Industry News July 2008
BUSINESS NEWS
Drug-safety alerts—such as pharmaceutical recalls and drug interaction warnings—have typically been delivered to doctors via U.S. mail. Now, thanks to a collaboration among medical society leaders, liability carriers, health plans, consumer advocacy groups, and industry, these warnings will be sent by secure e-mail.
The Health Care Notification Network (HCNN), the result of a three-year effort, speeds the delivery of important messages about patient safety to registered doctors. Free to all licensed U.S. physicians, it is used solely for patient-safety alerts and not for advertising or promotion. The network is governed by the iHealth Alliance, which will protect e-mail addresses.
When a new safety alert is generated, a notice is delivered to the physician’s designated e-mail address with a link to the new HCNN alert. The alert can be easily saved, forwarded to other staff members and patients, or discarded. Doctors can register other staff members’ e-mail addresses, so that multiple people in an office receive the alerts. If an e-mail alert is not opened within 48 hours, the alert will be sent by mail.
Funded by the manufacturers that use the online network (which have been paying for mail delivery), the network can also be used for rapid communication with physicians in the event of public health emergencies or bioterrorism events.
PARTNERSHIPS AND DEALS
T-Mobile has implemented a security information and event management system from ArcSight, Inc., for controlling, monitoring, and responding to threats in real time.
AtHoc, Inc., provided its IWSAlerts to the Broward County (Florida) Chapter of the American Red Cross for a disaster readiness exercise. The emergency notification system provided a communications channel to alert volunteers and receive feedback.
Brivo Systems, LLC, is working with eFit Financial to provide 24-hour access control to eFit’s health club customers.
Jazztel p.l.c. has selected ConSentry Networks to provide network security and support.
DVTel, Inc., is providing its intelligent Security Operation Center to the Tarrant Regional Water District in Texas.
GE Security, Inc., is working with Schiphol Nederland B.V. to develop technology solutions for better security processes at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.
Honeywell is collaborating with Bold Technologies, LTD, to combine Honeywell’s remote managed access control system with Bold’s central station automation software.
Cathay United Bank is integrating digital signage displays from IEI Technology Corporation into its ATMs.
An IndigoVision IP video surveillance system has been installed in Northgate Mall in Cincinnati as part of a renovation.
Intellitactics has joined the PCI Security Standards Council as a Participating Organization.
Microfluidic Systems and Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation are working together to manufacture automated biological agent detection technology.
The Buffalo Athletic Clubs are using Milestone IP video management software and Axis network cameras for improved security
MobiDEOS has become a Milestone Solution Partner. MobiDEOS customers can view and control cameras connected to XProtect video management software via cell phone.
NICE Systems Ltd. Has received an order from Victoryland Greyhound Racing Facility in Shorter, Alabama, to expand its video security. Sport View Technologies will implement the system.
Optex Corporation has adopted a sensor chip from Canesta for use in its three-dimensional image-sensing technology platform.
Orsus and Adesta, LLC, have formed a strategic partnership that combines Orsus security and safety software with Adesta systems integration expertise. The two companies have worked together on several projects including one for American Electric Power.
Orsus is also partnering with ioimage to allow the Orsus situation management solution to work with video analytics from ioimage.
Pasporte has won a service contract from JD Sports to manage data and networks and implement a disaster recovery program.
Pelco DX8000 and DX8100 Series digital video recorders now work with the Agilence Intelligent Video Auditing Solution to help reduce loss and create operational efficiency.
TelePacific Communications has added the Unified Threat Management suite of services from Perimeter eSecurity to its OneSecure business offering.
Salient Stills and Linear Systems have announced a partnership to support better management of digital evidence.
Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts in Ireland is implementing Secure Web from Secure Computing to protect against Web-based threats.
Synectic Systems, Inc., announced that the Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course is using a digital video surveillance system from Synectics to monitor slot machines and a thoroughbred race track.
North American Video will integrate the Security Knowledge Manager from videoNEXT as part of its video surveillance and security solutions offering.
WhiteHat Security and F5 Networks, Inc., have formed a partnership to protect customers from Web attacks.
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS
Agent Vi video analytics software has been selected by Abeo Technical Solutions LLC to protect Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Bolling Air Force Base, and the Washington Navy Yard.
