Category: National
Tata Teleservices and Zoom Partner to Provide Unified Communications Solutions to Enterprises
Tata Teleservices, country’s leading digital services provider has teamed up with Zoom Video Communications, Inc., the world’s leading frictionless video-first communications platform to offer an intuitive, scalable, and secure communications solution to enterprises and individuals alike. Tata Teleservices will leverage Zoom’s robust and secure platform to address the growing collaboration requirements of enterprises for seamless unified communications. Fragmented communication and the resultant loss of productivity are problems most enterprises are facing with extended periods of remote working and time away from the office. Work-from-anywhere and flexible working are going to become more commonplace moving forward and simple yet powerful, video conferencing solutions will be an integral part of making the transition into the post-pandemic workplace a success. Video communications is shaping the future of the workplace and Zoom is leading the way with its innovative, simple to use, scalable and intuitive communications platform. As a progressive digital enabler, Tata Teleservices has deep understanding of customer needs in the enterprise segment and this partnership will bring Zoom’s world-class communications platform services such as Zoom meetings, Zoom webinars among others to enterprises of all sizes enabling them to collaborate effectively within their teams and partners in India and globally. Tata Teleservices and Zoom will address the unified communications needs of enterprise customers, especially SMEs across the country. The partnership will endeavor to provide solutions which will help drive customer agility, efficiency, and most importantly, happiness. Organizations across industry segments such as banking and financial services, healthcare, IT-enabled businesses, and education will now have access to one-stop unified communications solutions backed by Tata Teleservices highly acclaimed 24/7 managed service support capabilities and trust. Elaborating on the partnership, Vishal Rally, Senior Vice President – Product & Marketing, Tata Teleservices said, “At Tata Teleservices, we encourage businesses to have a ‘digital first’ mindset and take to them solutions that accelerate and improve their customer experience. We are happy to collaborate with Zoom to offer enterprises a seamless and superior unified video communications experience on our state-of the-art, high-capacity digital connectivity network. We are delighted to be Zoom’s preferred partner in India and look forward to introducing more of their innovative collaboration solutions to the Indian market.” Sameer Raje, General Manager & Head of India, Zoom, added, “We are excited to partner with Tata Teleservices and offer their growing customer base our highly intuitive, secure and all-inclusive video-first communications platform that enables them to have cross-functional meetings spanning continents in real time. Zoom is invested in and committed to India, and we are very proud to help many Indian businesses, hospitals, academia, and other organizations stay connected. Together with Tata Teleservices’ robust network and reach, we plan to provide a world-class video communications experience and extend our footprint in India, while meeting the new and constantly changing needs of the local market.” Tata Teleservices and Zoom’s Video Communications platform offers a host of unique features like live video, streaming of video webinars for up to 50,000 viewers, include one click access, video, voice, content sharing, recording, virtual backgrounds, company branding, multi-layer security, and meeting participation of up to 1000 people on video from locations across the globe. Tata Teleservices has leveraged its deep customer expertise and has taken several initiatives in the recent times to empower enterprises with innovative and reliable solutions that significantly boost their competitiveness. The company has strengthened its portfolio of enterprise grade solutions such as Smartflo, SmartOffice, Ultra-Lola, smart internet leased line, collaboration solutions, IoT, data management, and cyber security solutions across industries. These solutions appropriately ad[1]dress the needs arising out of a distributed and remote working environment and enable customers to maintain business continuity in a flexible, scalable, and secure manner.
dormakaba Strengthens Position in Electronic Access & Data with Acquisition of Indian Company Solus Security Systems
Solus Security Systems (Solus) provides integrated solutions for access control, time and attendance, visitor management, vehicle access and security, as well as the services required for managing these solutions. Based in Bangalore (India) with multiple further locations, Solus is a reputable brand recognized for its dedicated, customer-centric solutions. It offers pan-Indian coverage for systems integrators and mid-sized end-customers in nearly all verticals, supported by around 200 employees, thereof around 130 service technicians. The company generated single-digit million sales in Swiss francs in financial year 2020-21 ending 31 March 2021. The parties have agreed to not disclose further financial details of the transaction, which dormakaba expects to be accretive to Group EPS and EBITDA margin from day 1. “The acquisition of Solus fits into our strategy to become a leader in smart, secure and seamless access solutions. Solus provides excellent growth opportunities as we expand our electronic access & data business in India with a wide range of products, additional sales channels, and a large customer base. We will furthermore leverage the companies’ products and software expertise to grow in other Asian markets, as Solus becomes an integral part of our Asia-Pacific platform. We are looking forward to welcoming the team,” said Jim-Heng Lee, dormakaba COO AS APAC. Solus Owner and Managing Director Narasimha Swamy added, “The business combination will lead to multiple synergies with expanded product portfolio and market presence and will enhance our customers’ value in terms of better solution offering and services.” dormakaba makes access in life smart and secure. As one of the top three companies in the industry, dormakaba is the trusted partner for products, solutions and services for access to buildings and rooms from a single source. With strong brands in its portfolio, the company and its numerous cooperation partners are represented in over 130 countries worldwide.
