Page 37 - Security Today, February 2017

identify and track a variety of incidents and events. The seamless integration be- tween diverse systems shifts the function- ality of video surveillance and security systems from detection and documenta- tion toward prevention.
Centralized management and control.
With an enterprise VMS, organizations are able to manage and control their video and security systems from a centralized location using a single interface, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of security programs and initiatives.
For example, one municipality in California installed video cameras in public parks, busy intersections and other key locations throughout the city, with images from these locations transmitted wirelessly to a control center in its public safety complex. Cameras can be viewed or managed easily, which is particularly helpful for traffic management, and operators can quickly switch cameras, zoom in or play back video.
From this central location, the city can also create user groups with different permission levels, allowing certain users’ views to be restricted while providing others with access to a higher number of cameras and a higher level of security that allows them to create their own views by selecting the cameras they wish to monitor.
Reliability. Security is an extremely crit- ical function, and continuous system oper- ation is critical in any application. Leading VMS solutions offer both recorder server failover and management redundancy to ensure maximum system uptime. The most advance VMS also includes critical camera failover protection that allows cameras to automatically and instantly switch to des- ignated backups if the primary camera is compromised in any way.
Recording redundancy is also a critical function of VMS. Video servers may be installed at multiple locations to enable local recording and video transmission to a central server for monitoring and recording, for example. The on-board storage capability of many IP cameras further ensures video is continuously recorded and available even if there is no network connectivity or if the connection to a particular camera is lost.
Mobile. We live in a mobile world, as evidenced by the ubiquitous smartphones most of us have with us at any given time. Networked VMS can leverage this trend
to serve as a force multiplier by enabling remote video access. An example of this potential might be police officers’ ability to perform regular patrols throughout an entire municipality rather than focusing on high-traffic or high-crime areas. Instead, these locations can be “patrolled” by surveillance cameras.
Should an incident or event occur, the VMS could alert officers to a potential problem, transmitting relevant video to in-car computers or smartphones for improved situational awareness. At the same time, the video is also transmitted to the command center for recording and viewing images and data from that location. To preserve the quality of high-resolution video while reducing the bandwidth requirements large video files place on networks, VMS are capable of compressing video to manageable sizes to deliver full-motion video from multiple megapixel cameras to mobile users.
This allows users to monitor, manage and control live or recorded HD video streams from virtually anywhere.In addition to the operational benefits networked VMS provide, these solutions are also well-equipped to protect networks from unauthorized intrusion, which has become an increasingly vital need.
Network Security
Unfortunately, cyberattacks have become a way of life, with a number of high-pro- file data breaches gaining significant at- tention in recent months. In many cases, attackers were able to leverage third-party systems, IP devices and outdated software to find an open door that enabled access to networks and sensitive data.
Even the government is not immune, as a recent cyberattack resulted in the theft of 22 million people’s information, underscoring the vital need to protect all infrastructure and data from cyberattacks. This example is also indicative of the reality that as networked systems continue to capitalize on their extreme efficiency and capabilities, they also open up new potential threats from multiple sources with less-than-honorable intentions.
End-to-end encryption. Securing net- works has become a major concern for everyone, and video surveillance networks are no exception. This is why providers of advanced VMS solutions take network and video security very seriously, incorporating
strong security into their offerings.
The first line of defense to achieving network security is to deploy IP devices and components that support strong encryption solutions, as end-to-end encryption of networked systems and devices provides the most effective means of reducing the risks associated with
misplaced, lost or stolen data.
In an IP video system, there are multi-
ple points along the network infrastructure where a variety of devices and systems are integrated. These include IP cameras and peripherals like heaters, infrared lighting, routers, switches and other devices often deployed remotely, all the way to the head- endwhereVMSmanagesthesedevicesand other integrated systems in a single plat- form. Full integration of video, access con- trol and other security solutions represents the best the security industry has to offer, but when put in the hands of the wrong in- dividuals, these models can also be used to exploit the people, property and assets they are supposed to protect—leaving no doubt about the critical need to protect these sys- tems against cyber invasion.
Many devices incorporate the proven Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) to ensure secure communication between devices, servers and clients while also supporting HTTP, which serves as the foundation for Internet-based data communication. Initially designed to protect sensitive banking information and later adapted by the healthcare industry to enforce strict HIPAA regulations, AES encryption has been accepted by the U.S. and Canadian governments as a standard for encrypting data both transmitted data and data at rest.
Essentially, AES is a block of algorithms that “scrambles” data into unreadable code for transport, then when reconnected at the receiving point, is unscrambled using the same algorithm when the designated permissions are provided. To date, there have not been any confirmed hacks of AES encrypted systems with the exception of faulty implementations.
In addition to enhancing network secu- rity, encryption helps reduce legal liabili- ties from sensitive information residing on misplaced or discarded devices, as well as the risk of common virus attacks. With National Institute of Standards and Tech- nology (NIST) certification, IP devices and servers with AES encryption greatly
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