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Allied Telesis, a global company in connectivity solutions and intelligent networking tools announced that it has appointed Jason Nadar as Country Manager for India and SAARC. This appointment will add to Allied Telesis’ growth strategy in the region with its portfolio of products and technologies providing IoT and SDN solutions for customers in large enterprise, government and critical infrastructure. Known as a leader in video networking Allied Telesis is engaged in the development and production of more intelligent, autonomously controlled and managed systems aimed at meeting the demands of a ‘smart world.’ As a network switching specialist, Allied Telesis provides solutions that are easier to deploy and easier to use which is a compelling value statement driving customer adoption. Jakub Duch, VP DevOps and Marketing Europe overseeing India operations said, “Allied Telesis has the products, skills, and resources to offer end-to-end networking solutions across multiple industries. Jason Nadar brings a wealth of experience and skills to work in large projects along with the knowledge of how to integrate all the pieces for a successful customer outcome. The Allied Telesis team is knowledgeable, engaging, and consistently enhances the value we can deliver when tackling a customer’s complex needs. Combine that with robust leadership and we have engineered a long-term vision to create lasting wins in this market.” “Allied Telesis is involved in some of the most advanced and innovative next-generation research serving the needs of the network communications industry for over 30 years. In a post-pandemic era, the need of the hour is for networks to be defined by software that configures, secures, manages, and automates the infrastructure and Allied Telesis is uniquely positioned to fulfil that need. I look forward to leveraging my experience to lead the company in expanding our footprint with partners, enterprises and SMEs to increase the adoption of our cutting-edge solutions” Jason Nadar Country Manager, India and SAARC Business, Allied Telesis A 28-year industry veteran, Jason Nadar is a strong sales and pre-sales professional with a demonstrated history of delivering rapid growth with skills in networking, security, wireless technologies, VoIP and NOC-SOC (EDR, SIEM, SOAR). With an MBA focused in Leadership Management from National Institute of Business Management he has held various senior positions at Aruba Networks, 3Com, Ingram Micro and Bluecoat. In his previous role as National Sales Manager at Fortinet, he was instrumental in growing their Secure Access & New Technologies business in India and SAARC region. “Allied Telesis is involved in some of the most advanced and innovative next-generation research serving the needs of the network communications industry for over 30 years. In a post-pandemic era, the need of the hour is for networks to be defined by software that configures, secures, manages, and automates the infrastructure and Allied Telesis is uniquely positioned to fulfil that need. I look forward to leveraging my experience to lead the company in expanding our footprint with partners, enterprises and SMEs to increase the adoption of our cutting-edge solutions.” said Jason Nadar. With a portfolio of products and technologies providing IoT and SDN-enabled solutions for enterprise, government, education and critical infrastructure customers, Allied Telesis is the smarter choice. Its Envigilant™ managed services division delivers customized, state-of-the-art IoT solutions at the edge, empowering innovation, improving process agility and helping build a competitive advantage for customers globally. They are committed to providing their customers with solutions designed and built to the highest standards and quality. Their manufacturing conforms to ISO 9001 standards and all of their facilities adhere to the strict ISO 14001 standard to ensure a healthier planet.  

The front-line security workers most often lack support and the freedom to truly express themselves within the workspace. With the appointment of Satia Rai as the Welfare and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Director, the International Professional Security Association (IPSA) is working on making the sector a place where each and every front-line worker could be their true selves. Satia, who started her own career at the front-line as a retail security officer, has progressed into directorship roles at leading organisations and has a strong track record leading transformational change within the security sector. Along with 25+ years of experience at operational and strategic levels, Satia brings her vision of creating a culture within the industry where every person can thrive and experience a sense of belongingness. She is the co-chair of the security sector’s first LGBTQ+ group and a supporter of various initiatives that help her promote diversity and inclusivity within the industry. “Prior to Satia’s appointment we talked extensively about the culture, ethos and welfare of the IPSA front-line members and their welfare needs. It was important that we had a non-political caring person who would be there for everyone. I feel that Satia is the right person for IPSA, and the wellbeing of IPSA members. We are very proud to have her on the Board representing the EDI and welfare needs of all our members,” said Una Riley, Chief Executive Officer, IPSA. “The community we protect and help secure is diverse,” said Satia, It is important we reflect this diversity within our security workforce to be able to best serve the people within the community. With the appointment of Satia as the EDI Director, IPSA aims to ensure that its vision of giving ‘One Voice’ to the front-line security workers embraces people from every culture, gender, age and background. The Association will soon be launching the IPSA Alliance SIG, conceptualised with and led by Satia. IPSA will inform, inspire change and empower people to be themselves. IPSA is the largest security trade association in the UK with a membership of 3500+ front-line security workers. Incorporation of the Welfare and EDI directorship will help IPSA provide better support to its rapidly growing membership. Commenting on her appointment, Satia said, “It’s an honour and privilege to be joining the longest established security association in the UK. I recognise that there is still a way to go to becoming an inclusive sector. I will lead from the front when it comes to this agenda, as I know that getting it right is critical. We have made good progress in creating a diverse and inclusive security sector but we are not yet representative of the communities which we serve. We also have work to do to nurture a culture of inclusion where we can all be ourselves. Working together as a sector, we are more likely to create success and fulfilment for all of us and, together, do our best work. This strategy strives towards better representing the people and communities we serve and creating a more inclusive working environment. IPSA will lead and set ambitious goals, measure progress and shape the future of the security sector. The new IPSA Alliance SIG will innovate, inspire and engage and lead the way.”  