Grene Robotics Designs and Develops India’s 1st Autonomous Drone Defence Dome System: ‘Indrajaal’
Grene Robotics has designed and developed India’s first 100% indigenous unified, distributed and wide-area autonomous drone defence dome called Indrajaal. Indrajaal will protect a large area of 1000-2000sq.km. per system against threats such as UAV’s, Incoming Weapons, Loitering Munitions, Low RCS targets autonomously. Grene Robotics has developed extensive AC6ISRT capabilities in the form of Defence OS over an 8 year of R&D journey backed by decades of system development experience for the armed forces. Grene Robotics advisory board consists of Retired Defence Scientific Advisor, Deputy Chief of Army Staff, BEL Director and Air Force veteran who was instrumental for designing India’s most comprehensive command and control system for the Indian Air Force called IACCS. Why is this critical? India must stop adopting reactive measures and embark on responsive and autonomous systems to be prepared for modern warfare. Manual weapons and point based defence systems cannot fight modern warfare driven by AI and robotics. For the first time in India and many times globally rogue forces have adopted cutting-edge technologies such as UAV’s, Smart Swarms etc. Jammu Air Base on June 27th was attacked by such technologies to drop explosives next to Mi-17 hangar. PLA is already toying with advanced weaponry in Western Theatre Command (WTC) tasked with military operations against India along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Drones are being used to train the infantry to conduct beyond visual line of sight targeting. The PLA also developed a high-altitude and high-speed armed drone, the WJ-700, in 2021. In 2020, it introduced armed robots, and in 2021, reconnaissance robots, in its military exercises. Limitation of current deployments Point defence Anti-UAV systems will not be able to counter and protect large defence bases, NCR and linear infrastructure like international borders and such sensitive areas against afore mentioned threats. A minimum of 300 systems are required to be deployed to protect the entire western border and this is financially not a viable option. On the contrary 6-7 sectorally deployed Indrajaal systems with their seamless connectivity can protect the entire western border. How does Indrajaal work Autonomous defence/ weapon systems is the 3rd revolution of the warfare and Indrajaal’s design principles are based on delivering such autonomy to the defence forces leveraging a combination of 9-10 modern technologies powered by artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and robotics that is capable of identifying, assessing, deciding, acting and evolving autonomously in real-time. Whether the threat is single or multiple or a combination of UAVs, Low-RCS, loitering munitions and such, Indrajaal is capable of countering all such threats. Real-time situational awareness. Distributed, decentralised and mobile. Integrated and intelligent meshed network. Ability to integrate with all current weapons suite and infrastructure. Honeycombed cell structure seamlessly built over a combination of 9-10 technologies . 24x7x365 persistent and autonomous monitoring, tracking and action. Wg Cdr MVN Sai (Retd), CEO Defence, Grene Robotics said, “I urge the defence leadership to take an integrated and comprehensive approach against all the UAVs, loiter ammunition swarm drones and low RCS threats with indigenously developed autonomous defence systems. Conventional defences will be overwhelmed in a swarm attack scenario and an AI enabled autonomous dome with its own ecosystem of sensors and processing is the way forward. The process of establishing a fully functional system is an evolutionary process and needs technology vision and user involvement.” Earlier this year Grene Robotics announced their partnership with (BEL) to jointly develop first-of-its-kind autonomous air defence technology, bringing India on par with the best autonomous defence systems of the world. They believe that technology augments human capability, not replace it. The answer to some of the greatest challenges faced by humanity can be found in nature. What is stopping from learning from them is the lack of tools to transfer knowledge from nature to human design. At Grene Robotics they are leveraging artificial intelligence, machine learning and cognitive computing to building future autonomous technologies that can self-learn and self-adapt to foster mankind’s vision towards a better planet. They believe autonomy is the future and they are delivering it NOW. They put in over 12 years of R&D to build Grene Robotics. Today, they are an innovation-led, robust, cutting-edge technology organisation that delivers autonomy as a service, augmenting human capabilities. Their solutions are helping Governments and organisations across the globe to run efficiently.
