Category: Feature

Businesses are now gradually reopening in many countries, and people can return to restaurants, office buildings, and public spaces. A safe reopening process will rely heavily on effective public health strategies, including increased testing for the virus, social distancing, occupancy restrictions, and cleaning and disinfection activities. In many countries, temperature measurement and the wearing of masks have been commonly made mandatory in both business and public environments. While social distancing and occupancy restrictions are considered necessary in public areas such as shopping malls and transportation hubs, workplaces like office buildings and industrial parks are looking for solutions featuring authorized entries with confidence. In lifting the restrictions for businesses and public areas, innovative video technologies can also help organizations meet and exceed health guidelines for safe and effective reopening. Preliminary temperature screening upon entry The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States, a very well-known public health organization, have issued new guidelines for reopening offices. The CDC advises daily health checks including temperature screenings before employees enter a workplace. To achieve this, security cameras equipped with thermographic video technology can be an effective tool for rapid and safe initial temperature screening. Applications include, for example, schools, industrial parks, hospitals, office buildings, malls and hotels etc. Prama Hikvision’s temperature screening solutions offer various product types including installed thermographic cameras, hand-held thermographic cameras, metal detector doors, and MinMoe access terminals that can be flexibly deployed for a wide range of applications. Compliance with mask guidelines Wearing masks is recommended as a measure to contain respiratory droplets and protect the general public. Masks are also commonly included in worldwide health guidelines towards reopening. Hence, compliance with this guideline has become crucial to many organizations. Video technology can help monitor the use of protective masks in clever and unobtrusive ways.     AI algorithms can detect whether a person is wearing a mask. The system then triggers a pre-defined action if no mask is detected such as, for example, a voice prompt or a link to an access system to deny entry. This provides a simple way to monitor the situation, or even to remind people of the rules. Prama Hikvision’s thermal and AcuSense cameras, as well as MinMoe temperature screening terminals are equipped to detect masks. A specialized interface on Prama Hikvision’s DeepinMind NVRs can also be used to visually display temperature and mask status together, making monitoring much easier. Social distancing and density control Social distancing plays an important role in ‘flattening the curve’ in the spread of coronavirus. In various countries, the recommended physical distancing might differ slightly, but maintaining a distance of a meter or more (3-6 feet) will remain a key recommendation of health authorities. In addition, 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. Prama 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, as well as temperature and mask information, letting customers know when it is safe to enter premises. In waiting areas such as cash registers in supermarkets and indoor ATMs in malls, Prama Hikvision’s video solution provides the necessary features and functionalities to assist with the process of social distancing. These technologies use people counting and 3D modeling to measure the distance between people accurately. The exact measurement can be adjusted, well within the social distancing minimum separation guidelines. Touch-free access control for hygienic authentication Schools and workplaces have previously made use of traditional access control and time attendance systems such as ID card swiping, PIN codes, or fingerprint scans, which require staff and students to frequently touch shared surfaces. This only increases the risk of spreading infection. With touch-free access control terminals, organizations can not only eliminate the risk, but greatly enhance their daily operational efficiency. Prama Hikvision’s MinMoe temperature screening terminals unify temperature screening, mask detection, and access control & time attendance in one model. The system only grants entries when the guidelines are met, which is particularly useful in highly-populated workplaces like industrial parks and office buildings. Find out more Reopening requires all of us to move forward together, employing the recommended best practices and maintaining safe daily habits in order to reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19. Cutting-edge video technologies can help various organizations better observe the instructions and guidance. At Prama Hikvision, we have launched dedicated product packages for applications, including schools, hospitals, industrial parks, retail stores, office buildings and hotels.  

