Industry News July 2010
BUSINESS NEWS
More than 10 million mobile phones and two million laptops are lost each year in the United States. While some are actually stolen, others would be returned to their owners if the owners could be located. Enter TigerTag and BoomerangIt, lost-and-found networks that use the Internet to reunite lost items and owners.
The TigerTag is a free label with a unique identification code that, once activated, is permanently associated with an item. If someone finds a tagged item, the finder is directed to the TigerTag Web site for instructions on returning it. No personal information is given to the finder without permission. Owners can offer rewards if they like.
Like TigerTag, BoomerangIt provides tamperproof tags that can be attached to property, and it can also match items based on serial numbers, descriptions of lost items, and time and place of loss. Its online personal property database can be used as a proof of ownership, and its Web site helps subscribers file reports with police and insurance companies and post rewards.
Another organization that helps locate missing property is LeadsOnline, which works with law enforcement and businesses such as pawn shops. Lost and stolen goods are identified by their serial numbers. Among other resources, the company automatically uploads all eBay transactions to its database. LeadsOnline also tracks meth amphetamine producers and cross-checks pawn customers against lists of terrorists and drug traffickers via the U.S. Treasury Department Office of Foreign Asset Control’s Specially Designated Nationals list.
PARTNERSHIPS AND DEALS
Alarm Lock Systems, Inc., has announced that its Trilogy Networx locksets are in use at Devil’s Thumb Ranch in Colorado.
Alvarado Manufacturing’s GateLink Validation system provided secure spectator entry control at the Australian Open tennis tournament.
Arecont Vision will provide megapixel cameras for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. Other official physical security solutions providers are EMC Corporation, Orion Systems Group, Theia Technologies, and Verint Systems.
The Canadian company ASAP Secured is a new partner member of the National Security Alliance.
Enfora and Smart Management have announced a joint initiative to enable wireless tracking and monitoring of assets in the oil and gas supply chain.
A disaster recovery solution resulting from collaboration between Harris Corporation and Siemens Healthcare has been installed at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center in California.
Video compression boards from Hikvision are being used in the security system provided by Virtual Service for apartments at 165 Charles Street in New York City.
The Audi Group has expanded its deployment of I.D. Systems Powerfleet Vehicle Management System. Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies and RF IDeas, Inc., are partnering to offer proximity and smart card solutions to use for both door and computer access.
Invengo Technology Corporation has announced that Miles Technologies will be the sole distributor of its RFID inlays, tags, smart cards, and readers throughout France, Spain, and several other European countries.
Misericordia University in Pennsylvania is using vandal-resistant dome cameras and a recorder from JVC Professional Products to secure its new College of Health Sciences building.
Loomis Danmark is using video management software from Milestone Systems with cameras from Axis and IQinVision to document cash handling.
Nio Security, Inc., has allied with Shenzhen Domenor Technology Co. Ltd. in China for OEM manufacturing of several Nio products.
Northrop Grumman and Luminex Corporation will collaborate to create next-generation biodetectors for harmful airborne agents.
RAE Systems Inc. announced that its wireless gas and radiation detection systems were used at Super Bowl XLIV, the National Basketball Association All-Star Game, and the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.
Hackensack University Medical Center has selected an authentication solution from RSA to protect patient data.
Siemens Building Technologies has completed a smart card upgrade for the Albert Einstein Healthcare Network.
The Philadelphia Zoo has selected the ActiveCrawl RSS desktop solution from SpectraRep, LLC, for emergency notifications. Amerilert was the integrator on the project.
Brazos Private Equity Partners, LLC, has acquired two electronic security distribution companies, Tri-Ed Distribution and Northern Video Systems, Inc. The companies will be combined and operate as Tri-Northern Security Distribution, Inc.
Voltage Security, Inc., was selected by MYOB to enhance PCI compliance initiatives in Australia and New Zealand.
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS
American Science and Engineering, Inc., has provided its Z Backscatter Van mobile x-ray inspection system to the National Customs Agency of Bulgaria for inspecting cargo and vehicles at the borders.
Beijing Tracker Electronic Science & Technology Co., Ltd., has launched its Stolen Vehicle Recovery service for the People’s Republic of China.
DVTel, Inc., announced that the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission has selected its intelligent security operations center as the command and control software for a surveillance and detection system. DVTel is working with Mass Electric Construction Co., Siemens Industry, and MATE to complete the system.
Genetec announced that Seattle-Tacoma International Airport has installed its Omnicast IP video surveillance as part of an upgrade.
IBM and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration are working together on a research project to protect the civilian aviation system from cyberattacks.
Infinova products are in use for traffic monitoring in China’s Shaanxi Province.