Fortinet Wins Google Cloud Technology Partner of the Year Award for Security
Fortinet®, a leading global provider of broad, integrated and automated cybersecurity solutions, has recently received the 2020 Google Cloud Global Technology Partner of the Year award for Security. Fortinet was recognized for the company’s achievements in the Google Cloud ecosystem, helping joint customers: Simplify security management with single-pane control across Google Cloud and on-premises data centers. Gain cloud-native visibility and control into Google Cloud workloads and applications. Strengthen endpoint security with cloud-native endpoint protection, detection and response that is behavior-based rather than signature-based. Leverage Fortinet Cloud Security Services Hub for scalable and multi-layer secure connectivity. Optimize cost management with various consumption models based on customer choice, easily deploying native cloud security offerings in VM, and SaaS form factors with the flexibility of BYOL and PAYG (pay as you go) billing options. Fortinet’s Adaptive Cloud Security for Google Cloud Fortinet has partnered with Google Cloud for more than 5 years and has been significant[1]ly accelerating the partnership to support mutual customers in their transformation and journey to cloud. With Google Cloud, Fortinet has now established a mutual top-tier partnership across companies to ensure customers’ workloads are secure and compliant, helping ease the burden around company overall brand protection. Fortinet is an established Google Cloud premier partner and Google Cloud is an established Fortinet Fabric-ready partner. Fortinet being recognized as Google Cloud Technology Partner of the Year for security is a natural continuation of the work the companies are doing together to help solve customers’ security concerns and simplify the migration to Google Cloud. The Fortinet adaptive cloud security for Google Cloud provides consistent, advanced enterprise security for customers with Google Cloud-based environments. The Fortinet Security Fabric protects business workloads across on-premises, data centers and cloud environments – providing multi-layered security for cloud-based applications. The solution offers network, application and cloud platform security capabilities provided in a variety of form factors including VM-, container-, and SaaS delivered protection that natively integrates Fortinet security functionality into Google Cloud. Fortinet offers its advanced series of network security solutions integrated with Google Cloud’s platform, enabling protection for cloud-based infrastructure and applications. These solutions include: FortiGate-VM and Secure SD-WAN on Google Cloud’s platform delivers next-generation firewall (NGFW) capabilities for organizations of all sizes, with the flexibility to be deployed as a NGFW and/ or a VPN gateway. FortiGate-VM delivers integration with Google Cloud’s recently announced Network Connectivity Center (NCC). NCC bridges a first-party native cloud underlay from Google Cloud with Secure SD-WAN and cloud on-ramp service from Fortinet across hybrid and multi-clouds. FortiWeb Web Application Firewall (WAF & WAFaaS) complements IaaS Cloud provider security with features and AI-based machine learning detection engines that defend web applications from vulnerability exploits. More specifically bots, malware uploads, DDoS attacks, advanced persistent threats (APTs), and zero-day attacks. FortiManager provides single-pane-of-glass management for unified, end-to-end protection across the extended enterprise. It delivers insight into network traffic and offers enterprise-class features for threat containment. FortiCWP delivers cloud workload protection and cloud security posture management for workloads running on Google Cloud using API level integration into Google Cloud management and security services. This enables organizations to monitor and track cloud resources including their configurations, activity and traffic flows. FortiCWP also integrates with Google Security Command Center (SCC) for visibility and integration of threat feeds across platforms. Secure SAP S/4HANA on Google Cloud provides customers with enhanced security and orchestration that scales across cloud workloads. The Fortinet Security Fabric for Google Cloud protects attack surfaces that span hybrid- & multi-cloud infrastructures providing flexibility for SAP projects. Cloud Native Edge and Endpoint Security Fortinet has also partnered with Google Cloud to deliver modern endpoint protection, detection and response to reduce the risk of compromised devices that enable user productivity and application delivery anywhere, any time. Specifically, Fortinet FortiEDR enhances Google Cloud’s edge and zero trust solutions and provides customers patented, behavior-based capability. These capabilities detect violations of legitimate operating system activity, defuse violations in real-time without interrupting normal system operations and classifies them with the help of both Artificial Intelligence in the cloud and remote expert human analysis in FortiGuard Labs. This capability has been consistently validated through independent, comparative tests run by AV Comparatives, MITRE Engenuity and customers themselves. Fortinet’s FortiEDR will also soon be available directly from the Google Cloud Marketplace. Rajesh Maurya, Regional Vice President, India & SAARC at Fortinet, “We’re proud to be named a Google Cloud Technology Partner of the Year for Security. This award recognizes our outstanding success in 2020, using a winning combination of Google Cloud technologies with Fortinet’s industry-leading Security Fabric offerings to deliver innovative cloud security and customer satisfaction. Winning this award is an exciting testament to a long-standing partnership with Google Cloud. We’re looking forward to continuing to work together to provide mutual customers with advanced cloud security.” Kevin Ichhpurani, Corporate Vice President, Global Partner Ecosystem at Google Cloud, “We’re proud to recognize Fortinet as our Technology Partner of the Year for Security. This award recognizes Fortinet’s commitment to customer success, and its delivery of innovative and impactful solutions on Google Cloud in security. We look forward to building together with Fortinet and creating business value for customers with cloud technologies.”