Fortinet®, a global player in broad, integrated, and automated cybersecurity solutions, recently announced the latest semiannual FortiGuard Labs Global Threat Landscape Report. Threat intelligence from the second half of 2021 reveals an increase in the automation and speed of attacks demonstrating more advanced persistent cybercrime strategies that are more destructive and unpredictable. In addition, the expanding attack surface of hybrid workers and hybrid IT is a focal point that cyber adversaries are attempting to exploit. For a detailed view of the report, as well as some important takeaways, read the blog. Highlights of the 2H 2021 report follow: Log4j demonstrates dramatic speed of exploit organizations face: The Log4j vulnerabilities that occurred in late 2021 demonstrate the rapidly increasing speed of exploit that cybercriminals are attempting to leverage to their advantage. Despite emerging in the second week of December, exploitation activity escalated quickly enough, in less than a month, to make it the most prevalent IPS detection of the entire second half of 2021. In addition, Log4j had nearly 50x the activity volume in comparison to the well-known outbreak, ProxyLogon, that happened earlier in 2021. The reality is that organizations have very little time to react or patch today given the speeds that cyber adversaries are employing to maximize fresh opportunities. Organizations need AI and ML-powered intrusion prevention systems (IPS), aggressive patch management strategies, and the threat intelligence visibility to prioritize those threats propagating most quickly in the wild to reduce overall risk. Adversaries rapidly targeting new vectors across the attack surface: Some lesser or low-lying threats have the potential to cause bigger problems in the future and are worthy of watching. An example is newly crafted malware designed to exploit Linux systems, often in the form of executable and linkable format (ELF) binaries. Linux runs the back-end systems of many networks and container-based solutions for IoT devices and mission-critical applications, and it is becoming a more popular target for attackers. In fact, the rate of new Linux malware signatures in Q4 quadrupled that of Q1 2021 with ELF variant Muhstik, RedXOR malware, and even Log4j being examples of threats targeting Linux. The prevalence of ELF and other Linux malware detections doubled during 2021. This growth in variants and volume suggests that Linux malware is increasingly part of adversaries’ arsenal. Linux needs to be secured, monitored and managed as any other endpoint in the network with advanced and automated endpoint protection, detection and response. In addition, security hygiene should be prioritized to provide active threat protection for systems that may be affected by low-lying threats. Botnet trends show a more sophisticated evolution of attack methods: Threat trends demonstrate that botnets are evolving to adopt newer and more evolved cybercriminal attack techniques. Instead of being primarily monolithic and focused mostly on DDoS attacks, botnets are now multipurpose attack vehicles leveraging a variety of more sophisticated attack techniques, including ransomware. For example, threat actors, including operators of botnets like Mirai, integrated exploits for the Log4j vulnerability into their attack kits. Also, botnet activity was tracked associated with a new variant of the RedXOR malware, which targets Linux systems for data exfiltration. Detections of botnets delivering a variant of RedLine Stealer malware also surged in early October morphing to find new targets using a COVID-themed file. To protect networks and applications, organizations must implement zero trust access solutions to provide least access privileges especially to secure IoT endpoints and devices entering the network as well as automated detection and response capabilities to monitor anomalous behavior. “Cybersecurity is a fast-moving and dynamic industry, but recent threat events show unparalleled speeds at which cyber adversaries are developing and executing attacks today. New and evolving attack techniques span the entire kill chain but especially in the weaponization phase, showing an evolution to a more advanced persistent cybercrime strategy that is more destructive and unpredictable. To protect against this broad scope of threats, organizations need to implement AIpowered prevention, detection, and response strategies based on a cybersecurity mesh architecture allowing for much tighter integration, increased automation, as well as a more rapid, coordinated, and effective response to threats across the extended network” Michael Joseph Director System Engineering, India & SAARC, Fortinet Malware trends show cybercriminals maximizing ‘remote everything:’ Evaluating the prevalence of malware variants by region reveals a sustained interest by cyber adversaries in maximizing the remote work and learning attack vector. In particular, various forms of browser-based malware were prevalent. This often takes the form of phishing lures or scripts that inject code or redirect users to malicious sites. Specific detections vary across global regions, but can be largely grouped into leveraging three broad distribution mechanisms: Microsoft Office executables (MSExcel/ MSOffice), PDF files, and browser scripts (HTML/ JS). Such techniques continue to be a popular way for cybercriminals to exploit people’s desire for the latest news about the pandemic, politics, sports, or other headlines, and to then find entryways back to corporate networks. With hybrid work and learning remaining a reality, there are fewer layers of protection between malware and would-be victims. Organizations must take a ‘work-from-anywhere’ approach to their security by deploying solutions capable of following, enabling, and protecting users no matter where they are located. They need advanced security on the endpoint (EDR) combined with zero trust access solutions, including ZTNA. Secure SD-WAN is also critical to ensure secure WAN connectivity for the extended network. Ransomware activity still high and continues to get more destructive: FortiGuard Labs data reveals that ransomware has not subsided from peak levels over the last year and instead, the sophistication, aggressiveness, and impact of ransomware is increasing. Threat actors continue to attack organizations with a variety of new as well as previously seen ransomware strains, often leaving a trail of destruction. Old ransomware is being actively updated and enhanced, sometimes with wiper malware included, while other ransomware is evolving to adopt Ransomware-as-as-Service (RaaS) business models. RaaS enables more threat actors to leverage and distribute the malware without having to create the ransomware themselves. FortiGuard Labs observed a consistent level…