India has courageously passed through four lockdowns and businesses that were hitherto shut due to the scourge of the pandemic are now gradually recommencing operations. The government of India has instructed all industries to open with the utmost caution and adherence to the health compliances established by the WHO and the global medical fraternity. As businesses seek to resume affairs with paramount diligence and risk-mitigation in a post-pandemic age, how can the retailing and manufacturing sector ensure that store owners and retail vendors are abiding by all the health and safety mandates laid down by the authorities? The answer to this complex question is simple one – ‘mystery shopping.’ So what exactly is mystery shopping? Companies usually, in a tremendously fast-paced business order, lack the luxury and time to personally monitor and micro-manage their brand and product legacies and how they are retailed by sellers from the countless shops, outlets, and branches that house their products. In crucial times as now, when the national economy is just trying to get back onto its feet, it is imperative that business owners get an inside scoop into the thick of things. They need to be certain whether store owners and wholesalers are complying with all the compulsory countermeasures and policies laid down by the government for business conduct, and that’s where mystery shopping comes into the picture. Mystery shopping otherwise also known as secret shopping is a mode of collecting key intelligence regarding the nature and quality of vending that is practiced by retail owners who sell products of particular companies to the masses. Now, if the said company wants to gauge the service quality or the retailers compliance with regulation, or to collect specific information regarding their products and services, this slightly unconventional method proves quite functional. Any trained member from the company’s staff or people hired from any of these specialized service providers can pose as routine customers and walk into any of the company’s retail outlets to witness first-hand the shopkeeper’s behavior and his overall quality of proprietorship. This technique is employed extrinsically by a gamut of market research firms, supervisory organizations and watchdog bodies, or even domestically by companies which are eager to attain clarity involving the end to end market journey of a company’s product. From the minute it reaches the retailers vault until the point it is procured by a customer, mystery shoppers can easily fathom the various positives and down points involving the various purveying practices and shopkeeper tactics. It is a manner of surveillance employed by companies to understand the various bottlenecks in the system or the proverbial chinks in the armor. Mystery shopping is becoming a popular and widely embraced form of collecting pertinent data and market intelligence by business leaders which helps them gather real-time insight concerning the customer service representatives’ compliance with industry-specific norms and parameters. It serves as a highly interactive and experiential method for assessing the value eminence provided by the company agents to its customers. By closely supervising agents for anomalies in observance to the company’s business conventions, it gives them the leverage needed to engage in the necessary risk alleviation. If a company can successfully mitigate the numerous perils to business optimization it helps them steer clear of considerable penalties and a harmful public image. The process of mystery shopping programs revolves around tailored scenarios that aid mystery shoppers test an agent’s actual worth in concurrent circumstances and arrive at conditions that will generate the most beneficial impact. It proffers organizations the power to determine the future course of action by scrutinizing a pre-constructed situation to provide a knowledgeable point of view to the leadership. Mystery shopping allows the retail owners and company agents to manage their various blemishes and plus-points founded on direct and workable responses. Mystery shopper programs are all the more relevant in present conditions. As India looks to rise from the depths of an economic freeze owing to the lockdown, companies need to inquire into the actual state of the business that is administered on the ground i.e., an internal glimpse into the proceedings that are dealt in their retail outlets or stores by the brand’s designated sellers. It is of the utmost essence to ascertain whether shopkeepers are under the various health compliances and safety measures authorized by the government on account of the pandemic. The failure on part of the agents/ purveyors in practicing the compulsory protocols, such as negligence in observing the laws of social/ physical distancing or interacting with customers without adorning the necessary PPE and other countermeasures can have disastrous consequences. Mystery shopping programs allow organizations to step inside the shoes of their customers and directly learn about the various shortcomings in their product vending processes and thus rectifying them, in a post-pandemic scenario, it can become an invaluable tool for measuring the various operational hiccups and detriments that not only impede business streamlining but also compromise the safety of the customers. Even, it can also help check various compliances, at times even the ambiance of the outlet to ensure if the same is as per company guidelines. In normal times it is to check the price undercutting, however in new normal, it’s about short supplies and black-marketing of products.  