Hikvision India Partners with National Skill Development Corporation to Impart Security Technology Training for Youth
With an aim to provide impetus to the Skill India mission, Hikvision India has partnered with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to offer security technology training for India’s youth. The company will be providing security and video surveillance products and technology related training and certification programs Hikvision Certified Security Associate (HCSA) and Hikvision Certified Security Professional (HCSP) by collaborating with NSDC. This partnership will help in promoting security sector specific skills and ecosystem development, which will further prepare India’s technical workforce for getting jobs or setting up their own business enterprises. “We are happy and proud to be associated with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) with this unique two year partnership. It is our endeavour to impart training with all the necessary technical skills so that India’s youth can turn into successful entrepreneurs in the security industry. The HCSA and HCSP training and certification programs are helpful to enhance the skills and knowhow of installers, system integrators and security professionals and have the requisite skills needed for the future,” said Ashish P. Dhakan, MD & CEO, Prama Hikvision India Pvt. Ltd. Hikvision India offers HCSA and HCSP certification programs to young engineers and security industry aspirants with technical skills. Besides training and knowledge sharing, the company provides meaningful endorsement to those who pass and become Hikvision Certified Professionals. Hikvision Certified Security and Protection Associate training is focused on basic and essential operation and maintenance training of Hikvision security devices. It is designed for security technical engineers, who have worked in the security industry for several years and gained some security industry knowledge and superior skills. The key advantages of the HCSA and HCSP certification programs are quite evident, but it is good to know them beforehand. The certification program helps validate advanced level of knowledge. It helps individuals (System Integrators, Partners and Installers) and companies (end-users) install, integrate and apply the skills and competence in video surveillance. This certification program is a unique differentiator for end-users while selecting their system integrator for video surveillance systems. After the successful completion, individuals will get Hikvision certification program certificate. Eligibility criteria The certification is open to anyone who aspires to hone their skills and expertise in video surveillance and total security solution. The trainee should have experience of working in the security industry for at least 1 year. The trainee applicant (male or female) should be familiar with the security products and technologies. National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) is a not-for-profit public limited company. NSDC, a public private partnership (PPP) organization, aims to promote skill development by catalyzing the creation of large, quality and for-profit vocational institutions. Further, the organisation provides funding to build scalable and profitable vocational training initiatives. It focuses on building capacity, quality assurance, information systems, and training of trainers, among other initiatives. In the last one decade, NSDC has trained over 2.5 crore people through its network of 600+ training partners around the country. The organisation is implementing the government’s flagship schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS), among others.