The U.S. Navy has awarded a navigation systems contract to ARINC Engineering Services.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has deployed AtHoc IWSAlerts for emergency notification.
Environmental Tectonics Corporation has signed a contract with the New York City Office of Emergency Management to deliver a disaster management simulator for training purposes.
GB Group is providing its Accelerator IQ to the Metropolitan Police and Suffolk Police in the United Kingdom for quick location of suspects.
Four Texas police departments have equipped their officers with AutoVu from Genetec for license plate recognition. The police departments are located in Houston, Corpus Christi, Del Rio, and El Paso. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department is also using the system.
Omnicast, Genetec’s IP video solution, has been adopted by the Office of Housing in Victoria, Australia, for use in its affordable housing development projects.
GE Security, Inc., has announced that the state of Florida has deployed its Identity Commander solution to 12 deepwater seaports and the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles headquarters. Working with biometric identity management from ImageWare Systems, Inc., the system is compliant with anticipated federal credentialing programs.
The IP video solution from IndigoVision is being used to provide the surveillance system for a community safety vehicle operated by Waltham Forest, United Kingdom, in cooperation with the Metropolitan Police and NCP, the local parking enforcement contractor.
Ideal Innovations, Inc., announced a partnership with the U.S. Army Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, to produce armor for the mine-resistant ambush protected (MRAP) II vehicle.
Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies announced that Tahlequah, Oklahoma, is using Schlage HandPunch 3000 terminals to track and manage its employees.
L-1 Identity Solutions has been awarded the prime contract for the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative border-crossing credential from the U.S. Department of State.
Several public housing complexes in Atlantic City, New Jersey, have been retrofitted with surveillance systems to prevent crime. JJJ Properties of New Jersey, LLC, contacted Pro-Active Business
Solutions to design and install the systems.
Sagem Sécurité has been chosen to coordinate the European research project to develop advanced digital identity solutions. The three-year project is part of the European Union 7th Research & Development Framework Program.
Smiths Detection has won a contract to supply the U.S. Department of Defense with lightweight detectors under the Joint Chemical Agent Detector program.
Stinger Systems, Inc., is providing its S-200 projectile stun guns to the Prairie du Chien Police Department in Wisconsin.
The Ministry of Railways of the People’s Republic of China has selected an IP video solution from Verint Systems Inc. to enhance security on portions of the Beijing-Tianjin high-speed passenger rail system.
CyberLock electronic locks are replacing mechanical locks in mail collection boxes for the New Zealand Post. Electronic Keying Australia implemented the system, which is made by Videx, Inc.
MARKETING MOVES
ArcSight, Inc., has formed a strategic partnership with Alpha Data, which will offer the ArcSight product suite to its customers in the United Arab Emirates.
Axis Communications announced that EVT has become a member of the Axis Communications Application Development Partner Program.
EMI Security Products is offering its camera housings through national distributors, including ADI, Tri-Ed, VSSI, Northern Video, Video Security Specialists Inc., and PSA Security.
ESS has established ESS China in Beijing to offer its enterprise sustainability solutions to organizations in the Asia Pacific region.
Honeywell Power Products has appointed Security Marketing Consultants, Inc., to support its customers in the north-central United States.
James Lee Witt Associates has been retained by Purple Tree Technologies, Inc., to provide strategic advisory services in promoting its emergency alert systems
Middle Atlantic Products has selected BRAINSTORM/TPC for public relations support.
Panasonic Security Systems has chosen R.F. Mayo Associates, Inc., as its new sales representative for Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and Montana.
Digital Identification Solutions AGis expanding into eastern European growth markets, thanks to cooperation with its subsidiary vps ID Systeme.
AWARDS AND CERTIFICATIONS
ARINC Incorporated has been renewed as a Cisco Authorized Technology Provider for its IP interoperability and collaboration systems.
Chubb was ranked as the number one fire protection and security brand in the United Kingdom on the 2008 Business Superbrands list.
Dallmeier electronic was a winner at the World Game Protection Conference in Las Vegas, where its Video Management Center VMC-1 “Eagle” placed second in the categories Best Product Presentation, Best New Product, and Most Innovative Product.