Businesses are reopening and employees are returning to work. Managing protection for workers, customers, and visitors with the lingering effects of COVID-19 poses challenges in the business world.     To cope with these challenges, it is crucial for businesses to maximize protection while operating their access control systems effectively. This requires safer and faster temperature screenings, controlling access, and recording attendance, as well as visitor management. Touchfree access control systems with a temperature screening function creates an especially effective solution. For this reason, Prama Hikvision introduced its MinMoe ‘touch-free’ temperature screening terminals to the market. Prama Hikvision’s MinMoe terminals employ face recognition and thermographic technologies to make access easier and safer for work areas, record attendance, and simultaneously screen temperatures without requiring employees to touch a terminal or gate. The ‘touch-free’ nature of the terminals is also suitable in high-throughput scenarios for fast temperature screening with access control, such as offices, factories, retail stores, schools, and so on.     Fast and accurate temperature screening with thermographic technology Equipped with advanced thermographic cameras, the MinMoe temperature screening terminals quickly and accurately detect elevated skin-surface temperatures for preliminary screening. The 0.3- to 2-meter recognition distance enables flexibility in deployment and detection. When detecting abnormal temperatures, MinMoe terminals can be set to deny access requests and alert operators to further confirm a person’s actual core body temperature using clinical measurement devices. Further, the terminals support a fast temperature measurement mode, which will detect temperatures only (identity authentication will not be conducted in this mode). ‘touch-free’ access control and attendance recording Many diseases have the potential to spread when people touch contaminated objects and surfaces. Because of this, reducing contact with terminals or gates – or avoiding touching altogether – increases employee hygiene and safety when passing through access control and attendance recording equipment. Compared against conventional fingerprint access control and time attendance devices, MinMoe terminals offer a pleasant ‘touch-free’ experience. Powered by a deep learning algorithm, MinMoe terminals ramp up accuracy of face recognition to over 99%, ensuring speedy and almost ‘non-stop’ passing. Furthermore, the terminal performs well in low- and even zero-light environments. Mask detection In many areas and scenarios, wearing masks has been suggested or even required by local governments, communities, or businesses themselves. Quick, automated mask detection will be another demand for access control systems. MinMoe temperature screening terminals can detect whether a person is wearing a mask. When a registered face is recognized but not wearing a mask, the device will prompt an audio reminder. This provides a simple way to automate monitoring and uphold requirements, regulations, and ultimately, safety.  

The culture of Auditing & Process Building in India: An Overview   The Indian economy saw a major emergence of both domestic and foreign MNCs within its political borders with the economic liberalization reforms of 1991. With this, while the inflow of foreign direct investments (FDIs) increased in various industry verticals of the economy, the inherent risks of the local environment remained ingrained in the newly set-up businesses and industrial zones. These risks primarily related to crime, terrorist activities, civic disturbances, natural disasters and likes. In short, while businesses opened up hastily and pro-actively in the new economic environment, the existing mindset regarding the culture of security did not necessarily change or follow the structural changes in the economy. Decades later, the reluctancy of looking over the security aspect as an ‘additional’ cost to an organization have now shown near-tectonic effects. At the domestic level, the long and diverse nature of the unrest unleased by the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) brought business continuity to a standstill in different states across the country. Second, at both domestic and global levels, the benefits of the historical reforms of 1991 have been neutralized by the outbreak of the Covid19 pandemic. The current scenario has now compelled businesses to re-assess that crisis plans are irrelevant, unless they can actually be implemented on-ground. The adoption of pragmatic and far-sighted processes and audits in security culture is a small but decisive step in this regard. Why is a change in the current scenario needed?   