Johnson Controls helped plan and implement a major renovation and security upgrade for schools in the Buffalo School District in New York.
Lockheed Martin has delivered a video intelligence system to the U.S. Joint Forces Command for testing.
VeriFinger from Neurotechnology will be the fingerprint verification engine for Poland’s new biometric passport.
The Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council is using FIPS-201-compliant personal identity verification cards from Oberthur Technologies to identify doctors and first responders.
Haneda Airport in Tokyo is using cameras from Obzerv Technologies Inc. to perform coastal surveillance around its new runway.
Optelecom-NKF will supply Temple, Inc., with Siqura 9000 series components to support the expansion of South Carolina Department of Transportation’s Intelligent Transport System. Sagem Sécurité was chosen to provide a key security solution for the Minas Gerais State Administrative Center in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
AWARDS AND CERTIFICATIONS
The National Behavioral Intervention Team Association has named 360 Stay Safe the recipient of its Annual Award of Excellence.
The SpectraGuard Enterprise wireless intrusion prevention system from AirTight Networks was named one of the 10 Hot Security Products for Health Care by the editors of ChannelWeb.
Allied Barton Security Services earned a Corporate University Xchange award for exemplary practice in learning and development programs.
Amika Mobile was selected as a winner in the category of communications interoperability and hastily formed networks for emergency communications at the San Diego Security Summit.
Klorigen on-site chemical generation equipment from Electrolytic Technologies has been designated a Qualified Anti-Terrorism Technology by DHS.
The EchoStream high-traffic motion detector from Inovonics has received Underwriters Laboratories approval.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Access Information Management has acquired NorCal Shred, expanding its northern California service reach.
Anitian Enterprise Security has opened a new data center in Beaverton, Oregon, for expanded hosting and data storage.
Blackboard Inc. has entered into an agreement to acquire Saf-T-Net, Inc. Guidance Consulting is expanding its services to include vulnerability management. Honeywell has launched a new Web site for dealers and end users.
IBM has launched the IBM Institute for Advanced Security to help in understanding and addressing the issues associated with securing cyberspace.
Identive Group is acquiring RockWest Technology Group.
Matrix Telecom has recently changed its name to Matrix Comsec Pvt. Ltd to highlight its emphasis on telecommunications and security.
Google, PayPal, Equifax, VeriSign, Verizon, CA, and Booz Allen Hamilton have announced the formation of the Open Identity Exchange, a new nonprofit organization dedicated to building trust in the exchange of online identity credentials.
Oversight Risk Consulting has reopened its office in Bogotá, Colombia.
Securitas has acquired Claw Protection Services in South Africa and a majority in Seccredo in Sweden.
ASIS NEWS
Wounded Warriors Get Calling Cards
Verizon Wireless and Rite Aid Corporation joined with the ASIS International Foundation, Inc.’s Wounded Veterans Phone Program to deliver $28,000 (more than 400,000 minutes) worth of free calling cards to the approximately 2,500 recovering U.S. soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
It was the third year for the project, begun by Kevin T. Doss, CPP, PSP, a security consultant based in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. Doss says, “I never expected it to grow this large. The first year we raised $2,000 worth of cards and the second year, $8,000.”
Doss says that this third year of the program was so successful because of a collaborative effort between the Foundation, Rite Aid, and Verizon, as well as “many individual donors who supported this effort from behind the scenes,” he says.
The cards were delivered in January by Doss, ASIS Vice President of Finance and Administration Jim Evans, former ASIS Central Pennsylvania Chapter Chair Michael R. Nagurny, and Verizon president in the Washington, D.C. region, Mike Maiorana.
According to Maiorana, “There’s nothing more important than having the love and support of family and friends. For wounded servicemen and women who aren’t able to travel home…a long distance phone call can sometimes be a lifeline. We’re proud to make this donation to support injured soldiers, whose bravery and selfless sacrifice are a constant source of inspiration.”
ASIS counts among its members more than 4,000 U.S. military personnel.
“The Foundation was honored to be able to participate in this worthy program. Kevin’s tireless work was the key to the outstanding success. To assist members in this kind of effort is what the Foundation was created to do,” states David C. Davis, CPP, Foundation president.
CSOs Gather in London, Sydney, Washington
(by Michael Gips and Peter Piazza)
Within seven weeks during the winter of 2010, the ASIS International CSO Roundtable held programming in London, Sydney, and Washington, offering sessions that combined global issues with regional concerns. “The CSO Roundtable’s presence around the world demonstrates ASIS’s commitment to providing onsite programming to an increasingly global audience,” commented 2010 ASIS President Joseph R. Granger, CPP, who attended the Sydney and Washington sessions.
