Showing posts with label Cool Security Technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cool Security Technology. Show all posts

Saturday, August 18, 2018

Deviant Ollam Is Thinking About Doing A Smartphone App

Update: It looks like a Twitter user brought up, Haven - The Guardian Project's physical security app developed by Edward Snowden.

Welp, it looks like @DeviantOllam, the physical security penetration tester and trainer, is looking to do a hotel room security app. If he can check off all the boxes and can provide some more features, I'd be all in.
What would I be looking for in a physical security smartphone app?

  1. Various ways to notify users of an event. Push alerts to my other devices would be great, as well as home AI integration with Alexa or Google Home.
  2. Motion sensor sensitivity and detection range settings that are user-friendly. Other apps do this but they don't walk you through these settings.
  3. The ability to choose between cloud storage or phone storage.
  4. The ability to use a tilt sensor for drawer openings.
  5. Noise detection.
  6. Customized annunciation. I like customized audio messages for various intrusion-related alerts.
  7. Integration with a door stop physical device. When bumped by a door, it would set off an alert. Great for closets in hotels.
  8. The use of your phone's flash as a strobe when an intrusion has been detected.
  9. Using a combination of alerts to determine the nature of your alert. I may want to know if the maid came into my room but I'd really be interested to know if they entered that closet I placed the door stop at.
  10. Remote SMS alarm disarm.
What would you want to see?

Thursday, December 8, 2016

OMG. I TOTES WANT THIS LOCK!!!


Yeah. I know. Me too. I TOTALLY want one of these. If you want more information on how you can get one, then you should probably click here and sign up to be on their mailing list.

https://www.bowleylockcompany.com/

Also, here's a video of the lock's mechanics in animation. Yeah. It's pretty freaking awesome. I'd like to mention this lock gives me hope. As a non-fan of the consumer lock industry, this lock is a VERY development for the sector. Unpickable. Unbumpable. That said, you should probably look at other door strengthening techniques just in case your adversary doesn't bring a pick or have a key bump but has a good size boot and a decent pair of thighs.

Saturday, November 12, 2016

Product Review: Sighthound


One of the first topic areas that caught my eye was video analytics. As a video surveillance monitor for a lot of my career in physical security, I felt I had a good grasp on why most surveillance systems fail to detect bad guys as much as they should. If you're a physical security professional, you know where that weak link is as well - the monitors. Yup. It took me less than six months looking at video screens most of my day to understand most irregular events fail to go noticed or are properly assessed. This happens for a variety of reasons:
  • Monitor fatigue. This happens when a monitor stares at a screen for too long and either falls asleep or becomes easily distracted. We're humans and no one likes gazing at an empty parking lot for hours on end. So, the mind begins to wonder and bad things can happen. If you'd like to learn more about monitor fatigue, this is a great resource. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alarm_fatigue (I know it's Wikipedia but as a primer, it's not too shabby)
  • Monitors are expected to recognize irregular events in a huge ocean of regular benign events. That parking lot I mentioned before could have 400 cars in it and thousands of people coming and going. If mixed in with benign events, irregular events can appear to be okay and fit with the norm. This explains why some folks can get robbed right in front of a camera and no one notice.
  • There are too many "rules" to remember and act upon on too many feeds for a single monitor. Sometimes, with human monitors, too much video is just as bad as driving into someone else's headlights.
Where else are all these problems more demonstrative than in a home security environment? I have friends who have 6 or more cameras on a home and they call themselves "monitoring" those feeds constantly. No, you're not. What I find most often is the direct opposite - they're monitoring one or two cameras, maybe. The others go either unwatched or constantly recording over each other. So what's the solution to ensure all the feeds are being monitored and reporting and recording events as they occur?

Sighthound is a software application that acts as a monitoring platform with an embedded analytics package. You can not only monitor your feeds from various cameras but you can also have those feeds report only when "rules" are broken which include:
  • A person entering a zone.
  • Someone leaving a zone.
  • Motion inside a zone.



The feeds can be viewed remotely. You have to pay for that feature, though, there is a trial version which includes this for 14 days. Given recent issues with Internet of Things being exploited for DDOS attacks, I highly recommend changing whatever default passwords that are on your cameras, ensuring the firewall on your router is working, and updating the firmware on the device. If you can run a scan to see what ports are open on your machine using the scanner at https://iotscanner.bullguard.com and close them, if possible. Also, check out routing the camera through a DNS provider like DynDNS.

I digress. While you can have the software email you or send a notification to the smartphone app, you can also have it do a myriad of options through IFTTT. The possibilities are almost endless from there. Oh and perhaps the most creative option and one I particularly like is the ability to execute a command should an event be triggered. For example, you could set it to send you a snapshot of the event and then shutdown your computer. Why is that cool? If your PC is full-disk encrypted, then you have just ensured a key mitigation piece is activated. You also have a picture or video of the event and can determine if you need to respond further.

