Weston in Space

End-user companies know to set up firewalls or install antivirus software, but there are still many that are not taking the next step in adding threat intelligence into their security stack, and that may be for a good reason. Threat intelligence is a collection of data containing known-dangerous and suspicious IP addresses, domains, email addresses, file hashes and attacker groups. Similar to a police blotter, threat intelligence can tell you that an incident has occurred, but those incidents may be completely irrelevant to an organization. Essentially, threat intelligence is a police blotter from a city you don’t live in. Whether consuming threat intelligence from open-source feeds, U.S. Government Automated Indicator Sharing (AIS) feeds, or paid commercial feeds, it is designed to help businesses avoid danger. However, none provide more than basic, rudimentary value to an enterprise in this capacity. Although most contain encyclopedic reference material on types of attacks and atta...

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — Rave Mobile Safety announces it has been selected by Atos Public Safety as the Next Generation 911 (NG911) Alert and Warning System platform for the state of California. The win represents the ninth statewide deployment of Rave’s solutions, according to the announcement. Rave’s alerting platform will be available to hundreds of alerting authorities across the state, protecting more than 39 million residents. The company’s system will consolidate and expand current capabilities into one state-wide solution. The uniform platform will better meet the stringent feature, reliability and performance requirements for a state with emergency communications needs covering everything from earthquakes, wildfires and tsunamis to civil disturbances and major sporting events. Atos, the prime network service provider for the state’s NG911 infrastructure project, will manage the overall program. In addition to providing critical emergency alert notifications to residents and fir...

PROVO, Utah — Vivint Smart Home (NYSE:  VVNT ) recently announced its fiscal year 2021 results, revealing it added 360,509 new subscribers bringing its total customer base to 1,855,141. In terms of revenue, full year revenues grew by 18%, or $227 million, bringing total revenues to $1.48 billion. “Last year was extraordinary for Vivint,” says David Bywater, CEO of Vivint Smart Home. “Our team delivered record results in 2021, adding more than 360,000 new subscribers while outperforming our full-year guidance on total subscribers, revenue and adjusted EBITDA. Our attrition rate decreased to a 14-quarter low of 11.3%, which was 110 basis points lower than the prior year. We saw meaningful progress on our Smart Energy and Smart Insurance initiatives which we are eager to expand in 2022 as we pursue our mission to make our customers’ homes smarter, greener and safer while saving them money.” Related: Vivint Celebrates Success of Solar, Insurance Partnerships in Q3 Report Dale R...

LUND, Sweden — Axis Communications has released a post mortem following a cyber attack it suffered Feb. 19-20. According to the company, the attackers were able to sign in as a user by employing several combinations of social engineering, despite protective mechanisms such as multifactor authentication. Once inside, the attackers used advanced methods to elevate their access and eventually gain access to directory services. No servers were found to be encrypted, but the company did find malware and indications that internal directory services were compromised. No customer information was found to be affected in any way and Axis says  in total, it found limited signs of damaging consequences “aside of the general embarrassment and productivity loss.” Axis’ threat detection systems alerted incident staff of unusual, suspicious behavior, and investigations early Sunday morning. IT management decided to bring in external security experts and eventually it was confirmed that hacke...

February 2022 brought the U.S. the first of three 3G sunset deadlines. AT&T shut down its network last week, leaving millions of alarm customers with non-functional alarm radios. Unsurprisingly, this was a hot topic on SSI . Integrators already faced a daunting task having to replace millions of radios, and the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain shortages only made an already challenging mission more difficult. At the last minute, AT&T did strike a roaming agreement with T-Mobile, however, it is only available to a certain subset of devices that are in areas where T-Mobile has coverage and have AT&T SIM cards that are both on the Cisco Jasper platform and configured for roaming. Another area with an industry-wide affect is The Secure Equipment Act, which restricts the deployment of telecommunications and video surveillance equipment manufactured by China-based companies that are considered a national security risk. Honeywell announced it would be discontinuing its ...

In the Spring of 2020, businesses could not wait for the pandemic to eventually pass so operations could get back to normal. While vaccines have put us on that path, supply chain issues have only increased stress. Despite these and numerous other hardships, security integrators have continued to do their jobs. For a closer look at how integrators are faring, SSI  spoke with a few dealers from Honeywell’s Integrated Security Certified Dealer program for its annual commercial dealer roundtable. The execs discuss the pandemic’s impact on their customer bases, dealing with added costs caused by supply chain disruption, demand for open platform-based systems, cybersecurity and much more. Joining  SSI Senior Editor Rodney Bosch is  Tyler Blake, COO of Tampa, Fla.-based Midwest Alarm and BCI Integrated Solutions, Jim Cooper, vice president of technology for Millstone, N.J.-headquartered Integrated Security & Communications, Ronald Haught, CEO of Quincy, Ill.-based Alarm ...

