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Many organisations have been giving some serious thought as to how their premises need to be modified for a return of employees & visitors to the office. In light of the most recent direction – people should work from home wherever possible – how can companies make best use of their empty premises to update their access control procedures? In the government’s COVID-19 Secure Guidelines for offices & contact centres, they’ve made it clear that there will need to be ‘frequent cleaning of objects and surfaces that are touched regularly including door handles’.

Up until the coronavirus pandemic hit the world back in the early spring of this year (March 2020), cloud-based security solutions were a steadily growing market. Now, they’ve taken on a whole new meaning as businesses rapidly re-assess how they operate in light of COVID-19, re-evaluating everything from security management and occupancy control to space requirements, social distancing, and health & safety practices. So what do we mean by ‘cloud-based’ or ‘remote’ security solutions exactly and why has it become imperative for companies to consider them right now within their overall business management solution?

Up until the coronavirus pandemic hit the world back in the early spring of this year (March 2020), cloud-based security solutions were a steadily growing market. Now, they’ve taken on a whole new meaning as businesses rapidly re-assess how they operate in light of COVID-19, re-evaluating everything from security management and occupancy control to space requirements, social distancing, and health & safety practices. So what do we mean by ‘cloud-based’ or ‘remote’ security solutions exactly and why has it become imperative for the UK Security Industry to offer them?

The role of the distributor consists of many strands and can benefit businesses in a number of ways. For suppliers, it brings with it a wider and more knowledgeable route to market than is often possible by themselves. For installers, distribution is key to ensuring they can meet their customers’ needs and simultaneously increase profits and maximising efficiency. And a key area to this involves the stockholding of the chosen distributor.

ACCESS CONTROL FOR BOTH PHYSICAL AND CYBER SYSTEMS is equally mission-critical, but many organizations today rely on outdated technology and communication protocols that leave them exposed to potential theft of intellectual property, and data breaches, and compliance violations. Security teams can take advantage of key events and circumstances, such as mergers and facilities consolidation, to win support for cost-effective and minimally disruptive physical access systems upgrades.

The landscape of the CCTV industry has been one that has seen many changes in recent years, moving from closed-circuit analogue systems to Internet Protocol (IP) ones, and now with the introduction of “smart” CCTV systems it is changing even further still.

Our vastly connected world in which data is shared constantly creates weaknesses to cyber-attacks. Cyber-criminals exploit system vulnerabilities to gain access, steal, destroy personal data, extort money or interfere with business intel.

The effects of cybercrime have been widely publicised in recent times and there have been several very high-profile cases where vulnerabilities in security systems have been exploited. With technology progressing at such a rapid rate, everyone must understand how to design products and systems that are resilient to attack – right from the word go. Recognising the need to ensure the UK’s resilience against all forms of cyber security vulnerability, the government introduced the Secure by Default scheme.

Secure by Default is a Government scheme that conveys the basic standards required for video surveillance systems to be secure from cyberattacks. The initiative aims to make participating manufacturers more responsible for designing networked products and therefore ensuring systems can be installed securely, helping to combat cybercrime, and ensuring that the video surveillance industry is working to the highest possible standards.

Perimeter Protection sums up the whole essence of physical security, the idea being to make it so difficult or time consuming for a criminal to gain entry that they quit and go elsewhere. The boundary of any site offers the very first opportunity to detect a threat or that something is amiss, and this is what makes it valuable. This can be the first ‘line of defence’. All too often though, a business optimises the security it has ‘inside’ the site without considering the benefit of adequately protecting the perimeter.

The introduction of self-checkouts in 2009 was set to see improvements in customer shopping experiences and a reduction in the cost of labour needed to man tills. Although retailers and customers alike have enjoyed many benefits since the introduction of this new technology, it has resulted in an increase in shoplifting and, in the UK alone, is costing supermarkets a whopping £3.2 billion annually.

You might well have seen public view monitors (PVMs) in your local supermarket self-checkouts, but have you thought about them in the retail environment? Similarly to grocery stores, retail faces the ever growing problem of theft, shrinkage, loss of profits and other crimes. Just last year, theft of goods by customers rose to £65 million and workplace abuse incidents peaked at almost 1 million.  The use of public view monitors is becoming increasingly popular and is proving to be an effective solution for crime prevention within a range of different industries.