Cybersecurity to be Prioritized in Cryptocurrency Transactions
By Vikas Bhonsle, CEO, Crayon Software Experts India Cryptocurrency is currently one of the most trending financial tools or currencies, grabbing attention across the globe. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, Dogecoin are some of the most popular cryptocurrencies we have heard or read about in the media. If predictions are to be believed, then these cryptocurrencies can impact global finance in the coming times. However, the rise and increasing popularity of cryptos also increase the added risk of cybercrimes that need speculation. But first, let’s understand more about cryptocurrencies. It is an electronic form of a digital asset or currency that operates as a medium of exchange like any other legacy currency. However, it’s an encrypted form of electronic payment that uses cryptography for safe transactions. Cryptos are decentralized digital assets that allow individuals or institutions to make transactions without any dependency on legacy banking institutions and governments. This very fact alone represents both the boon and bane of this technology. The absence of any regulators or legal structures is also free ground for cybercriminals to romp. Cryptocurrency is already the most preferred medium of payment in ransomware attacks. Cybercriminals hide their true identities while they make ransom demands in digital currencies. When making an exchange, they can easily convert cryptocurrencies into traditional forms without ever being discovered. Cybercriminals can hack into cryptocurrency trading platforms and redirect the funds. They can attack any business and demand ransom in digital currencies as this form of cybercrime is outside the legal grid, and no evidence leads back to the perpetrators. With cryptocurrencies spreading across the business world, cybercrime has become a real threat. Cryptocurrencies have also evolved as an excellent money laundering channel. Businesses or even individuals who make exchanges using cryptocurrencies are thereby potential cyber-attack targets. The following cybersecurity risks are to be looked out for: Phishing: In a phishing attack, trading platforms are targeted with malicious emails or links with the primary goal aimed at stealing user’s credentials that scammers can use to ask for profit or ransom. Hacked trading platforms: Here, cybercriminals compromise the trading platforms by stealing funds from the users. Compromised registration forms: The registered data by the user can be compromised, and hackers can or will then sell it in the illegal market for profit. Third-party applications: An excellent way for cybercriminals to breach and access user data and target further attacks. Malware: cryptocurrency-related malware enters the mining machines, steals the infected computer’s mining resources, along with the cryptocurrencies from online wallets. Thus, it is primarily essential that the security measures of any crypto transaction platform are full-proof and have a multi-pronged approach to cybersecurity solutions. Until and unless regulations and strict monitoring come in place, caution and instinct can go a long way in keeping our crypto transactions safe.
IPSA Announces the Appointment of an Alliance Ambassador for India
The International Professional Security Association (IPSA) is determined to support and be available for all the front-line members. With the launch of its new app and the free membership offer, IPSA is now taking a huge step towards expanding its membership in India. IPSA has announced the appointment of Jitendra Shukla CCSMS, CCPS AA. IPSA as the IPSA Alliance Ambassador for India. Along with a post-nominal, the role fetches many responsibilities and important undertakings which are in sync with IPSA’s core missions and values. The IPSA AA will be expected to raise the importance and criticality of the front-line teams with the clients, end users and wider industry. One of the goals to be achieved by the role would be to encourage the ongoing professionalism of the sector in India through the membership of a professional body like IPSA and training enhancements. Apart from working closely with the IPSA Chair and CE, the AA will also provide feedback on local market trends or regional specifics that need to be captured within the IPSA organization. They will monitor international situations related to the AA region and IPSA. Jitendra Shukla IPSA Alliance Ambassador for India “I am extremely honoured by the role bestowed on me by IPSA and I would like to thank the Chair and CE for that. As India AA IPSA I will strive to get us the due recognition as a professional body for the security industry. IPSA should be a common platform or a single voice for improving the service standards and infrastructure required for us to deliver world class services and at the same time enhance the lifestyle of the security practitioners. IPSA will be able to deliver this by imparting world class training and certification. I am counting on my colleagues who are the leaders in the security industry to help IPSA achieve the goals” With the introduction of an AA, IPSA’s vision is to represent all front-line personnel and companies, and promote diversity, inclusion, training, mentoring and career development. By providing representation and working closely with the sety companies to raise the standards and encourage professionalism, IPSA aims to give ‘One Voice’ to the private security industry. Simon Pears, Chairman of IPSA said, “IPSA continues to gather strength and represent our frontline membership. India is part of this growth and continues on the journey to raise the professionalism of the sector. Jitendra Shukla has a wealth of industry experience and understands the market and growth opportunities and I am proud that he has agreed to be the IPSA Ambassador for India and be part of the exciting journey ahead.” Jitendra’s experience and passion for the industry makes him the perfect candidate for the role. He specializes in corporate security management which entails staffing and training, business analytics, operations, vendor management, emergency protocols and disaster management. Prior to working within the private security sector Jitendra was a member of the Indian Air Force and is a trained commando. He has extensive knowledge of security regulations and is instrumental in ensuring the alignment of security solutions with the local regulations. He has built a network of key contacts within security and other industries. With his connections and expertise, Jitendra will be playing a pivotal role in empowering the front-line security teams of India. “I am extremely honoured by the role bestowed on me by IPSA and I would like to thank the Chair and CE for that. As India AA IPSA I will strive to get us the due recognition as a professional body for the security industry. IPSA should be a common platform or a single voice for improving the service standards and infrastructure required for us to deliver world class services and at the same time enhance the lifestyle of the security practitioners. IPSA will be able to deliver this by imparting world class training and certification. I am counting on my colleagues who are the leaders in the security industry to help IPSA achieve the goals,” said Jitendra. Simon Pears Chairman of IPSA “IPSA continues to gather strength and represent our front-line membership. India is part of this growth and continues on the journey to raise the professionalism of the sector. Jitendra Shukla has a wealth of industry experience and understands the market and growth opportunities and I am proud that he has agreed to be the IPSA Ambassador for India and be part of the exciting journey ahead” The International Professional Security Association (IPSA) is a membership body for individuals and companies working in security and associated roles. The Association was formed more than 60 years ago to ensure professionalism in the management of security operations. IPSA is an established and recognised worldwide professional organization and provides, in accordance with growing demand, a specialised unrivalled service to industry/ commerce. There are no geographical boundaries in operation and the highest technical standards are stringently applied in all our dealings. The Association operates within the framework of fourteen regions which includes many overseas countries.
