access to the operating system and there is almost nothing you can do to access your files and data on your laptop. Now imagine the victim of ransomware instead of being a single user in an organization, maybe an oil pipeline company with a pipeline network of nearly 9000kms or a meat company with plants across the globe or a 800 store retail company. Yes, all of these are real examples of organizations who have been recent high profile victims of ransomware. Ransomware is ravaging the world | Andrey Popov / Getty Images WannaCry ransomware note. Image: Cisco Talos  On 07 May 2021 an employee of Colonial Pipeline – the company with the largest pipeline in the USA found a ransom note from hackers on a control-room computer. This provoked a shutdown of their operations for five days, which resulted in a temporary fuel shortage along the East Coast, leading to spike in gas prices and huge queues of consumers at gas stations. The CEO of the company confirmed that they paid a ransom of $4.4 million. 30 May 2021 JBS, the largest beef supplier in the world, suffered a cyberattack, disabling its beef and pork slaughterhouses. The attack impacted facilities in the United States, Canada, and Australia. The company paid a ransom of $11m to the hackers. The Swedish Coop grocery store chain closed all its 800 stores on 03 Jul 2021 after a ransomware attack on American IT provider Kaseya left it unable to operate its cash registers. Hundreds of American businesses were also hit by an unusually sophisticated attack that hijacked the widely used Kaseya software.  What is Ransomware? Ransomware is a form of malicious software – malware – that encrypts files and documents on anything from a single PC all the way up to an entire network, including servers. The attacker then demands a ransom from the victim to restore access to the data upon payment. Victims can often be left with limited choices; they can either regain access to their encrypted network by paying a ransom to the criminals behind the ransomware or restore from backups or hope that there is a decryption key freely available. Or start again from scratch. Hackers have been mostly unforgiving and ruthless in choosing their ransomware targets. They have not spared even health-care providers, municipalities and schools, big commercial organizations, of course, are expected tempting targets. The Washington Post found that ransomware attacks in the United States more than doubled from 2019 to 2020. One of the unfortunate success stories of the coronavirus times has been ransomware. Studies consistently show that the scale and cost of ransomware continues to grow. Methods of Infection Understanding how ransomware infects and spreads is the key to avoiding falling victim to an attack. Post-infection, ransomware can spread to other machines or encrypt network filers in the organization’s network. In some cases, it can spread across organizational boundaries to infect supply chains, customers and other organizations.  All of the following can be vectors of infection for ransomware attacks: Phishing. Compromised websites. Malvertising. Exploit kits. Downloads. Messaging applications. Brute force via RDP (remote desk protocol) History of Ransomware Even though ransomware is making headlines in recent years the scheme is not new. The idea of taking user files or computers hostage by encrypting files, hindering system access or other methods and then demanding a ransom to return them is a few decades old. In the late 1980s, criminals were already holding encrypted files hostage in exchange for cash sent via the postal service. One of the first ransomware attacks ever documented was the AIDS trojan (PC Cyborg Virus) that was released via floppy disk in 1989. Victims needed to send $189 to a P.O. box in Panama to restore access to their systems, even though it was a simple virus. The AIDS demand for payment – by post. Image: Sophos Ransomware attacks were still not that common well into the 2000s – probably due to difficulties with payment collection. It was the emergence of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin in 2010, that completely altered the landscape. It provided an easy and untraceable method for receiving payment from victims, virtual currencies created the opportunity for ransomware to become a lucrative business. Cyber criminals were quick to latch on to the monetization opportunity that Bitcoin created. This resulted in a substantial proliferation of ransomware beginning in 2012. Intro of CryptoLockers Ransomware was now moving from a petty crime into the realm of financial windfalls. Accordingly, the cyber criminals’ degree of technical sophistication also increased. The levels of encryption started improving from a 56 bit to 660-bit RSA public key encryption to 2048-bits RSA encryption keys by 2014. One significant development was the emergence of cryptolocking ransomware in 2013. CryptoLocker is a strain of ransomware so potent and dangerous that it took a dedicated global government task force to bring it down — but not before the cybercriminals behind it raked in millions of dollars from their hapless victims. It encrypts files on Windows computers, then demands a ransom payment in exchange for the decryption key. It first emerged in September 2013 in a sustained attack that lasted until May of the following year. CryptoLocker fooled targets into downloading malicious attachments sent via emails. Once opened, these Trojan horse attachments would execute the malware hidden in[1]side. Just to give you an idea of the impact CryptoLocker raked in a revenue of $30m within the first 100 days of its appearance. Earlier the encryptions used symmetric keys (same key to crypt as well as decrypt), however, CryptoLocker uses an asymmetric encryption method that makes it difficult to crack. This two-key system uses one public key for…