The outbreak of the Covid19 pandemic has highlighted once again that business risks may be mitigated, but never be actually prevented in whole from occurrence. It may not be an exaggeration to state that the pandemic has exhibited apprehensions/ risks of unprecedented extent and nature, of which no business continuity or crisis management plans had ever envisaged while they were framed. A survey carried out, in the midst of the pandemic, displayed the following outcomes from the respondents (mostly senior security managers of global firms in India).   While the above responses honestly display the current psychological mindset of professionals trying to gauge the pandemic effects on their organizations, the irony remains that global organizations had well-thought and drafted standard operating procedures (SOPs) on security and emergency response processes. Organizations, at their end, have also invested resources, time and capital to draft SOPs. Under such circumstances, it becomes more pertinent to assess whether these SOPs have been applied in reality, reviewed, up-graded or just have stayed on paper revisions? Analysing key shortcomings in Security Audits and related SOPs   Having discussed the current state of affairs in the overall corporate security domain in preceding sections, assessments and experiences gathered across various industry verticals primarily display the common shortcomings as follows: Absence of simplicity and use of excessive jargons or technical words: Not every person is a security professional and SOPs must be understood by cross-functional teams. Recommendations provided by security auditors are not implementable: Solutions recommended are either too expensive or not precise to be understood by the auditee. Holding back of knowledge by the security auditor: The auditor feels that giving too much insight in one audit itself may lead to loss of future business generation from the auditee. Below are few examples of the arguments put forward: Vague recommendation: Increase the boundary wall to ensure that it is difficult to be accessed by anyone. The wall must be fenced appropriately to further increase the height and reduce the risk of unwanted intrusion.(Note:Recommendation does not specifically explain height, fencing etc). Use of jargons: Installation of GPS in your official vehicles may be integrated with authorized SIGINT software, as legal under laws, to your centralized command centre (supported by back-end 24/7 embedded staff). (Note: Recommendation does not explain what elements like SIGINT, Embedded etc., mean for non-security professionals/ teams). The way forward: Suggestions for Improvements   The simplest ways for building actionable SOPs are to be guided by the very principles that drive the business and people of that organization. These are the principles of simplicity, accessibility, transparency and consistency – to build processes towards business excellence which every global firm strives for. While this may look like an uphill task for an organization, it actually is not: A change in the psychological mindset is the first step. Auditors need to exercise transparency and act as trusted partners to the organization which calls them upon. Similarly, the organization/ auditee must not be afraid of an auditor’s findings when the findings are provided in an amicable, lucid and professional manner by the auditor. SOPs do not need a crisis to prove their existence. This means SOPs need to be carried out in action through mock drills and red teaming exercises. Such real-life scenario enactments are very essential to review and identify strengths and weaknesses in a real emergency SOPs can never be time-bound i.e., there must always be room for the unknown future. The bridge to integrate the present and the future is to review and identify weaknesses in current SOPs and supplement them with new wings i.e., new or supplementary SOPs. This is a continuous cycle and has to be carried out at least every 1-2 years (depending on size, total asset value etc., of the organization). The role of stakeholder engagement (right from first-response teams to emergency managers to board/ owners) is indispensable in building sustainable and well-communicated processes. Else, audits and SOPs just remain limited to control room logbooks. Conclusion   The need of the hour for corporate India is to hence shed away pre-conceived notions regarding the negative attitude attached to security auditors and their scope of work. A confidence-building measure towards attaining this is the innovative concept of peer auditing (where security managers of different companies audit each other’s facility) as a voluntary and goodwill expression. Such audits develop a sense of comfort and familiarity to the idea of allowing an external party to have visibility and access to an organization’s internal state of affairs –…