Delta Scientific has announced that its DSC2000 barricade has been tested in the United Kingdom and meets the BSI standard PAS:68 2007.
GE Security, Inc., has named Floyd Total Security its 2007 Strategic Partner of the Year and winner of its central region award. Other regional winners were Bergelectric Corp. for the western region, Viscom Systems for the northeast, and Electronic Specialty Company for the southeast.
Geutebrück has become a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner.
HireRight has been named the 2008 Internet Company of the Year by the Technology Council of Southern California.
Honeywell Analytics received the Supplier Excellence Award for 2007 from Analog Devices in the category “Local Site Support.”
Intamac Systems has won the Business Innovation of the Year Award in the European Business Awards. It also received two Ruban d’Honneurs ribbons for business innovation and entrepreneur of the year.
Intellitactics announced the winners of the 2008 International Partner of the Year Award. Among the winners were Zepko for Western Europe, Hewlett-Packard Czech Republic for Eastern Europe, OpenCS for South America, and UNNOO for Asia.
Pelco Endura Mapping was named Best New Product at the World Game Protection Conference.
RFTrax announced that its Asset Command Unit has received Underwriters Laboratories UL 913 Intrinsically Safe Certification for operation in Class 1, 2, and 3 Division 1 hazardous locations.
ImmerVision has certified that the video management system from Stanley Security Solutions will offer full panoramic functionality using ImmerVision’s panomorph lens.
Webroot Software, Inc., received a “Hot Picks” rating from Information Security for its Webroot AntiSpyware Corporate Edition with Antivirus.
Yoggie Security Systems announced that its Internet security device has been awarded the Innovatonpreis—IT Security in the Mittelstand Innovation Awards given at the CeBIT trade show.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
American Banknote Corporation has acquired Keystone Manufacturing (Plastics) Limited of Toronto, Canada.
Andrew Jackson University is offering a translation card to law enforcement agencies that helps officers communicate with Spanish-speaking witnesses and victims. The card has been used by West Palm Beach, Florida, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, law enforcement. Readers can request one from Joseph Schmoke, CEO of the distance-learning institution [email protected].
Dynamic Network Factory, Inc., has formed DNF Security, a new division that will provide infrastructure for managing cameras, video servers, camera management servers, storage, and long-distance communication.
A new educational resource that offers information on background screening for human resource and risk management professionals has been launched by employeescreenIQ. The free service—employeescreen University—is available athttp://university.employeescreen.com.
HSM Electronic Protection Services Inc. and Stanley Systems Integration have combined to form Stanley Convergent Security Solutions, Inc.
Matterhorn Consulting, LLC, has launched a redesigned Web site atwww.matterhornconsulting.com.
The Asian branch of Videotec has moved to a new location in Hong Kong.
The Von Duprin brand of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies is celebrating its centennial year in 2008.
ASIS NEWS
An All-Hazards Look at Homeland Security With the security sector embracing an all-crimes, all-hazards approach to homeland security, ASIS International’s Council on Global Terrorism, Political Instability, and International Crime followed the trend at its 26th Annual Government/Industry Conference on Global Terrorism titled “Unconventional Security Challenges: What Keeps the Security Professional Up at Night?” The event was held March 17-19 in Arlington, Virginia.
Conference Chair Brittain P. Mallow said the council sought to reach beyond prior years’ content, which was heavy with federally based risk assessments. “We’ve tried to bring the conference to an all-crimes, all-hazards approach, and bring different things in, because if you’re in private security, you’re the one who people are going to look to in an event,” said Mallow, a principal at SRA International, Inc., in McLean, Virginia.
During one of the conference’s most timely sessions, which focused on supply chain security, Marcy Forman, head of the office of investigations at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, discussed investigations into defective or contaminated import products, including last year’s pet food contamination incident that was traced back to China. In that tragic case, as least 3,500 pets died after eating food laced with melamine. Federal prosecutors contend that two U.S. importers knowingly distributed Chinese-made wheat gluten contaminated with the chemical, which creates the appearance of elevated protein levels during quality testing.