Ashish P. Dhakan MD & CEO Prama Hikvision India Pvt. Ltd. SecurityLinkIndia (SLI): Nearly 18 months of pandemic disruption so far and the third wave is largely anticipated – it has not yet been ruled out – what are the impacts on your business, and the security industry at large? It was a great learning experience as it had taught us to be alert, resilient and compliant in the face of adversity. The pandemic disruptions were so sudden and unprecedented that it impacted everybody in some or other way. The security Industry was adversely impacted due to supply chain disruptions and various challenges during this period. We too faced multiple challenges of disruptions, but resilience helped us to overcome the odds. When the entire world and humanity is fighting a crusade against the pandemic and trying to overcome the devastating impact of the second wave, we are setting up a new agenda for the future and acting up on it for the growth of the security industry with a profound human approach. It was a great learning experience for all of us to go through the various phases of pandemic challenges and recovery. We have the resilience and innovative marketing strategies on our side to communicate and engage the target audience in a simple and effective manner. SLI: What are the CSR initiatives you have taken during the pandemic situation? While continuing with our fight against the pandemic, Hikvision India has organised a vaccination drive for its employees, workers and their family members. The vaccination drive was conducted on 20 and 26 June 2021. Through this vaccination drive approximately all employees got covered. The vaccination drive for employees and their family members was organised by Hikvision India as a part of employee welfare initiative to support them in providing protection from the pandemic. The vaccination drive covered the vast pool of employees, which include not only our employees, workers and their families, but also those in the extended ecosystem. Hikvision India had helped the ecosystem partners in the pandemic by providing oxygen concentrators. It has delivered a substantial number of oxygen concentrators to the applicants across India as a part of its CSR Initiative to support its employees, partners, end-users and extended security professional community. The company has launched this CSR Initiative on 27 May 2021 to provide timely support to security business community, system integrators, distributors, vendors and employees and their family members. Under this CSR initiative, oxygen concentrators were successfully delivered free of cost to the verified applicants across India. SLI: How do you foresee the future of security industry amid third wave, and beyond? The medical expert and government bodies had predicted that third wave of the pandemic will have a less severe impact due to vaccination and enhanced awareness. Security Industry ecosystem should continue to be alert, resilient and compliant to the pandemic guidelines and protocols. One thing is clear at no point, we can afford to be complacent about the risks of the third wave and other threats related to pandemic. The security industry has to move forward with planning their future beyond the spectrum of pandemic. They need to identify the emerging opportunities and trends. Hikvision India has lived up to the challenge of the pandemic situation by doing extensive research and development to offer pandemic safety solutions (temperature screening, face mask wearing alerts, social distancing and flow control solutions). We were one of the first movers in the industry to offer temperature screening solutions. We are grateful to our partners and end-users for their consistent support and unshakable trust. We are hopeful that security market will get back to its peak performance level. Though the pandemic situation had created a major challenge for the security industry, but a resilient approach has helped us to win over the odds. SLI: Which new initiatives Hikvision India is taking especially for Indian market? We had the resilience and innovative marketing strategies on our side to communicate and engage the target audience in a simple and effective manner. There are no easy solutions, but the resilience and compliance of the pandemic protocols are the best solutions in these times. We are following stratagem from the market’s own alchemist to ensure a perfect roadmap to recovery. The key priority for us at Hikvision India is to keep on innovating and evolving as an organization while navigating through these challenging times. We have set the strategic priorities of our marketing initiatives to tackle constraints on capacity, capital and capability. It also involves strategic decision making and prioritizing budget for key initiatives and media engagements. Our focused initiatives are based on the evolving market trends, technology advantages, customer and employee demand for societal impact. We have a dedicated special R&D center in India to do the research and development on India specific products and solutions to provide the security solutions as per the requirements. Here some of our innovations go beyond the customization needs of the end-users and create a unique solution as per changing needs.  SLI: Which are the significant milestones achieved by Hikvision India? Hikvision India is the leading video security solution provider in the security market. There are three most significant milestones Hikvision India has achieved in the recent times, one is the undisputed market leadership position, the second is ‘Make-in-India’ 2.0 manufacturing plant and the third is going digital across the channels. These three initiatives were rolled out with foresight and missionary zeal. The company has the leading position in the Indian security market and management has shown incredible skills in handling supply chain disruptions and resolving core issues faced by the partner community. We are implementing a series of digital transformation initiatives to keep customers engaged and satisfied undisputed market leadership position, the second is ‘Make-in-India’ 2.0 manufacturing plant and the third is going digital across the channels. These three initiatives were rolled out with foresight and missionary zeal. The company has the leading position in the Indian security market and management has shown…