Future of Loss Prevention-II
Anil Puri CMD, APS group A thought leader and an action catalyzer rolled into one – Anil Puri is a rare combination of a visionary, and one who has mastered the art of strategic and tactical thinking to the core. He has been using this combination to seed new ideas and to lead them to their implementation on-ground. This has been a consistent feature of his career. He has rich experience of approximately 35 years in corporate in diverse domains & from functional managerial level to the apex as chairman of a corporate group. To him, The loss prevention (LP) has always occupied central place when planning the security protocols for the shopping malls, warehouses, large shopping complexes, standalone retail stores and manufacturing plants. He has been keenly watching the developments in the loss prevention techniques emerging in this domain. Old adage loss prevention techniques have stood the test of times but have been breached, losses inflicted and profitability hit. However, emerging innovative technologies have revolutionized the entire perspective of loss prevention. He contributes extensively in framework of security protocols of loss prevention with his ops team before deployment of security personnel at high end shopping malls. Here he shares his thoughts on new landscape which has gradually been shaping in favor of the retailers. Let us see what future holds for loss prevention. Here he propagates the enhanced usage of AI in loss prevention. Introduction Retail shrinkage is a multi-billion-dollar, multi-layered monster that affects organizations throughout the retail industry. The problem spans beyond the physical store and has roots throughout the entire supply chain. Government-imposed public health protocols, social restrictions and lockdowns that have arisen because of the COVID-19 global pandemic have changed the way people do things the world over. The impacts on the retail sector have been significant, translating it into levels of adversity unlike anything business has ever before faced. For retail loss prevention teams charged with ensuring the safety and security of the business’ employees, customers and product, the shifts and accelerations in consumer behavior mean that they have to rethink & revisit their strategies. They have had to leverage their creativity and innovation in order to pivot and respond to a whole new set of challenges. Globally many retail loss prevention forums have organized events to help address the evolving concerns of today’s loss prevention professionals and discuss the ways by which leaders within the industry are proactively producing effective solutions to protect their businesses. This has provided virtual attendees with thought leadership, critical insights into best practices with respect to day-to-day retail operations and an incredible opportunity to network with industry colleagues concerning the most pressing issues their industry is facing today. How to disrupt the organized crime? The scourge of organized retail crime (ORC) continues to cast a pall over retail operations, with the number of incidents escalating since the start of the pandemic. Given the increasingly sophisticated means by which these groups, who often travel from region to region, are striking neighborhoods and cities indiscriminately, the role of loss prevention teams in curbing this very serious threat is critical. It is time to unpack this complicated issue for retailers and discuss some of the ways in which loss prevention teams can enhance the protection of their organizations. As impacts of the pandemic continue to influence the way today’s consumer shops and accelerates online activity, retailers are faced with more adversity than ever before in providing a safe, secure and seamless environment in which to serve their customers. To better understand how these changes in consumer behavior are impacting retailers’ efforts to ensure a best-in-class experience during these difficult times, and to share insights concerning some of the incredible pivots being made by loss prevention teams in order to support their organization’s operations and service. Potential Ramifications The sessions organized by loss prevention forums focused on the potential ramifications of ORC to retail operations, the trends that are related to the activities of these crime groups, as well as some of the proactive steps that can be taken by loss prevention teams in order to deal with the risk like: (a) Retailers should join any network that is available to them. (b) If there aren’t any, they should create one for themselves (c) Be proactive in hosting opportunities to get together with law enforcement partners, fellow loss prevention officers, community associations, city politicians and crown attorneys to hold ongoing dialogue. Creating these communities makes it easier for everyone impacted by these crimes to identify associated trends and more difficult for ORC groups to operate as efficiently as they’d like to. Developing a Threat Awareness Another threat wreaking havoc on retail operations is found within the digital world. Though perpetrated by living, breathing human beings, the veiled activities of cybercriminals allow them to conduct their misdeeds behind a screen and provide them both with relative anonymity and the digital tools they need to undo a business. It is important to understand the ways in which a cyber threat and incident can occur as well as the potential ramifications to the retail bottom line and the steps that are required of organizations to properly deal with the issue. What is needed is – Developing the threat awareness, understanding of relevant prevention information and adhering to best digital practices will be key. Too often, the cyber-attacks go unreported. As a result, the attackers are emboldened knowing that law enforcement is unaware of the scope of the problem and that the incidents likely won’t be investigated. It’s imperative that any and all cyber attacks be reported to the police. In tandem with the incident reporting to law enforcement, retailers must follow the procedures that have been outlined within their company’s cyber incident response plan. If a plan has not been developed, then it should become a quick priority. That’s where retailers and law enforcement will be able to make a difference, making it harder for cybercriminals to operate, thereby reducing the level of victimization….