In a world of constantly evolving economy, robbery, theft and other property crimes are also rapidly increasing. The need for businesses and organizations to outsource their banking transactions and have professional couriers handle their cash logistics becomes a necessity. While it’s true that cash management can be expensive, it also entails managing risks for both the couriers and the clients. For some cash-in-transit (CIT) companies, the use of uniformed and armed CIT professionals is deemed necessary. Others even utilize armoured trucks or armoured transport services. These vehicles are mostly bulletproof and are fashioned to transport extremely large quantities of money, ATM replenishment, and transport dignitaries or VIPs. However, not all cash-in-transit companies employ uniformed couriers and armoured vehicles. Why are covert operations better? Since the main obligation of any cash-in-transit company is to collect and deliver cash or a client’s valuables to the bank or any designated point, some companies find the use of armoured vehicle services essential for the business. But how safe is their hard-earned money in the hands of these couriers? According to a publication from the Australian Institute of Criminology, a total of 89 robbery incidents were recorded by Australian CIT companies over a 20-year period (1989-2008); specifically, there were 18 incidents in 2007 and 11 incidents in 2008. In the book entitled Encyclopedia of Victimology and Crime Prevention by Bonnie S. Fisher and Steven P. Lab, it was mentioned that even though most robbers target banks or any financial institutions, others still prefer robbing cash-in-transit vehicles. The robbers depict two main methods in committing the crime: (1) stopping and then attacking the CIT vehicle or (2) robbing the driver and couriers during delivery or after cash collection. As the leading cash-in-transit company in Australia, SecureCash focuses on covert operations. While using armoured trucks may be the norm in the security service industry, SecureCash has always operated in unmarked, soft-skinned vehicles and have never utilized armoured transports as part of its CIT fleet. From a security standpoint, a covert operation is a safe and risk-free approach to delivering an efficient cash-in-transit service. It eliminates risks During the transfer of cash or other valuables, the business becomes exposed and vulnerable to risks such as robberies. Try to imagine a big armoured vehicle or an armoured truck pulling up outside the office or home. This will certainly catch the eyes of criminals, from would-be thieves to organized crime syndicates. These criminals may decide not to rob the armoured truck or attack the couriers, but rather choose to plot a robbery right at the business location or home. By not using armoured vehicles, it will not only keep the couriers and drivers away from possible threats, but it will also ensure that the valuables and the client’s business stay safe. Aside from discouraging the use of armoured vehicle services, the bank couriers do not wear security uniforms or any marked, printed, easy-to-spot clothing. This is to avoid drawing too much public attention during the cash handling process. It enhances security SecureCash couriers are trained to master the art of blending into the crowd. In this way, they will be much harder to spot by anyone who’s plotting a robbery or theft. Since they are not easily recognised, their cash transfer patterns are unpredictable and more difficult to analyze. Likewise, an armed security guard or uniformed personnel coming in and out of the office, collecting and carrying an obvious bag of cash indicates a green signal for those prying criminal minds who are just waiting for the right opportunity. It’s the same as advertising to the public that a person has huge amounts of cash on-site to warrant the service of cash couriers. This is what Secure Cash has been trying to prevent, so clients will remain dedicated and keep the trust that they have given to the company for the last 25 years. Bethaney Bacchus, General Manager of SecureCash, shared that specializing in covert cash handling operations has provided many growth-oriented opportunities for the company and helped build quite a reputation among clients and partners nationwide. She added, “We save time for busy people by performing the banking duties, we offer a secure service by taking the risk away from people who are fearful to carry cash in public, we offer convenient service for people who suddenly find their bank branch has closed.” Managing cash and other valuables may be an expensive and risky venture, however, implementing tried and tested innovative solutions prove to be the key to a successful business operation. With the emergence of many security service providers in Australia, the effectiveness of one’s services provides the business with an extensive competitive advantage. To be a market leader in the industry, one must be the person who goes beyond the norm.  