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — Convergint announces the acquisition of Prosys Services, an Australian tier-one provider in security management. Prosys Services is Convergint ’s third acquisition in Australia, adding 124 employees, a deepened presence in New South Wales, and a new office in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). “From its focus on continuous development to its strong company culture, Prosys has an incredible reputation built on a long-standing commitment to innovating for the future of security technology,” says Tony Wang, CEO of ICD Security Solutions, Convergint’s APAC subsidiary. “This acquisition further accelerates our growth strategy in APAC and allows us to extend our best-in-class service delivery to global enterprises in the region.” Since 1988 Prosys Services has provided enterprise-grade security management systems to commercial and industrial clients, tertiary institutions, critical infrastructure, health departments, the construction industry and other large corpor...

MELVILLE, N.Y. — ADI Global Distribution announces the recipients of its 2021 Supplier Awards. The wholesale distributor selected Nortek Control as Supplier of the Year for North America. ADI also recognized suppliers in the categories of Operations, Marketing, DX Marketing and Sales Support, New Product of the Year and Rookie of the Year. “Congratulations to the ADI 2021 Supplier Award winners. Our supplier relationships are important to ADI’s success, and help us deliver value to our customers every day,” says Bob Appleby, vice president and general manager of ADI North America. “We are proud to celebrate the contributions and achievements of our suppliers.” Each year, ADI recognizes key suppliers across North America for their support and contributions toward the growth and success of the company. Suppliers are evaluated based on revenue, sales support, marketing initiatives, inventory results and feedback from ADI’s sales leadership team. The ADI Supplier Awards were presented ...

AUSTIN, Texas — Eagle Eye Networks announces it has successfully completed the System and Organization Controls Type 2 (SOC 2) examination, a rigorous security standard that certifies the company’s policies and procedures securely protect and manage customer data. Eagle Eye Networks , a provider of Cloud video surveillance solutions, also completed conformance with ISO 27001 security standards, the announcement states. ISO framework is a combination of policies and processes for organizations to use. ISO 27001 provides a framework to help organizations, of any size or any industry, to protect their information in a systematic and cost-effective way, through the adoption of an Information Security Management System (ISMS). The SOC 2 Type 2 audit evaluated internal controls over six months to ensure that Eagle Eye satisfies the Trust Services Criteria defined by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). The criteria include security, availability, processing inte...

In this week’s Top Surveillance Videos… There are few things better than a good samaritan story, especially in times like these. Last week, we saw a restaurant customer fight off an armed robber . This week, we have a real-life superhero. Body camera footage from Mesa, Ariz. shows a police officer at the scene of a burning apartment building. He learns that there are children inside on the second floor and begins throwing rocks at a window to break it open, yelling to the children to come to it. Suddenly, a man comes out of nowhere, scales a fence, rips the shattered window frame off with his bare hands and climbs into the burning apartment. As dark smoke billows out the window, he emerges with a toddler. He then climbs back in and rescues another child. As if all of that wasn’t selfless enough, he refused to give his name to the officer because he said he did what he did for the children, not for the attention. Also this week… Thieves aren’t always the brightest bulbs. Take for...

On Feb. 15, AT&T announced on its website at the FCC’s urging it would institute a roaming option provided by T-Mobile to bridge the 3G sunset transition using Cisco’s Jasper platform. T-Mobile has said it will shutter its 3G network on July 1, which would give the alarm industry an additional four months to replace units that are compatible with the roaming arrangement. However, the Alarm Industry Communications Committee (AICC), which has labored heavily to get carriers to extend their 3G shutoff dates, considers AT&T’s workaround a partial solution at best for a limited number of security providers. Following AT&T’s announcement, the AAIC once again petitioned the FCC to intervene on its behalf and force the carrier to delay the shutdown of its 3G network. “There is simply not enough time for such arrangements to be made, and the actual roaming logistics implemented,” the AICC petition states. AICC has estimated there are around 2 million radio upgrades still to com...

SECURE Perspectives is a monthly column by the  Security Industry Association  (SIA) profiling women in the security industry. This column is part of SIA’s  Women in Security Forum  (WISF), an initiative to support the participation of women in the security field through programs, networking and professional growth events and thought leadership opportunities. For this edition of  SECURE Perspectives , SIA spoke with Beth Anderson, senior channel marketing manager, commercial electronics at Allegion. SIA: How did you get into the security industry? Beth Anderson: I happily stumbled into the security industry in 2018. After working in various marketing and sales roles within the composite decking industry for over a decade, I relocated to my home state of Indiana and was looking to return to the building materials industry. During my search, I found interest in the security space, with its fundamental value in our world, along with the constant technological i...

Despite attempts from numerous alarm industry and tech policy groups, AT&T stuck to its deadline and sunset its 3G networks on Feb. 22, 2022. The alarm industry, notably The Monitoring Association (TMA) and the Alarm Industry Communications Committee (AICC), had reached out to AT&T in 2021 to request it hold off on the sunset until Dec. 31, 2022, which is the same date that Verizon is set to sunset its 3G networks. A petition for emergency relief was even filed with the FCC on May 10 by AICC. However, AT&T argued that once the date was set, it would be difficult to change due to equipment costs, logistics and contractual obligations that they have in regards to the 5G network —  in some areas the 5G network cannot be activated until the 3G network is down, Shane Clary noted in his August Fire Side Chat column . For integrators that didn’t upgrade their customers well in advance, the COVID-19 pandemic proved to be a huge roadblock thanks to restrictions, lack of manp...

