Media Solutions Manager, UBM

Author Bio ▼

Brian was appointed Editor of Security Management Today (SMT) in November 2000. In 2005, he received the BSIA Chairman's Award for Promoting The Industry and, a year later, the Skills for Security Special Award for an Outstanding Contribution to the Security Business Sector. In 2008, Brian was nominated for the ASC's Imbert Prize and was a finalist in the 2012 George van Schalkwyk Award. An Honorary Fellow of The Security Institute and a judge for numerous industry awards, Brian became the Editor of SMT Online in late 2008 and was also promoted to Group Content Editor for UBM Live's Security Portfolio (focusing on the IFSEC SELECT end user programme, the Security Excellence Awards, conferences and webinars). Now the Media Solutions Manager for UBM Live's Security and Fire Portfolio, Brian is actively pioneering developments in live events and digital media.
September 27, 2013

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10 Stories You Might Have Missed This Week

1. “Security Industry Authority Opens Stakeholder Engagement Review Survey

Hot on the heels of its latest SIA Update bulletin, the Security Industry Authority has now launched a review of its Stakeholder Engagement Strategy. The purpose is to develop further the ways in which the Regulator interacts with its many stakeholders and also to build stronger relationships with participants in the private security sector.

Click here to view Figure 1.

Closing date for survey responses is Friday November 8. Air your views online.

2. “EU Directive on Network and Information Security: Impact Assessment

The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills’ latest impact assessment focuses on EU proposals around the Network and Information Security Directive. The document runs to 65 pages.

Should the EU proposals be enshrined in law, the Government estimates potential additional security spending of (at most) GB pound 1,984.2 million in the “High” scenario and GB pound 992.1 million in the “Medium” case during the year of the Directive’s implementation.

3. How to Create a Secure ID Card

HID Global’s EMEA region managing director Harm Radstaak has scripted an excellent blog for IFSECGlobal.com explaining the intricacies of ID cards.

Radstaak is adamant that continuous improvements in the access control sector are leading to new solutions that render card delivery “extremely successful, secure and efficient.”

In short, issuing secure ID card credentials should no longer be seen as the complex task it was once viewed as by some.

4. “State-Sponsored Cyber Attack: Will We Practice What We Preach?

Big Brother Watch deputy director Emma Carr’s latest article refers to a recent cyber-attack on Belgacom (the largest telecommunications company in Belgium) reported by Der Spiegel Online. Major customers of Belgacom include the European Commission, the European Council and the European Parliament.

Carr asks: “Has GCHQ attempted to spy on British members of the European Parliament?” and concludes: “The Government must lead by example or we risk seeing our actions copied around the world to the detriment of millions of people who hope the Internet may finally bring them democracy.”

5. Axis Communications makes move into access control market

On Tuesday, network surveillance pioneer Axis Communications used the ASIS 2013 Exhibition in the States to tell the world it’s also moving into access control. The company’s new door controllers are described as “the first non-proprietary and open IP-based access controllers on the market.”

6. “IBM X-Force 2013 Mid-Year Trend and Risk Report” published

IBM X-Force has been tracking trends and emerging threats in cyber space for a long time — 15 years, in fact — and this week witnessed the publication of its 2013 Mid-Year Trend and Risk Report.

As you’d expect, vulnerability statistics, attack trends, and data breaches are all covered in detail, but there’s also a superb overview of the psychology and social engineering regarding how these attacks are implemented.

7. “ICO Carries Resolution Encouraging Greater Co-ordination of Global Data Protection Enforcement

The Information Commissioner’s Office has won a resolution in Warsaw which is set to see improved co-ordination between global data protection and privacy authorities.

“Data protection has to be effective across borders,” states Information Commissioner Christopher Graham. “Applications know no borders. The data protection regulatory community can only be effective if we work together across jurisdictions.”

8. Enterprise security now “increasingly challenging” for CSOs

(ISC) 2 has issued new data outlining the main challenges faced by top enterprise security executives. Most of those executives (77 percent in the Government sphere and 63 percent in private industry) believe they have too few people on their IT security teams, yet 61 percent cite business conditions as an obstacle preventing them from hiring any more.

9. “BSIA Members Preview UK Pavilion at IFSEC Istanbul 2013

The British Security Industry Association (BSIA) has set up a UK Pavilion for next week’s IFSEC Istanbul Exhibition and Conference, with companies including TDSi, Remsdaq, GJD, Bold Communications, and Integrated Design Limited having a significant presence at the event.

The BSIA’s Export Council is a tremendous force for good and a brilliant source of advice and information if your company is thinking of new routes to market overseas.

10. Video Surveillance Key to Next Generation of Retail Intelligence

Increasingly, it seems, IP-based surveillance cameras are being deployed to assist the UK’s retailers when it comes to operational efficiencies.