Oncam Further Enhances Top Performing C-Series 360-Degree Video Surveillance Cameras with Multi-Mode
Oncam, the provider of premium 360-degree video capture technologies, has recently released updated firmware that transforms the already powerful and compact C-Series cameras into some of the most advanced and flexible cameras of their kind on the market. With the addition of Multi-Mode, users can choose from five different views and stream up to four of them simultaneously. Multi-Mode adds the flexibility, versatility and ultimately expands the use cases possible with 360-video technology. With the updated C-Series, stakeholders are empowered to record everything that happens within a scene with the 360-degree video coverage and at the same time easily configure alternate and more natural looking views tailored on specific needs. The enhanced functionalities of the C-Series continue to be powered by the Qualcomm® Vision Intelligence Platform, which spans a full range of system-on-chips (SoCs) designed for running compute-intensive workloads at the edge of the network. With Multi-Mode, users can stream four different views at any given time including: Fisheye: A standard 360-degree fisheye view that is ideal for total situational awareness. Panoramic+: A 5:2 pre-dewarped panoramic view best suited for wall-mounted cameras that use the center of the fisheye sensor to generate an actual 180-degree image. Panoramic+ also includes specifically designed accessories to help ensure the correct tilting of the camera at the desired angle. Created for both the Indoor and Outdoor Plus models, Panoramic+ accessories will be available to purchase from Q3. This 180-degree view can also be set for all streams in Panoramic+ Only Mode, providing a compelling replacement for popular Evolution 180 cameras, which are being placed in End Of Life. Corridor+: a split 2-way corridor view, Corridor+ allows to see in two opposite directions of a 360-image at the same time, with no gap in between, so that objects move seamlessly from one section to the other. T Corridor+: a perfect 3-way junction view, T Corridor+ focuses on three chosen directions in the fisheye image without any gap so that what is directly in front can be monitored as well as what’s on either side. VCam: a user-defined dewarped view of a chosen area of the fisheye image, where users can decide which specific area of the scene is of interest and focus on it. “Multi-Mode delivers unrivalled camera flexibility, all from one camera,” said Dilen Thakrar, Product Manager, Oncam, “This camera solution can be tailored to many needs. Whether an operator requires a 360-degree camera, a panoramic camera, or both at the same time, the C-Series can exceed the expectations of 360-video today. Being able to offer this level of versatility all from the same camera ensures we can meet many more uses cases whilst providing simpler configuration, ordering and stocking processes for our partners. Since launching the C-Series in 2020, Oncam and its partners have been pivotal in expanding the adoption of 360-degree video surveillance across the globe. These efforts have resulted in significant growth with enterprises turning to its intelligent video solutions to support mission-critical use cases. “Video is a core data source generated from IoT deployments and 360-degree video is an integral part of this ecosystem,” said Jérôme Jacqmin, Senior Director Business Development, Qualcomm Communications S.A.R.L., “Our continued collaboration with Oncam contributes to the development of the innovative video solutions that support organizations to enhance their digital transformation strategies. We believe that together, we are pushing the envelope of what is possible with video.” “We’re not just leading the way in 360-degree video. We’re redefining it for the next evolution of IoT and security solutions,” said Jon Marsh, SVP Technology, Oncam, “We’re dedicated to providing our strategic alliance partners and customers with the flexibility they need to achieve their ever-evolving operational and security requirements. This commitment is driven by our promise to continue to leverage our deep expertise in panoramic imaging and edge dewarping to push the envelopes of 360-video technology.”