Hikvision’s AX-HUB is an innovative product in intruder alarm systems segment, which ensures complete security for your home, retail outlets, warehouses, commercial offices and many more. It can be integrated to centralized surveillance and remote monitoring solutions as well. These devices are designed for catering residential and small commercial applications, the AX-HUB connects security peripherals such as motion detectors, magnetic contacts, and displacement sensors, alongside safety devices like smoke and gas sensors to keep people and your premises safe. Hikvision cameras and the AX-HUB alarm systems work seamlessly together to provide a recorded video clip or live HD video footage, directly through Hik-Connect, iVMS or instantly to monitoring stations. This allows active decisions to be made faster and more reliably in the event of an activation. Simple to install and use, the AX-HUB provides voice prompts locally to assist during installation, as well as alert the end user to any events. The AX-HUB is also compatible with the smart device App, in addition to a wide range of communication pathways and multiport IP communications via either the Cloud or CMS for added peace of mind. AX-HUB can be integrated with Wireless Smoke Detectors to provide sophisticated and cost effective fire protection solution. This Cloud connectivity allows full control of the system from anywhere via Hik-Connect, to easily and remotely arm, disarm and monitor the system. The Cloud also enables the use of revolutionary IVaaS (Intruder Verification as a Service), which allows end users and monitoring stations to quickly and efficiently confirm system events through HD video verification. Ax-Hub Intrusion Alarm Kit Ds-Pwa32-Kg USP’s of AX-HUB: Wireless Intrusion Panel with CCTV integration + Mobile App. Voice guiding for ease of operations. Ease of programming Via Web/ App. Two-way wireless communication. 32 wireless inputs, 8 keyfobs, 2 wireless sirens. In-built GPRS + SMS + voice dialing facility. Inbuilt LAN and Wi-Fi modules. Supports 2 nos. of Hikvision IP cameras for video verification. Supports viewing events video via mobile App. Transmission distance 800m in open area. 128-bit data encryption. In-built battery back-up upto 12Hrs. Mobile App. 3rd party CMS software compatibility. Solution AX-HUB DS-PWA32-KG package provides built-in of IoT modules AX-HUB with in-built GPRS module, Wi-Fi & LAN modules. Wireless pet immune motion sensor. Wireless magnetic contact. Key fob – a small security device with built-in authentication used to control and secure access to network services and data. HikConnect mobile App + SMS + Auto dialing voice call. Supports web browser for integrating Hikvision IP cameras with AX-HUB. IP cameras to be purchased separately. AX-HUB: Benefits WEB configuration The AX-HUB has a built-in web server which enables the device to be configured through a web browser over the local IP network. This offers more flexibility and time saving on site, as setup can be done quickly and efficiently using a laptop or compatible smart device. Easy setup and installation Setting up the system could not be simpler, with an intuitive and easy to use interface. Connect to the panel directly via our web-browser or with iVMS on a laptop for on-site setup or, alternatively, program the system using the Hik-Connect App. Learning devices and sensors onto the system is also easy using the one-push-to-learn feature on all Hikvision wireless intrusion devices, to save time and money. Multiple communication paths The variety of communication pathways available with the AX-HUB is unmatched. It offers LAN, Wi-Fi & GPRS connections with on-board communication modules and connectors for a simpler and more cost-effective installation. With multiport IP communications, the AX-HUB can also communicate simultaneously with multiple devices, to ensure alarm messages are sent to all that need them. The AX-HUB can also notify up to 6 phone numbers in the event of an alarm through voice calls, offering greater flexibility in the way that end users are notified about events on the system. ARC linkage If ARC connectivity is required, the AX-HUB can communicate alarms and other messages in Contact ID format for a rapid and efficient response. Two-way wireless devices With the AX-HUB, you can add up to 32 two-way wireless devices. This provides a system which is secure and flexible; allowing even larger premises to be secured with a wide range of indoor and outdoor Hikvision peripherals. Hik-Connect The end-user App, Hik-Connect, brings together an intrusion alarm and video functions like never before. Linking detectors and sensors to cameras for video verification, as well as providing the end user with the ability to monitor the system from anywhere in the world; remotely checking system status, receiving alerts, arming, disarming, HD video monitoring and more, to remain informed and in complete control at all times. IVaaS (Intruder Verification as a Service) This revolutionary service provides video verification (from any Hikvision or ONVIF IP camera on the premises) for users to quickly and efficiently confirm an alarm event on the system. During the configuration of the panel, 2 cameras can be linked to the AX-HUB, which incorporates a rolling