The talk is all about business intelligence applications, such as people-counting, dwell time, queue analytics, and dashboards.

All great, and all adding to the mix, but are we losing sight of CCTV’s main purpose? In other words, catching criminals in the act and prosecuting them?

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batye
batye
September 28, 2013 3:04 am

interesting post and info. Thank you

holmesd
holmesd
September 30, 2013 4:01 am
Reply to  batye

“All great, and all adding to the mix, but are we losing sight of CCTV’s main purpose? In other words, catching criminals in the act and prosecuting them?”. Studies have shown that CCTV has little impact on catching and prosecution of criminals. It is often difficult, post-incident to go back to the business and say the CCTV hasn’t really helped, if we can demonstrate other benefits with CCTV, it makes our lives easier and certainly helps from a budget side, if it gets us more cameras, it increases the chance of something useful being captured.  

Brian Sims
Brian Sims
September 30, 2013 10:07 am
Reply to  holmesd

Can you point me towards the studies you mention re: CCTV “having little impact on catching and prosecuting criminals”? Cast your mind back to the London Riots of August 2011 and Operation Withern, which was put in place by the Metropolitan Police Service. As a direct result of Operation Withern, there have been just shy of 5,000 arrests made and 3,145 people have been either cautioned, charged or summonsed to appear in a Court of Law. The conviction rate for those charged is around the 86% mark and there have been no less than 1,000-plus custodial sentences. Behind all of that, CCTV has been… Read more »

StaceyE
StaceyE
September 30, 2013 3:54 pm
Reply to  holmesd

@ holmesd
I would also like to see the studies that show CCTV has little impact on catching and prosecuting criminals.
I’m not sure where you are located, but here in the U. S. CCTV has made a major impact on catching and prosecuting criminals. Bad guys are being identified EVERY day thanks to CCTV footage.

StaceyE
StaceyE
September 30, 2013 3:56 pm
Reply to  Brian Sims

@ Brian
Thanks for the great statistical information for CCTV use in London. I don’t know exact numbers here in the U. S. but I know that law enforcement uses CCTV footage on a regular basis to help identify criminals and solve cases here.

gbrown
gbrown
October 12, 2013 9:11 am
Reply to  StaceyE

@StaceyEIs there anyway to get statistical information for CCTV usage in crime prevention in the USA?

StaceyE
StaceyE
October 29, 2013 11:59 am
Reply to  gbrown

@ gbrown
I googled it and there seems to be a plethora of information about crime prevention using CCTV in the USA. Here is a report I found for just the city of Los Angeles, California, USA.
https://www.library.ca.gov/crb/08/08-007.pdf

gbrown
gbrown
October 29, 2013 12:10 pm
Reply to  StaceyE

@StaceyThank you for the link. I will update you very soon

Rob Ratcliff
Rob Ratcliff
October 30, 2013 10:55 am
Reply to  Brian Sims

But then this was an extraordinary operation with significantly higher resources dedicated to identification and catching the criminals. Certainly not a-typical. What are the prosecution rates normally?

Rob Ratcliff
Rob Ratcliff
October 30, 2013 10:59 am
Reply to  gbrown

So the key findings, in a nutshell, were that CCTV installation resulted in minor reductions in crime but that the results were in general ‘not statistically significant’: Neither cameras in Jordan Downs nor Hollywood Boulevard had any statistically significant effect in reducing the overall monthly crime rates within the target areas; The monthly rate of violent crimes fell in both the Jordan Downs and Hollywood target areas but the results were not statistically significant; The monthly rate of property crimes decreased in Hollywood and increased in Jordan Downs, but the results were not statistically significant; The evidence on the displacement… Read more »

Rob Ratcliff
Rob Ratcliff
October 30, 2013 11:04 am
Reply to  StaceyE

Neither of these comments have stats to back them up. But to a large degree, that’s the point, right? A lot is about perceptions of how cameras improve security, and if the perception is positive then that’s good.

StaceyE
StaceyE
October 31, 2013 10:16 am
Reply to  Rob Ratcliff

@ Rob 
I was surprised that the reduction of crime was so low. I guess just because we see the use of CCTV to catch some criminals in the media that this is just a small fraction of the crimes being committed.

StaceyE
StaceyE
October 31, 2013 10:18 am
Reply to  Rob Ratcliff

@ Rob
Your right, I guess it is a lot about perception.

Rob Ratcliff
Rob Ratcliff
October 31, 2013 11:05 am
Reply to  StaceyE

Don’t get me wrong, I believe in video surveillance for crime reduction, but honestly it can be over stated at times.

StaceyE
StaceyE
October 31, 2013 11:13 am
Reply to  Rob Ratcliff

@ Rob
You are right. I thought the statistics would have been much higher just based on my perception and what I see in the media.