A K Capital Seamlessly Integrates Security across Network, Branches, Hybrid Cloud and Remote Workers with the Fortinet Security Fabric
A K Capital Services Ltd., one of India’s most trusted bond houses, has implemented the Fortinet Security Fabric cybersecurity platform to improve user application experience, enable secure cloud transformation, simplify business operations, reduce cost and manage security with limited skilled resources. A K Capital Services Ltd. provides services through management of private placements and public issues in the fixed income market. Incorporated in 1993, it is the flagship company of A K Group, a leading financial conglomerate that operates and develops debt capital. With clients comprising large Indian banks and government, the company is a fund mobilizer for the largest public debt issues, tax-free bonds and private debt placements. The Group has an indelible mark in investment banking with a range of financial products, tapping new investor and issues. Digital transformation at the organization led to increased bandwidth requirements and the need for secure access to applications in the cloud. The organization was also dealing with the challenges of providing secure, robust, and cost-effective connectivity to the branch offices. They also needed a high performing Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) and better connectivity to securely transfer data from their data center to the disaster recovery site as their existing multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) connection was very slow and experiencing a significant amount of downtime. Adding to this, employees began to work from home because of the pandemic. The end result was a degradation in application availability and performance. Not only did the availability issue negatively impact employee collaboration, but it also hurt customer interactions and business. A K Capital decided to adopt a new approach to improve network and application performance and reduce the complexity of managing multiple point products that operated in isolation. The business objective was to make their network more robust and efficient to eliminate chronic outages, improve user experience, and simplify and streamline the ability of branch offices to securely access critical business resources. Application visibility was also a priority as the business increasingly started to rely on cloud applications. To achieve that, consistent security had to be seamlessly deployed at the branch offices, endpoints, cloud and data center with user identity management for remote access to help the small security team to manage the expanding network. “Financial services organizations are adding more remote workers and branch offices while simultaneously adopting new cloud applications and infrastructure. They need secure connectivity solutions that can provide fast, compliant, and secure access to cloud-based applications and the core network,” explained Rajesh Maurya, Regional Vice President, India & SAARC at Fortinet. The company selected the Fortinet Security Fabric to bring together best of breed security and high performing networking leveraging Fortinet’s integrated security for users and applications including their hybrid cloud environment to consistently secure their applications access. “The Fortinet Security Fabric provides them with all the tools they need and enables them to control costs and optimize operational efficiency at the same time.” added Rajesh Maurya. A K Capital deployed the FortiGate Next-Generation Firewalls for advance threat protection, including botnet protection, IPS, real time AV and AI-powered cloud sandbox at both the data center and the disaster recovery site to achieve high performance while transferring data and help comply with ISO 270001 security compliance standards. The NGFW provides deep SSL inspection without hindering performance which has helped in not only saving time but also helps meet with the required compliance and provide better security while handling financial data. For their branches, the shift from MPLS to SD-WAN allows direct access to the internet and requires a different approach to security. A K Capital choose to deploy UTP Security bundles that includes advanced content security with real-time protection thanks to AV and AI-powered cloud Sandbox, as well as a full web security package (web, video, and DNS filtering among others). This FortiGuard rich suite of security technologies natively integrated with NGFW and SD-WAN offerings, provides consistent policy enforcement and closes the security gaps. Fortinet Secure SD-WAN also enables direct access to cloud & on-premise applications and helps in WAN optimization, automation and traffic shaping. The Secure SD-WAN solution has the ability to intelligently identify applications to determine the best path to be taken as a means to enhance performance, even during brown out or black conditions. To secure their cloud applications and provide seamless visibility across the hybrid environment, FortiGate NGFW virtual machines have been deployed in AWS cloud. This helps them to protect their cloud network traffic with features such as high-performance IPSec virtual private network (VPN) and secure sockets layer (SSL) VPN, as well as Intrusion detection and prevention system (IDPS), Deep packet inspection (DPI), cloud delivered web, video and DNS filtering and anti-malware protection including real time AV with AI powered Cloud Sandbox. Moreover, with FortiGate NGFW deployed both on-premises and in the cloud, A K Capital gains the advantage of seamless and simplified operations through consistent security and networking policies across their full deployment. FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer provide simplified management and visibility into the network to manage security with limited skilled professionals. Remote workers connecting to the corporate network from home are identified with FortiToken two-factor authentication. A single solution provides advance threat protection on premise, in the cloud and secure SD-WAN connectivity with capabilities to hyperscale as their network grows. The seamless integration of cloud security helps them to scale their cloud application requirements to support business growth.