video buffer. Where other video verification methods rely on sending low-quality static images to confirm events, IVaaS utilises Cloud technology alongside the buffer to link previously separate video and intruder systems to one platform. This provides a 7 second clip in the event of an alarm; 5 seconds pre-alarm and 2 seconds post-alarm. Hik-Connect advantages Simple arming and disarming with user friendly interface. Quickly view events and video recordings. Easily configure the system from the App. See wireless devices in each partition. View cameras and alarms in one App. Simplifying the experience for the end user, you can view and manage both your camera and alarm systems from one App in one screen. Check the status of wireless devices in each partition quickly and simply whilst being able to make changes to settings, bypass zones and more from inside the App. Set up system options and make changes in programming within Hik-Connect App, it helps to make configuration simple and easy to follow. The simple interface of the Hik-Connect App allows easy arming and disarming of the…

Ashish P. Dhakan MD & CEO, Prama Hikvision India Pvt. Ltd. A pro-growth budget with a vision for the new emerging India India’s progressive Union Budget seeks to complement macro-economic level growth with a focus on micro-economic level all inclusive welfare. It has a pro-technology focus with futuristic vision. A special thrust on promotion of Digital India and adoption of emerging technologies, including 5G, AI, ML and drones. The key highlights of union budget underlines the economic growth estimated at 9.2% to be the highest among all large economies. It promises 60 lakh new jobs to be created under the productivity linked incentive scheme in 14 sectors. It also highlights the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Schemes, which has the potential to create an additional production of Rs 30 lakh crore. This budget has a roadmap for achieving the objective of ‘Make-inIndia’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat.’ The customs duty rationalisation to incentivise domestic manufacturing is a welcome step. The budget has the PM GatiShakti Scheme with ambitious plans to transform the transportation sector. The seven engines that are going to drive PM GatiShakti are Roads, Railways, Airports, Ports, Mass Transport, Waterways and Logistics Infrastructure. The big boost to infrastructure will help the security industry growth in the long term. There is a greater focus on MSME sector in the budget and as a key stakeholder of the MSME Ecosystem, we feel this a very positive step for the security industry. The government has announced that Udyam, e-shram, NCS and ASEEM portals will be interlinked. The help is provided to 130 lakh MSMEs as additional credit under Emergency Credit Linked Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS). The extension of this scheme till March 2023 is a thoughtful decision. The firm focus on skill development is another positive aspect of the union budget. Digital Ecosystem for Skilling and Livelihood (DESH-Stack e-portal) will be launched to empower citizens to skill, reskill or upskill through on-line training. Overall a pro-growth budget with a vision for the new emerging India on global front. Dr. Niranjan Hiranandani National Vice Chairman, NAREDCO & MD, Hiranandani Group As budget decodes Kaam, Kisan and Kamai as the focus, the outlays have comes out with a ‘budget for the economy,’ with sustainability & infrastructure investment as its underlying theme. Rating it at 7/10, the Budget is clearly about complementing macro-growth with micro-all-inclusive welfare, digital economy and fintech, tech-enabled development, energy transition, bolstering investment and climate action – which augurs well for the nation. Industry welcomes much awaited focus to resolve long standing issues of reduction in approval timelines for land & construction. Emphasis laid towards modernisation and reforms in building byelaws, TDR reforms, urban town planning schemes, transit oriented multi modal corridors and transferable development rights. Impetus to urban development policy with enhanced capacity building will lead holistic development of urban cities. With rise in population & career mobility, focus on nurturing new smart tier 2-3 cities will result in a big boost for Real Estate infrastructure with cascading impact on additional job creation. Extension of PMAY scheme till March 2023 along with an allocation of Rs 48,000 crores outlay will further enhance affordable housing benefits to 80 lacs new beneficiaries under middle class and economic weaker sections in urban areas. Single window portal for green clearances is a step to promote ease of doing business in augmenting sustainable development along with special mobility zones for electric vehicles. Granting of infrastructure status to data centres in lieu of impetus to data localization and protect data sovereignty is shot in the arm. This will enable the data centres industry to avail long & cheap credit financing in order to foster competitiveness to become a global data centre hub. Additional impetus on Gati Shakti, inclusive development for last mile connectivity, public investment, capital spending and financing of investments will augment steady economic growth. Rajesh Maurya Regional Vice President, India and SAARC, Fortinet In this budget the Government has made a strong economic statement with its focus on public investments to spur growth. Forward looking and catering to an aspirational Digital India the budget once again lays its emphasis on technology with the launch of digital currency using blockchain, digital university for education in different Indian languages, roll out of 5G and boost to Start-ups. Climate action is among the top 4 priorities for the Government. Climate change continues to pose a significant threat, and all business and public organizations across the country must do their part to address it. Skilling programs and partnerships with industry will be re-oriented to promote