  Access control systems are, of course, synonymous with security. Keeping people safe and places secure is their primary role. When these places are multi-tenant sites – with multiple subgroups of users with their own group and unique permissions – the access and security challenges are more complex. But even these can be well managed with intelligent integrated access control systems. Integrating CCTV, running sophisticated ‘cause and effect’ protocols, having a robust intruder detection system and strong cyber security measures are all essential components. But as an access control manufacturer, we carefully design our products to provide benefits beyond security too, making life easier and more pleasant for tenants and users, as well as security managers and site owners. Read on for our top nine ‘beyond security’ benefits that Inner Range intelligent access control systems can offer multi-tenant sites. 1. Partitioned systems Ok, this first one is a cheat because it is about security. But it’s highly useful for multi-tenant sites and not many access control systems offer this feature. Our enterprise level access control system, Integriti, offers ‘partitioned sites.’ This allows security managers to create users and other global entities that only exist within the partition they were created in. The partitions are completely isolated and invisible to users in other partitions, greatly reducing the chances of cyber criminals or rogue users accessing protected areas and information. 2. Smartphone access As we streamline our wallets and move increasingly to digital platforms, tenants and users can be set up to use their smartphones to open doors and other smart devices. This usually requires them to download a secure mobile app and then our Integriti system can read and check security credentials from users’ mobile phones to determine whether they are allowed access. 3. Managing visitors Applications to manage visitors ensure a secure, reliable and trusted method of managing visitors and stop receptionists getting bogged down creating credentials when visitors arrive. These systems can allow business tenants to issue temporary passes for their own visitors without needing to pass every request through a central security team. The passes can usually be issued on paper or in advance via email. They can also be issued as Apple Wallet or Google Pass credentials. These appear on the visitor’s smartphone with a QR code without the visitor having to search their phone for them. Location and time-based information included in the pass ensure it appears when and where it is needed. The passes can be read by our Integriti system at door entry readers, entrance turnstiles and lifts to ensure visitors only access areas agreed by the ‘host’ offering an efficient and hassle-free experience for everyone. 4. Parking made easy All our systems offer automatic number count that triggers to show whether car parks are full or still have space available when someone is approaching the entrance. Our Enterprise product, Integriti, can integrate with ANPR providers that read vehicle number plates and allow access for those with correct permissions including disabled users and/ or VIPs. 5. Cashless vending All user profiles can be loaded with credits for users to purchase drinks, food and other items on site. This saves time for users who don’t have to wait in long queues at lunch time and is easier for canteen workers who don’t have to deal with cash. 6. Heating and lighting efficiencies Everyone is concerened with their carbon footprint these days and our access control systems can be used to track when and where people are on site, meaning organisations can update heating and lighting timers to reflect what users really need. Access control systems can also be used to create automated heating or lighting actions in reaction to specific alerts such as lights coming on when a particular door is opened or when a certain number of people have entered a building or room. These measures make life more comfortable for users while also saving money and improving the environmental credentials of the site owners. 7. Automatic renewal reminders Our access control systems can be used to manage a range of permits and licences. For example, some clients offer parking permits that need to be paid for. Our access control systems will send automatic notifications when a permit or licence is about to expire, reminding them to top up or renew, and avoids frustration at the car park barrier if a permit has expired. 8. Health and safety certificates The reminder service mentioned above also applies to a host of health and safety licences and certificates. It’s imperative for companies to keep first aiders and machine operators up to date with training and mandatory refreshers. Our Integriti access control system will send automatic notifications when certificates are nearing expiration so individuals and companies have time to train or refresh skills as required. This takes pressure off health and safety managers who don’t have to record and remember all this information themselves and reduces the risk of an accident and/ or liability. 9. Automatic muster reports All our products, including our entry-level access control system Inception, offer automatic muster reports. These show who is where on site and can be scheduled to run in the event of a fire alarm to help with health and safety procedures. The alternative is a manual register of users in the event of an emergency, which is much more time-consuming. The fact our muster reports show the last known location of users means that if someone is missing, site managers or emergency crews will have a much better idea as to where to start searching.  