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Vivotek (TWSE:  3454 ) announces its partnership with global software automation provider, Immix, in providing back-end solutions on the Immix platform. This new integration offers Immix customers access to Vivotek NVRs and is said to present flexible and friendly operations on video and audio management solutions. Immix is primarily focused on video integrations and support for intrusion detection and access control systems. With the rapid advancement in network technologies and IoT, the company says Vivotek NVR support is groundbreaking for the monitoring platform as it lays the foundation for accessing the company’s network surveillance technologies. Vivotek NVRs are available in 4-, 8-, and 16-channel options with embedded PoE, requiring less hardware at each location. The absence of license fees for pairing Vivotek NVRs with Vivotek IP cameras significantly lowers total ownership costs, putting Vivotek IP surveillance solutions at the fingertips of Immi...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Absolute Systems, based here, recently acquired the security division of Hill Country Telephone Cooperative (HCTC) of Ingram, Texas, for an undisclosed amount. Alarm Financial Services (AFS) provided financing in the form of a term loan for the transaction. The acquisition commences a partnership between Absolute Systems and HCTC to meet the security needs for HCTC’s commercial and residential customers. Absolute Systems and its owner, Scotty Rhoads, have been providing residential and commercial security systems and services in Kansas City since 2009. The company expanded to Houston and San Antonio, Texas, in 2017. HCTC is an Internet and phone service company with a focus on keeping rural Texans connected. The cooperative provides telecommunications products and services for both residential and commercial accounts. HCTC services 15 counties across 3,000 square miles of rural Texas. Absolute Systems has been providing maintenance and repair services to HCTC c...

U.S. organizations, including technology service providers that represent attractive targets to a threat actor, are being urged to implement cybersecurity protections against cyberattacks as the Ukraine crisis unfolds. These warnings come from the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) as well as private sector cybersecurity software providers like Mandiant that have raised awareness of the possibility of large-scale cyberattacks from Moscow as the Ukraine situation unfolds. CompTIA, an IT industry association that counts many managed service providers among its members, has also issued a warning to technology service providers, calling on them to take immediate steps to review and upgrade their cybersecurity defenses. “While we do not have any information to indicate any specific threat, we believe that we all need to be in a significantly heightened state of alert,” says MJ Shoer, chief community officer for CompTIA and executive director of the CompTIA ISAO...

SANTA MONICA, Calif. —  Ring announces the rollout of a new integration for cameras that support ONVIF, a global standardization initiative for IP-based physical security products. Available in late April, Ring customers with Ring Alarm Pro and a Ring Protect Pro plan will be able to onboard select ONVIF cameras to the Ring app for simple control and access on one platform. ONVIF cameras must be able to stream at 1080p or lower and support H264 encoding. The integration will allow residential and business customers to add an additional layer of security to their existing ONVIF-compatible cameras, and gain access to Ring features, such as Live View, Real-time Notifications, Event History and Timeline, expanding Ring’s capabilities outside of just Ring-built devices, according to the company. “The ability for our neighbors to integrate their ONVIF-compatible cameras into the Ring app is something I’ve been excited about for a long time. This will allow our many residential and bu...

LITTLE ELM, Texas — Located here about 35 miles north of Dallas, a recently opened indoor waterpark, The Cove at The Lakefront, offers exciting aquatic attractions combined with a retractable roof and high-tech A/V solutions by Control4 to create an atmosphere unlike other indoor waterparks. The entire park’s audio and video is managed through a Control4 automation system, including a 30-foot-wide DVLED display, offering staff full control and flexibility to respond to guest requests while ensuring important messages are broadcast to the right areas. According to custom integrator Steve Withey, president and CEO of Elite AV Innovations, The Cove’s technology enables different TV and music to play across 18 video displays and 11 distinct audio zones, while rentable private cabanas and party rooms offer guests direct control of local content. Related: How A/V Integrators Can Prepare Corporate Clients for Hybrid-First Workplaces “With the ability to easily adjust music and TV co...

A classic trust exercise is turning your back to someone (hopefully that you know, and who is paying attention!) and allowing yourself to fall backwards for them to catch you before you fall. The concept is that it’s important to realize we don’t have to carry heavy burdens alone and everyone benefits through collaboration and looking out for one another. Extrapolating that to security integrators, sometimes the greatest success is achieved by working together for common goals — often realized through the support of organized dealer programs and networking among members. This philosophy can really reap dividends during times of extreme hardship and duress, as we have all experienced courtesy of the pandemic the past two years — along with its integration business manifestations of overall economics, customer site closures and project delays, staffing shortfalls, supply chain woes, and inflation. “It’s a process to go and find who’s spending money and what vertical is hot,” says Tyler...