continuous skilling avenues, sustainability, and employability. The launch of Desh-Stack e-portal will provide the ecosystem for skilling and livelihood. Fortinet has been dedicated to closing the cybersecurity skills gap by making all its NSE self-paced training courses free for everyone. We will further build on this commitment with a pledge to train 1 million people across the globe in the next 5 years. Essential services, Digital currency and the sensitivity of the information the government holds all calls for a shared responsibility in protecting valuable data and digital assets. Smart planning, doing the cybersecurity basics and leveraging the increasing convergence of networking and security are keys to ensuring that all services can operate efficiently and securely. S Sriram Chief Strategy Officer, iValue InfoSolutions It was a consistent and pragmatic budget with a lot of thrust around infrastructure spending to enhance growth. Despite multiple elections around the corner, great to see no populist announcement with focus on reducing fiscal deficit starting next fiscal. 5G rollout and extension of sops around ‘make-in-India’ for new start-ups should augur well for the tech enabled industry. Central Government focus around digitization will offer business opportunities for domestic focused ITeS players with the Government taking the lead role on capex investment recovery post pandemic. Overall exciting times ahead as India is poised to be the fastest growing economy for the next few years. R Arun Prasath Chief Information Offier, EverestIMS Technologies A number of measures have been introduced in the country’s General…

The 16th edition of the Security Leadership Summit organized by Central Association of Private Security Industry (CAPSI) was held at the NDMC Convention Centre, Sansad Marg, New Delhi on 17th December 2021. This years’ Summit was organized in a hybrid manner with physical presence of over 250 industry leaders from across the country. Eminent politicians, bureaucrats and public figures shared their thought process with respect to the growth and well-being of the industry. Apart from them, the conference was also attended by the senior officials and students of the private security management course being conducted by Sardar Patel University of Police Security and Criminal Justice (SPUP) to understand the functioning of private security industry. Over 150 security guards who are the frontline soldiers of various private security agencies also attended the Summit. All the members of CAPSI were able to view the entire proceeding sitting at their respective states and were able to even participate through zoom platform. The highlight of the event was the participation of the Chief Guest Gen (Dr) VK Singh MoS Road, Transport and Highways at the inaugural session. Traditional practice of the lighting of the lamp was followed wherein the dignitaries on the dais lead by Gen (Dr) VK Singh lit the auspicious lamp followed by distribution of Badge of Honour to the Frontline warriors of the industry for their exemplary courage during the pandemic. The summit was also graced by Udai Mahurkar, Information Commissioner of India; Anurag Batra, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, Business World Magazine; Prakash Mirani, Additional CEO, GEM; and Advocate SK Gupta as Guest of Honour. Audio Visual on Private Security Day Celebrations – 4th December An audio visual on Private Security Day celebrations was showcased after the inaugural session. Addressing the Summit, Chairman Kunwar Vikram Singh highlighted that to recognise the role of private security industry and private security guards in the nation-building process, particularly in the times of national emergency and crisis, the Central Association of Private Security Industry (CAPSI) decided to celebrate December 4 as the ‘Private Security Day.’ He informed the Chief Guest that ‘Private Security Day’ was also celebrated internationally as all the leading global organisations and companies agreed to the CAPSI proposal. “December 4 is a special day for the entire private security industry in India and across the world as it was on this day that the former President Smt Pratibha Patil had inaugurated the CAPSI’s Annual Security Leadership Summit in 2009. It was the first-ever occasion across the world when a Head of the State had inaugurated the annual summit of the private security industry in any country,” said Mr Singh, “It is also a solemn occasion for us to honour the contributions of the private security industry during the Covid-19 pandemic which created havoc in India and across the world. We paid tributes to our brave private security personnel who died while serving humanity during the pandemic. A number of events were planned to commemorate the day. Certificates and prizes to recognise the services of the deserving security personnel were awarded. Associates of CAPSI across the globe also celebrated the day which speaks volumes of solidarity of security sector fraternity.” The Chairman further said as the country’s economy was badly affected, many private security establishments were also forced to close down due to the slowdown of business, thereby resulting in loss of jobs for the employees. The private security industry was able to withstand the onslaught of the Covid tsunami and continued to provide services to the end users. The performance of the private security industry during the COVID pandemic, especially during the lockdown phase, was outstanding. The fact that the industry was recognised as an ‘essential service’ by the government authorities speaks volumes of faith and trust the Government of India reposes on the industry. The security personnel faced a lot of problems during that time when public transport and other amenities which we take for granted was not available. Most importantly, the fear of contracting the deadly virus as they were vulnerable was also there. Despite that the security guard, undaunted by the difficulties posed did manage to reach his place of duty and