Robert Marsden, Managing Director of Addictive Technology said, “While we have a lot of experience in making and providing for better drive through experiences, there is always room to innovate and grow. We looked at the technologies now available and came up with a system that provides a faster, more frictionless ordering system, based on the latest licence plate recognition (LPR) technology.” Customers expect a fast, seamless drive-through experience, and are often under time pressure, especially if they are ordering food and coffee on their morning commute. Long queues and wait time can detract from the drive-through experience, and have a significant effect on customer satisfaction and loyalty. The success of the drive-through café or restaurant itself depends on getting as many customers serviced as possible in any given hour, especially at peak times. The fast food and beverage market is very competitive during commute times, and an efficient drive through service can be the difference between success or failure. Solution White Label Software built an in-house software solution that sits between a restaurant or cafe’s PoS system and networked video cameras, based on Milestone Systems’ open XProtect video management software (VMS) platform. The software uses LPR technology to identify regular customers as they drive up to place their order, accesses the restaurant’s database of VIP customers in real time to see if they have a favourite coffee or snack, and sends a message to the kitchen to start preparing those items before the customer has arrived at the sales window. The customer’s coffee will be ready before they arrive at the order point, and the system will also allow cross-checking to ensure that the predicted order matches the customer’s actual order. “Our PoS system has an API, and that application sits in the middle of Milestone and our PoS system. A Windows application reads the licence plates then talks to the PoS system. It is an SQL based system with a database stored in the cloud on Amazon Web servers, so it does all this in a few seconds,” said Marsden. The solution is also flexible. Outlets can decide whether they want customers to register in advance and confirm what they want ahead of time, so that the same order is placed every time or they have the option of using the predictive analysis built into White Label’s proprietary PoS software. This analysis proves accurate for 90 percent of orders,with just 10 percent of customers deciding they want something different on a specific day. The PoS software will analyse the customer’s last ten or more orders and pick the one that comes up the most. The cost of any wastage using this system is considerably less than the cost of a slower drive-through experience. The innovation stems from Addictive Technology’s extensive experience working with Drive Thru food outlets. When provisioning a drive-through space, the SI deploys all technologies themselves from PoS through to networking and wireless, LPR software and all associated integrations. Addictive’s Milestone Systems LPR solution provides a minimum of four or five seconds head-start for each predicted order, and as much as two minutes head-start for high volume outlets during busy times. This head-start can be critical to avoiding congestion at busy times, and make the difference between an efficient and streamlined ordering process, and one which backs up and causes customers to be delayed. The solution means that when cars are queued at the order point, the outlet can already be making coffee for the car behind it. In the quick service restaurant industry, outlets survive or perish based on their customer satisfaction, and the number of cars that are able to physically pass through their drive-through on an hourly basis. The Milestone solution Milestone Systems is an open platform, meaning that developers are able – and openly encouraged – to build upon the code. This has enabled Addictive Technology to adapt the existing LPR software to their own needs, and integrate it with their proprietary PoS software solution. Software is seldom used in a stand-alone capacity these days, so the power of an open platform means that integrators such as Addictive Technology are able to harness the power of a major platform, and combine with several other solutions to provide customers with a fully integrated system that fits their specific needs.   “The power of an open platform such as Milestone allows us to tailor solutions directly to our customers’ requirements, and then extend our ongoing services to those customers after the build. Everybody wins – customers get the system that works best for their financial outlay; as a systems integrator we get to provide the sort of solutions and services that we want, rather than being forced to follow someone else’s guidelines, and we get to administer that solution after it is deployed in order to maintain satisfied customers,” explained Marsden. Due to the flexibility of Milestone Systems’ platform, Addictive Technology is also able to keep customer costs down. Rather than rely on specific cameras with extended functionality for LPR use, the solution is able to use relatively cost-effective cameras, so long as the resolution is of high enough quality. Further to this, Addictive Technology is able to deploy the Milestone LPR software on a physical CCTV server along with cameras and storage, rather than provision a dedicated server, which further reduces costs or run it on dedicated Milestone hardware. In other instances the SI has built a virtualised LPR server based on a VMware running Windows 10, in order to re-use existing hardware. “This again demonstrates the flexibility and power of the software-driven solution,” explained Marsden. The bespoke PoS and LPR solutions designed and implemented by Addictive Technology are also made available to other companies wishing to licence them, which opens up another window of opportunity for Addictive Technology. Marsden explained that on the next version of the software, currently being built by White Label, orders will be sent straight to the kitchen video system as well as different locations throughout the…