In another case explored by Forman, packages of counterfeit Colgate toothpaste contaminated with a common ingredient in brake fluid—diethylene glycol—bore South African country-of-origin labeling with the country’s name misspelled. Further, the units were of a size not sold in the United States. That these phony goods were discovered serves as proof that heads-up inspectors can catch some counterfeit products by sight, Forman said.
A session on the emerging threat of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) featured Bill Sprice of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), who has served at the Terrorist Explosives Device Analytical Center (TEDAC) at Quantico, Virginia.
At TEDAC, military, ATF, and FBI experts conduct forensic analysis of IEDs, exploded and intact, from Iraq. The dual goals are to defeat the devices and capture their manufacturers and financiers. Sprice displayed two pie charts representing the types of IEDs used in Iraq and by U.S. criminals, along with the nature of their detonating systems.
Nearly all Iraqi IEDs are detonated electronically, as opposed to only a quarter of those that have been used in the United States. “If those two charts ever become inverted, we’re going to have a challenge on our hands,” he said.
Fellow panelist, Marc Luoma, director of intelligence for the Pentagon’s Joint IED Defeat Organization, warned the trend could shift more quickly than conventional wisdom expects. Bomb-making know-how “doesn’t creep in a linear fashion,” Luoma said. “It can leapfrog via access on the Internet…. That’s the scary part.”
At a session on the spread of radical Islam, Mitchell Silber, director of analysis with the New York Police Departments’ Intelligence Division, discussed findings of an NYPD report titled, “Radicalization in the West: The Homegrown Threat.”
Silber cited four stages of radicalization: pre-radicalization, self-identification, indoctrination, and finally, jihadization. Many susceptible young men are either first- or second-generation immigrants who self-identify neither with their country of origin nor adoption. To assuage their craving for cultural identity and belonging, they gravitate toward both mainstream and radical versions of Islam.
Some of the latter group may travel to foreign terrorist training camps or participate in outdoor activities to vet, bond, and train their fellow conspirers. Without law enforcement intervention, it is likely an attack will be attempted by these individuals, Silber said.
Toxicologist Robin McFee, a council member with the Long Island Regional Poison Information Center State University of New York—Stony Brook, delivered a presentation on emerging health-related threats. She urged employers to keep tabs on health risks in countries that their employees visit. McFee highlighted the importance of forging relationships with local hospitals to ascertain which facility is prepared for incidents such as a chlorine spill or radiation exposure.
Speakers at a separate session on pandemic planning said that during the five years since the SARS crisis, preparation for a wider flu pandemic has been insufficient. “There have been three flu pandemics every century in the last 500 years, according to the World Health Organization,” said Dr. Clete DiGiovanni, a former U.S. government physician and researcher. “But we cannot predict when a [lethal type of] virus will emerge.”
Mario Possamai, a senior advisor to Canada’s judicial inquiry into the SARS outbreak, shared his concern that complacency is growing, not diminishing. This is particularly the case in countries like the United States, which escaped the SARS crisis.
Security managers can sell management on pandemic planning by pointing out how companies that organize against crises are rewarded by financial markets with higher valuations, Possamai advised.
ABC News Justice Department Correspondent Pierre Thomas was the keynote speaker at a conference luncheon session. Discussing the media’s role in security events, he assured attendees that the media shares their desire to maintain the confidentiality of security efforts but cannot ignore cases of government waste, misconduct, or negligence. “A government that operates in the dark is not something I want to be a part of, because we all know that bad things happen in the dark,” Thomas said.
Council member James Dunne of the U.S. State Department opened a roundtable session on industrial security threats by stating that information protection is the core priority. Chuck Fisher, counterintelligence specialist at the U.S. Department of Defense, said that in order to better protect that information, the relationship between counterintelligence and security must be mutually supportive, however, he acknowledged, “we don’t do that very well.”
Michael Leiter, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, issued a warning familiar to security and counterterrorism professionals: While the federal government operates under two-, four-, and five-year election and budget cycles, al Qaeda and its ilk take a far longer view.
“My greatest fear is that the U.S. government is not doing that. Unfortunately, this business is not going away. They are looking at this as a generational struggle,” Leiter noted. “The good news: Your employment in regard to terrorism isn’t going away very soon. The bad news is, your children are going to have these jobs too.”
By Joe Straw, assistant editor