performed his tasks admirably. Now was the time to appreciate their role and the professional commitment exhibited at that time. Keeping in view the spirit, ‘Private Security Day’ was celebrated in all parts of country by all state chapters of CAPSI. He said that with the dedication and devotion with which our comrades celebrated this day, there was hardly any city or town where it would not have been celebrated. Addressing the Summit, Chairman Kunwar Vikram Singh also lamented the government proposal to downgrade private security industry from skilled to semiskilled category as it will hurt employability of over 1 lakh private security guards currently working in the industry. He urged the government to reconsider it. He also said increasing mandatory training period for private security guards from 160 hours to 400 hours was not feasible as there are no paraphernalia available to conduct such training programmes. Private Security Sector to Employ more Women in Times to Come Addressing the Security Leadership Summit-2021, Gen (Dr) V K Singh said the Indian private security industry needs to evolve itself by employing more women and maximising use of technology in order to survive and excel. He said, in times to come it will be difficult to provide security and ensure safety without the use of technology. Similarly, need of security is growing across sectors, and here women can play a major role in providing security to various businesses and industry including markets, saloons, highways schools and institutions and companies etc. Their role and involvement is key to the growth of the private security industry, Gen VK Singh added. The Union Minister also stressed the need for better training to provide better security, and here too technology will play a major role. Terrorists and anti-social elements are using technology to commit crime, so the private security industry will also have…

Every year, a large number of traffic incidents and crashes occur worldwide. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 1.3 million people die each year as a result of road traffic crashes. There are many factors leading to this – road infrastructure, road users, vehicle speeds, and vehicle safety. Another of these is fatigue and drowsiness at the wheel, which could result in a dangerous situation that jeopardizes the safety of driver, passengers, and even pedestrians. According to The Euro Weekly News, the fatigue detection system and other driver assistance system will be mandatory in new cars in 2022, as it says the vast majority of road accidents are caused by human error. So much so, it is critical that actions to improve vehicle safety are taken to promote safe transport for all road users. How a video-based onboard security system can help As a leading IoT solution provider with video as its core competency, Hikvision designed and developed its Mobile Onboard Video System to boost vehicle security in comprehensive ways. These range from reliable footage recording and route deviation or speeding alarms, to emergency alarms and abnormal driving behavior analysis. The system offers 360° video coverage both inside and outside a vehicle, providing real-time situational awareness for safe driving. Video footage is reliably transmitted and stored, which can be used as forensic evidence in the event of a traffic accident. It also generates insights such as passenger flow in a public bus, for example, so that passenger distribution can be optimized to improve their comfort. Protecting a range of road vehicles Hikvision’s Onboard Video Security System ensures that typical types of vehicle are well protected, including public buses, school buses, trucks, taxis, and ride-hailing cars. Public buses Buses play an important role in urban transportation. For many people, they provide an indispensable method for their daily commute. Accordingly, the operational efficiency of the bus fleet, its services, and public safety demonstrate new challenges for public transport authorities. Hikvision understands those challenges, and has developed its Bus Solution with two important features. Firstly, passenger flow counting, based on video analytics, allows bus drivers to know the actual number of passengers inside in real time. This is helpful when certain compliance requirements such as social distancing is introduced. If passenger flow exceeds a pre-defined number, an alert can be sent to the operation center for better bus fleet scheduling. This help them to improve service quality and passenger satisfaction. Another feature is abnormal driving behavior detection, which can pick up driver fatigue, as well as smoking in the bus. If these incidents are detected, an alert is sent to the monitoring center in real time, allowing operators to communicate with drivers immediately via two-way audio. School buses School buses can carry 40 or more students to and from school. As such, operators want to take extra care of this precious cargo. Is the school bus on its usual route? Did a student board the bus on time and get off at the right stop? For school administrators and parents, these matters can be critical. Hikvision’s School Bus Solution offers innovative onboard attendance capabilities. When students get on the bus, they can swipe their ID card on a terminal and the record is uploaded to the system’s central platform right away. At the same time, a notification can be pushed to parents’ mobile phones, informing them that their child is safely on the bus. It’s also important to protect students when they get off the school bus and cross the road. The solution includes a ‘stop for school bus’ sign with an audible and visual flash warning. This works to notify passing vehicles to stop until students safely cross a street. Trucks Trucks transport a wide range of goods and materials, ranging from our daily necessities to luxury products. Therefore, it is important for logistics companies to know the real-time status of their truck fleet, whether they transit goods on time, and arrive at the destinations safely