The British Security Industry Association (BSIA) has continued its excellent lobbying work on behalf of members and the industry at large by engaging with MPs, think tanks, and senior policing figures at the recent Conservative and Labour party conferences.
Click here to view Figure 1.
A key focus was the regulatory agenda. Of late, there has been talk of a “halfway house,” wherein business licensing could be introduced through secondary legislation with no civil enforcement powers granted to the Security Industry Authority. The BSIA’s view is that this compromise position could threaten standards of professionalism.
What are your thoughts? Tell us in the comments below.
A study completed by Tripwire and the Ponemon Institute has revealed that many of the world’s largest enterprises are not prepared for the new European Union Directive on Cybersecurity.
Companies suffering a breach because they don’t have sufficient IT security in place to protect their digital assets face fines of up to 2 per cent of their annual global turnover.
According to the latest research from IHS, the global industry for physical security equipment and services was worth a massive $110 billion in 2012.
Generating $46 billion in revenue last year, North and South America combined made up 41 per cent of the worldwide trade.
“We expect total industry revenue to reach $170 billion a year by 2017,” David Green, senior analyst for video surveillance and security services at IHS, said in a press release.
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond MP has announced that the MoD is set to recruit hundreds of computer experts as cyberreservists to help defend the UK’s national security.
Hammond confirmed the creation of a new Joint Cyber Reserve that will see reservists working alongside regular forces to protect critical computer networks and safeguard vital data.
An excellent blog on IFSECGlobal by MITIE TSM’s Darren Gamage extols the virtues and developments of biometric technology.
Gamage points out that there are still issues to be addressed around the safety of personal data. It’s probably fair to say law-abiding citizens don’t have any issues with data capture. What then happens to this information (and its security) is the main point of contention.
The Metropolitan Police Service’s Police Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU) has saved the UK economy a staggering GB pound 1.01 billion in the last two-and-a-half years.
That’s an unprecedented achievement equating to savings of GB pound 58 to the public purse for every pound of funding invested in PCeU-led operations.
Connexion2’s managing director Craig Swallow, a member of the BSIA’s Lone Worker Steering Group, has raised the issue of wearable CCTV for lone workers.
Swallow says that providing lone workers with a video monitoring device that can discreetly raise an alarm (and take video of a situation if necessary) not only increases peace of mind for the employer but also helps those workers feel safe in their job while lowering the risk of incidents they may face.
The Telegraph’s economics editor, Philip Aldrick, reports that the Bank of England and the Treasury are so concerned about the vulnerability of UK lenders to computer hackers that they want board directors to draw up plans that will address this issue within the next six months.
There’s an underlying fear that hackers could put payment systems out of action, for example, and thus destabilise the economic upturn.
Treasury officials are said to be working on new plans for assessing, testing, and improving system resilience.
Why are small and midsized businesses — usually the early adopters of the latest technologies — the very market segment most hesitant to embrace the promise and reward of a move toward IP HD surveillance?
Jamie Barnfield of IDIS addresses this question in a first-class read. He feels it’s time for SMBs to “take a second look” at IP HD surveillance, but he urges that fundamentals — a simpler buyer process, for instance — must first be in place.
G4S has won a major contract to provide security solutions to Bank of America Merrill Lynch operations in the UK. From December, more than 200 officers from G4S Secure Solutions (UK) will safeguard six key sites.
The three-year deal is one of the company’s largest commercial UK contracts. It includes provisions for reception security, access control, patrolling, administration, CCTV operation, and intelligence/risk management.
Free Download: The Video Surveillance Report 2023
Discover the latest developments in the rapidly-evolving video surveillance sector by downloading the 2023 Video Surveillance Report. Over 500 responses to our survey, which come from integrators to consultants and heads of security, inform our analysis of the latest trends including AI, the state of the video surveillance market, uptake of the cloud, and the wider economic and geopolitical events impacting the sector!
Download for FREE to discover top industry insight around the latest innovations in video surveillance systems.
2. EU Cybersecurity Directive “could cost organisations billions”
A study completed by Tripwire and the Ponemon Institute has revealed that many of the world’s largest enterprises are not prepared for the new European Union Directive on Cybersecurity.
While that might sound like bad news, the good news is that if we don’t start putting more thought into cyber security it could cost companies a whole lot more including their business if they are hacked and leak enough data that customers leave them.
This is true because there is enough evidence showing that big companies are unsure on how to implement the directives on cyber crime. I think the way forward is to have a collabrative effort and programmes to share ideas on best possible ways of implementing cross boarder directives
I feel that despite criticism, licensing has improved the professionalism within the industry (I’m not sure whether it’s made that much of an impact externally, with the overall ‘image’ of security). I attended a presentation about the new proposals and it seems more sensible, preventing duplication of checks etc. I just feel the enforcement side needs to be worked on as some companies will inevitably try and cut corners.
I think a lot of the problem is that cyber security has always taken a back seat and has been a fairly simple plan. Now that we’re seeing more attacks, more sophisticated attacks and every company putting themselves out there on the internet and relying heavily on computer systems to keep their company alive there will have to be a change in process and I don’t think many smaller and medium sized businesses are ready for that.
I’ve not looked into what the new EU directive requires, but I wonder if it will include something similar to the US whereby organisations will be legally bound to admit when they’ve had a data breach.
Maybe I’m wrong but I feel like it might have made some difference to the image of the industry. Maybe not as much as the SIA/govt would like but certainly some.
The biggest companies have the resources and are also likely to be more targetted, but I would really like to see more help for SMEs in this area, with limited resources and limited IT expertise.
While the larger companies might be more visible targets I suspect that in the not to distant future the most damage is going to be done by attacking smaller companies. A lot of the large companies out there partner with smaller companies to handle parts of their business. Imagine the difference between attacking a large bank or attacking the small auditing firm that is working with one of their branches.
@RobDirective are legal contract agreed between European Union countries and it is enforceable by the european court
9. SMBs face the IP HD surveillance paradox
SMBs may be early adopters however they are also known to be on more of a limited budget than large corporations. Technologies are adopted and expected to last some time. While they may be open to change before a larger company once a investment is in place they cant just jump to the next thing right away when its available. I dont think this is a paradox, I think its just plain business sense.
This is very true it is a business plan so let see what new technology have for us
you are right, at this economy some of the Co. will try to cut corners… hoping to save… same problems we have in Canada… it sad…
How I see it, this days only Military and big Int. Cor. will be having latest and greatest… with rest just getting what ever they could afford…
same here, but u in my field it seems like changes happens almost every day…
Yes , Changes are happening everyday and we need to keep abreast with it
@Alexander Stephens. It is true changing are happening every now and then and we nee to keep abreast at all times
yes, and no other way as technology changing…
You are right,technology changes are massive at present and will be more for the coming future
yes, thank you, we will see big changes in technology…
Agree with you and embracing changes is the way forward as technology is changing our life styles