IFSEC’s team in South Korea, which organises the SECON security exhibition, offer their thoughts on the access control trends in the region to come out of 2020.
2020 was dominated by the pandemic, which had a great impact on our politics, culture, society and economy. Contactless technology and solutions such as facial recognition and mobile access cards have emerged rapidly as services made their presence known in the domestic physical security market. New markets were also formed, such as ‘infection prevention security solutions’.
Most of us cannot deny the fact that contactless solutions are to take the lead in the post COVID-19 era. This not only applies to security of course. Fingerprint authentication solutions are soon to be replaced with contactless facial recognition programmes, with several use cases.
Such contactless access control systems are not only beneficial to the preventive measures, but also in managing the system without physical space and time constraints, increasing work efficiency. Contactless solutions are developing on the same line as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and the spread of smart phones, blockchain technology, and DID (Decentralized Identity) based mobile identification cards, accelerate the supply of mobile access cards. Facial recognition, together with the advancement of AI technology, is foreseen to become the driving force of biometrics.
As the use of thermal imaging cameras enabled the precise, fast and inexpensive uptake of fever screening solutions, the trend infiltrated into many multi-use facilities, in which drive-through testing and mask supply management have become the centre of infection prevention. Systems incorporating facial recognition technology with fever detection and access control functions are now evolving into an integrated infection prevention access security solution, widely installed in larger workplaces and factories.
The 2021 infection prevention security market will likely be led by large corporations or public institutions, as it is foreseen that solutions – not only access control, but also visitor management, time and attendance management, and elevator control systems – are to evolve into a real-time video management infused infection prevention security surveillance system.
RF cards are now being replaced by mobile access cards, which provide efficiency and economic feasibility. Previously, authentication speed and device compatibility were hindrances pulling the spread of mobile access cards back. However, thanks to BLE and NFC communications technology, such issues have been removed. The sudden demand for mobile access cards lies in the fact that they are ideal contactless solutions.
The commercialisation of DID (Decentralized Identifier), blockchain based DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology), is also a catalyst for the spread of mobile access cards. This is a result of the spread of mobile identification services, which have caused the need for offline Single Sign-On (SSO) centred around access security to rise.
Following the enforcement of EU’s GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) in 2018 and CCPA (California’s Consumer Privacy Act) in 2020, the enforcement on privacy policies is occurring worldwide. The same applies to Korea. In 2020, the National Assembly passed the amendments to Korea’s three main data privacy laws and this has increased the standard as well as the social demand for privacy policy.
In order to safely identify and encrypt an individual and their profile, it is essential that the application of encryption techniques such as AES256 and 3DES should be used with biometrics such as face and fingerprint, password, and personal information combined. The new security trend of applying security chips (secure element) and generalising security technologies such as TLS1.2 and HTTPS to prevent the hacking of devices and card readers, is happening across the world. The rising social demand for protecting personal information and security solutions for access control are to become the new norm.
2020 was a year full of cloud-based contactless solutions such as video conferencing and working from home. The South Korean Government’s release of the digital development plan indicates a strong will for fostering contactless industries, and the service voucher support project which started last October, is clear evidence of it.
Find more about the access security market at SECON 2021. The event is to be held in South Korea from 12-14 May. You can visit the digital exhibitor showroom now, showcasing all of the products and portfolios from exhibitors.
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