etc. Hikvision’s Truck Solution collects audio and video data with cameras installed inside and outside the truck. It sends GPS and alarm data through onboard video recorders and 3G/ 4G wireless networks, to realize remote truck monitoring and management. Due to their size, trucks have large blind spots on both sides. Vehicles located in these blind spots are difficult to see and can easily go unnoticed by the driver. Hikvision’s Truck Solution offers camera views that cover these blind spots, so truck drivers know about vehicles entering into these areas. This helps them to drive safely and promotes road safety. Hikvision’s solution further provides different kinds of sensors for bespoke needs on a truck. For example, if a truck transports valuable goods that are not allowed to be checked during the journey, a door sensor can be added to record if anyone opens it before arrival. In some cases, if a truck transports cold food, the temperature inside must be maintained at a stable level to ensure freshness. Accordingly, customers can include a temperature sensor in the system to monitor the temperature change. Taxis and ride-hailing cars As mobility improves in urban life, many people use mobile apps to get a ride, either with a taxi or a ride-hailing car. It’s convenient and fast. On the other hand, it’s also important to maintain rider safety from the start of the journey until they reach their destination. In busy periods, for example rush hours and holiday seasons, taxi and ride-hailing drivers struggle to take a break and they usually work long hours. In this situation, it’s very easy to get tired which could also cause health issues. Hikvision’s solution for taxis and ride-hailing cars includes abnormal driving behavior analysis, such as driving while drowsy. In that case, drivers can be reminded to pull over and take a rest. Hikvision’s solution also provides a trunk camera that records footage if a passenger’s luggage or handbag was left behind after departure, or stolen by others. From…

Anil Puri CMD, APS group A first generation serial entrepreneur, thought leader and an action catalyzer rolled into one – Anil Puri is a rare combination of a visionary, an innovator and a strategic thinker. He has used this combination to innovate and implement on-ground many new business ideas. His rich experience in various businesses has enabled him to nurture & mentor innovative ideas and scale them up. Introduction The FICCI & BDO in their study estimated the PSI to touch INR1.5 lakh crores (USD23.1 billion) by 2022. The key drivers identified in the study were the security needs of office buildings, shopping malls, critical infrastructure, schools, hotels, hospitals, residential complexes, warehouses and factories. However, railways, metro rails, NHAI, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), oil & gas industry, renewable energy & waste management, mining and telecom industry too have further added to this list. This huge market offers a premium opportunity for the disruptive force of AI embedded drone applications and robotics. All over the world, more and more drones are being used for both private and public security namely by defense organizations and tech-savvy consumers for quite some time. However, the benefit of this technology extends well beyond just these two sectors. With the rising accessibility of drones, many of the most dangerous and high-paying jobs within the commercial sector are ripe for displacement by drone and robotics technology. Their use for safe, cost-effective solutions range from crowd control, emergency response, surveillance, situation awareness, data collection to last mile delivery. The mobility, ease of deployment and versatility of drones have made them valuable tools in the field of security for both private and public entities. Increasing work efficiency and productivity, decreasing workload and production costs, improving accuracy, refining service and customer relations, and resolving security issues on a vast scale are a few of the top uses drones offer industries globally. Adoption of drone technology across industries has leapt from the fad stage to the mega-trend stage fairly quickly as more and more businesses started to realize its potential, scope, and scale of global reach. Whether drones are controlled by a remote or accessed via a smartphone app, they possess the capability of reaching the most remote areas with little to no manpower needed and require the least amount of effort, time, and energy. This is one of the biggest reasons why they are being adopted worldwide, especially by these four sectors – military, commercial, personal, agriculture and future technology. Drones are rapidly growing in popularity. They are still in the infancy stage in terms of mass adoption and usage, but have already broken through rigid traditional barriers in industries which otherwise seemed impenetrable by similar technological innovations. The paradigm shift in GoI policy on drones to keep pace with global developments Drone regulation in India has seen multiple iterations over the past few years, with a lukewarm impact on the technological development front. This was further accentuated by a blanket ban on civilian drone operations in 2014 by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. It was only in 2018, with the introduction of the National Drone Policy, that graded activities were permitted in the commercial space which were perceived by academia, Startups, end-users and other stakeholders as being restrictive in nature as they involved considerable paperwork, required permissions for every drone flight and very few ‘Free to Fly’ green zones were available. Based on the feedback and future of drones in various industries, the Government of India, Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) repealed the UAS Rules, 2021 and has replaced the same with the Liberalized Drone Rules, 2021 and thereby ushered in a liberalised era of drone governance, giving wings to a drone-powered country. In a major boost to promote