The past couple of weeks have been intense for most companies since they had to shift to working remotely. This situation is unfortunately a huge opportunity for cyber-attackers. Remote connections mean more vulnerabilities to exploit. Active Directory (AD) is the main identity and access platform for companies around the world. If you want to secure your network you need to protect the remote use of AD credentials. Phishing aimed at the most vulnerable As if it was not enough on its own, the recent coronavirus outbreak brought with it a lot of new phishing email campaigns. The attackers are aiming at the most vulnerable users – just like the disease itself – your new remote employees. Using public fear to lure their victims is their main strategy. They send URLs or document to download of safety recommendations or infection maps. The probability of users clicking on a link or downloading an attachment is higher than ever. Basically, hackers are after a set of compromised credentials which they can use to access a network and move laterally within it to locate anything valuable that can be exploited. Even worse, similar to the coronavirus, you might not even know you’ve been touched. The Ponemon Institute says that 191 days is the average data breach discovery time. The threat surface is growing Now more than ever, your organization might be at high risk if you don’t have a sufficient protection of Active Directory connections. Most companies have been forced to work remotely which has expanded rapidly the threat surface. This risk is higher when we know that most companies weren’t ready for it, they had no time to prepare whatsoever. What they did is that they rushed to allow Microsoft remote desktop (RDP) access so that their employees would be able to access desktop resources remotely. Understandable enough, companies’ priority has been the continuation of operations. Cybersecurity didn’t get the attention it deserved. Remote Active Directory logins security RDP access is unfortunately not fully secure, it is only protected by a single password. Here are three recommendations to protect those sessions:  Strengthen passwords.  Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) for all remote sessions. Enable two-factor authentication on these remote sessions. These 3 steps will allow you to significantly improve the security of your remote employees. For more security and to fully minimize the risk, find below a full list of recommendations written by experts: Remote working equipment policy: The best thing is to use the devices available, secured and controlled by your organization. If this is not an option, you should give clear usage and security rules to your employees working from home. Make sure to secure your external access: To do so, use a VPN (Virtual Private Network). Once this is done, and if you can, limit VPN access to only authorized equipment to strengthen security. If anyone tries to connect from a ‘non-authorized’ device, login must be denied. Strong password policy: To be strong and safe, all your passwords must be long, complex and unique. However, passwords will only be vulnerable. To address those vulnerabilities, activate two-factor authentication on all remote sessions, especially for connections to the corporate network. Deploy security updates: Whenever they’re available they need to be deployed on all pieces of equipment in your information system. If you don’t, attacker scan quickly exploit those vulnerabilities. Backup of data and activities: After an attack, backups might be the only way for your company to recover its data. Perform and test backups on a regular basis to make sure they are working. Use antiviral solutions: A professional antiviral solution helps protect your company from viral attacks, but also sometimes from phishing, or from some ransomware. Logging of the activity and access: Systematic logging of all access and activities of your workstations and equipment (servers, firewall, proxy…) will give you information on how a cyber-attack happened, its extent and how to remedy it. Supervise the activity of external access: It’s important to be able to detect suspicious access, it could represent a sign of an attack. To be able to detect those, you need to monitor all your remote sessions and access to your files and folders. For even more security, real-time alerts and immediate reactions are a great way to act before damage is done. User awareness: Your remote employees must be given clear instructions on what they can or can’t do. They are the first barrier to help you avoid/ detect attacks. Be ready for a cyber-attack: Perfect security doesn’t exist. No organization, whatever its size, is immune to cyber-attacks. If you anticipate by assessing the possible scenarios, you can take the necessary measures to protect your organization. Managers must be involved: They have to be implicated and responsible when it comes to security. It’s important in order to ensure employees’ adhesion.