London. More than two-dozen senior security executives from the world’s largest organizations met for a presentation and luncheon hosted by the CSO Roundtable at the ASIS Information Assets Protection Conference held on January 25 at Nomura House in London. The featured speaker was Amanda Chandler, global privacy manager, privacy security, and content standards, Vodafone Group Services Limited, U.K.
Chandler’s presentation, “Information Governance in a Global Company: The Privacy Management Challenges,” began by introducing the unique challenges that Vodafone faces in terms of managing the privacy of sensitive information, which in Vodafone’s case could include information related to physical or mental health; credit card data; the content of e-mail, phone, or other communications; and data location information. To complicate the situation, the company has more than 300 million customers, equity interests in 31 countries, and 79,000 workers around the world.
Information governance, Chandler explained, “is a framework that includes the people, processes, and procedures necessary to ensure the preservation, availability, security, confidentiality, and usability” of an enterprise’s information assets. It is, she said, “a system to show that we’re doing the right things in the right way.” Information governance concerns the entire enterprise, including executive managers who understand business strategy; IT and information security departments, with their expertise in technology and the malicious risk environment; business units which focus on business requirements; and the legal department, which provides a view on legal and regulatory issues.
The conference also featured keynote speakers Michael Bowron, commissioner of the City of London Police, and the Right Honorable Alun Michael, MP, who discussed online threats and the need for coordinated and cooperative activity between government, industry, and law enforcement to develop a multistakeholder approach to these challenges.
Michael D. Moberly, vice chair of the ASIS Information Asset Protection Council, presented a plenary session on identifying and protecting key corporate information, including intangible assets and intellectual property. The audience also heard from Stephen McCartney, head of data protection with the U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office on the EU Data Protection Directive and its implementation.
Also high on the agenda were discussions of convergence and enterprise security risk management that included Sarb Sembhi, president of ISACA London; Dr. David King, joint deputy chair of the ISSA UK Advisory Board; and James Willison, convergence lead, ASIS U.K. Chapter. David Cresswell, CPP, PSP, managing director of ARC Training, provided an update on ASIS information asset protection guidelines and relevant chapters in the ASIS Protection of Assets Manual.
Sydney. In Sydney and Washington, senior-level security executives were treated to more extensive programming. On February 1, CSO Roundtable members and those eligible for membership participated in a day of panel sessions that preceded the ASIS Asia-Pacific Conference in Sydney. In March, CSOs gathered for the annual spring conference in Washington, D.C.
Reputation and brand awareness were at the top of the agenda in Sydney. Toyota has been facing criticism from U.S. lawmakers and consumer advocates for its failure to swiftly disclose and resolve a problem that has made some of its cars accelerate suddenly. How Toyota’s leaders handle this crisis may well have a major impact on the Toyota brand—and, ultimately, on the finances of the company.
These sorts of reputational issues lie at the intersection of security and public relations, said Thomas Higgins, head of the Australian consulting division of The Hay Group, a global management consulting firm, in the keynote session in Sydney. In fact, Toyota has already dropped from third to seventh from 2009 to 2010 in Fortune’s Most Admired Companies—a ranking that was computed before most of the carmaker’s troubles came to light.
Security’s role in helping build and preserve reputation is key because a top reputation confers many advantages, said Higgins. For example, customers prefer to do business with reputable companies. Such companies draw the best talent, charge a premium for their services, and weather controversy better.
What security does to bolster reputation it gets in return. For instance, respected companies tend to command the trust of their staff, which reduces malfeasance against the company, to the benefit of security. And solid, ethical leadership at the top will trickle down to staff, also making security’s job easier.
After the keynote, three panel sessions discussed resiliency and risk, security in hostile environments, and supply chain issues.
Washington. Wide-open, candid discussions among panelists and attendees were the order of the day at the Washington program in mid-March. One popular session covered issues currently on the minds of CSOs, including gun laws and private property, active shooters and aggressive intruders, ESRM, and compliance as a security function. Other sessions on how security can add value and the challenges of operating in hostile environments also featured spirited interaction among participants.
Another standout was the opening-day keynote by Ambassador Henry A. Crumpton, former coordinator of counterterrorism for the U.S. State Department and current risk advisor to global corporations.
The CSO Roundtable provides a dedicated forum for the most senior security professionals from the largest and most influential organizations in the world. An initiative of ASIS International, the CSO Roundtable became its own membership organization in 2008 to gain recognition for and enhance the standing of the CSO position; to assist CSOs in job performance, leadership and professional development; and to develop the next generation of corporate CSOs.
Michael Gips is ASIS vice president of strategic operations;
Peter Piazza is ASIS strategic operations director.