the drone sector, the rules aim to make India a drone-friendly nation. Furthermore, delivery and logistics – a segment considered vital for making India a drone hub – is well recognised in the new rules. GoI has also approved a PLI scheme for drones and their components with an allocation of Rs. 120 crores for three financial years. The U Turn in the GoI policy on drones is primarily on realization of benefits it offers to almost all sectors of the economy like – agriculture, mining, infrastructure, surveillance, emergency response, transportation, geo-spatial mapping, defence, and law enforcement etc. Drones can be significant creators of employment and economic growth due to their reach, versatility, and ease of use, especially in India’s remote and inaccessible areas. In view of its traditional strengths in innovation, information technology, frugal engineering and huge domestic demand, India has the potential to be global drone hub by 2030. Government of India also deserves the credit for setting up a Drone Promotion Council to facilitate a business-friendly regulatory regime, while also incubating new drone ideas. Degree and Scale of disruption on the PSI For a country of mass and scale like India which has abundance of the cheap human capital, the disruption is likely to be very gradual and slow in the private security industry. However in next five to seven years; it is for sure that the security operations especially in sensitive places will be replaced with robots and systems which will be highly developed and evolved with artificial intelligence. Era of the present-day semi-literate/ low IQ guards will be gone due to cheap and smart ‘Robot-Guards’ with precision knowledge and actions (customized). Thus, impact to the security business at this level will be high but the service delivery is expected to be much superior quality and may be taken over by IT service providing companies. Not only the physical guards and passive sensors will be replaced by smart counterparts but it is also possible that many of the traditional operations like patrolling of perimeters, observation from watch towers, frisking and even to dispose of human bombs, mail bombs, robots with all-pervasive, deep penetrating sensors and precision neutralising capability may be used. Similarly, AI will be used for information gathering or reconnaissance in an…

New Strategic Collaboration to Penetrate New Markets and Accelerate Growth in India Videonetics, world’s leading AI & DL powered Unified Video Computing Platform (UVCP™) development company, recently announced that it has signed a distribution agreement with Inflow Technologies, one of the India’s largest distribution companies, providing value-added-distribution of Electronic security products, IT, cyber security, unified communications and collaboration to name a few. “We are pleased to enter in this value-added distribution relationship with Inflow Technologies, whose competence and expertise will further expand our footprints in new verticals and territories. I am assured that Inflow’s distribution strategies and extensive partner network, coupled with Videonetics state-of-the-art solutions will cater to growing demand for ‘truly’ unified solutions in various verticals, hence accelerating our growth plans in India. Furthermore, we will continue strengthening our relationship and bond with the partner community by empowering them with various partner-centric initiatives” Avinash Trivedi VP, Business Development, Videonetics Headquartered in Bengaluru, Inflow Technologies has an established network of 2300+ channel partners and 7000+ end customers globally. Inflow will distribute Videonetics AI & DL powered Intelligent VMS video analytics, intelligent traffic management system and MeraFace™ – facial recognition system, through their expansive channel partners network across India. “We are honored to add Videonetics to our existing vast array of surveillance portfolio. It is like adding a feather in our cap, Videonetics with its AI and DL powered Intelligent Video Management Software, Video Analytics, Intelligent Traffic Management System and MeraFace™ technology is all set to complement our Surveillance Portfolio and we are pleased to be their extended hand in going out to the market. Our enthusiastic team will work with the identified channel partners to bring in the best and equip the partner team” Rajesh Kumar VP, Tech Business Unit, Inflow Technologies Having a market leadership as #1 VMS provider in India and top 5 in Asia, Videonetics is all set to further penetrate in these markets, through this alliance. Also Read:- Videonetics Empowers Asia’s Biggest Real-time Governance Center in Andhra Pradesh with its AI Powered Unified Video Computing Platform

During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the concept of employees working from home has been implemented in nearly every organisation. But, while the work operations continue unabated, remote users and their devices are no longer on the organisational premises to receive data protection from its cybersecurity infrastructure. So the need for providing endpoint security gets amplified in the existing scenario. Sonit Jain, CEO of GajShield Infotech said, “Basic cybersecurity measures such as using advanced multi-factor authentication systems, anti-virus software to protect a collection of devices instead of just one device, the deletion of unnecessary cache and cookies, as well as user and employee data from time to time to secure confidential data and prevent unnecessary clutter. The software and hardware in place to ensure cyber-protection must be authentic, certified for use and updated regularly. Simple measures and using data security tools and systems that are designed for remotely connected devices can come in handy to ensure endpoint data security for users. Data security products and services can help with proactive endpoint data protection for your devices. Please contact us to learn more about how our experts deal with endpoint security-related issues in organisations.”