What I like most about Sighthound is how quickly it responds to events. Almost 5 or 10 seconds after an event, I received a notification of the event and was able to view a snapshot. That's pretty cool when you consider how costly an enterprise system can be offering the same service.

There are some things I'd like to see it offer in the future:
  • Security options. I'd like to password protect my remote feeds. This maybe here already and I just missed it. If so, I feel like this is kind of an understated feature.
  • More event triggers. It covers the basics but I'd like to see triggers for things noise detection with those cameras that offer audio in their feeds.
  • Possibly some interoperability with other devices. I'd love it if it could network with other sensors through the home and capture those events as well. Some proprietary device systems already do this but I'd like to see something that would allow me to work with events involving a smoke detector and my camera.
Overall, I THOROUGHLY love Sighthound. It has tremendous potential and is extremely affordable. I hope this is a new movement within the home security surveillance sector. I'd like to see less machines that can't or won't cooperate with other devices to successfully mitigate potentially dangerous events. It isn't perfect but I find it is certainly a great step in that direction.

As of now, I haven't reached out to the Sighthound team for an interview. I will soon, though. I'd love to hear what more they have to offer.

If you know of any other physical security applications or devices you'd like me to review, contact me via the "Contact Me" link above.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

How-To: Map Ebola Like A Pro In Ten Easy Steps

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(Photo: US Army)
I have been doing a few posts about Ebola the last two weeks, in order to explain the challenges we face in security with this epidemic and where we can find resources to help. This past week, I received an email to attend a workshop held at a local college to learn how to map the Ebola virus. This was a challenge I would gladly accept and so off I went to the land of academia in order to save the world. The instructor, geographer Theresa Cleary began the course by explaining the problem facing all of the disaster relief organizations.

The Problem

With countless agencies now operating in Africa to combat Ebola’s consistent climb upwards, medical personnel operating there are finding out they face unique challenges in Africa. I experienced much of what they’re going through while stationed in Korea my first tour as a security advisor and driver. At the time, the biggest obstacle I faced was getting around Seoul. While I had the benefit of transliterated maps, I would have killed for a GPS unit. Relief workers in Africa are facing a similar dilemma. Most people don’t realize how much of the African urban and rural settings are not mapped. There are entire road networks and villages no map has officially recognized. In a situation where you have to make contact with every single potential victim, being able to safely navigate to them is paramount.

The Solution

So how do we make sure we have the areas are mapped? Well, by way of open source mapping. In other words, citizen volunteers sit at computers and outline and label every nuance of interest to aid organizations. Once the citizen volunteers do their part, validators spot-check your work and send off the information you collected that was accurate and send back anything you sent off that was wrong. In the entire timeframe of instruction to operation, I mapped over 17 buildings and a few roads. Shortly before writing this post, I mapped 7 roads and 3 foot paths. Total time to do all of this was roughly 30 minutes with only an hour and half worth of instruction. Most importantly, the software this is done on is free and open-source.

How-to

I know you’re curious how you can do the same thing. At least you should be. If you don’t think you should be, call me and I’ll explain rather vigorously. So here’s how to get started.
  1. Go to http://www.openstreetmap.org and sign-up for an account. Once your email is confirmed, then follow Step 2.
  2. Go to http://task.hotosm.org to see the open tasks for humanitarian groups working on Ebola.
  3. Before accepting any tasks, I HIGHLY suggest you go to http://wiki.openstreetmap.org and read the articles on how to navgate and what exactly the various terrain feature labels correspond to visually on a map.
  4. Once you’re done there, go back to http://task.hotosm.org and find your tasks.
  5. Click on the task you want and then go to the side map and click on an are that is not “done” or “validated”. It should be the grid with no coloring. Once you click there, look to the left sidebar and you should see where it says start mapping, click there.
  6. Next, click on the arrow next to where it says “Edit with” and go to iD Browser. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.
  7. From there a map should have opened up in another browser where you will do your edits.
  8. Find your area and zoom in on areas where there’s a lack of data and outlines are not done for features.
  9. Click on either the line or poly pointers at the top menu bar and then outline the shapes of what you’re tasked. When done, click on the last point of the shape again. If necessary, click on any line in the shape to bring up a mini-menu that will “square” edges away.
  10. When you feel like you’re done, click on the save button at the top menu bar. Feel free to leave a comment in the sidebar. I was told to put “task-whatever the number was-hotosm – whatever feature the task called for” Go back to original hotosm screen and make sure you “unlock” this map so others can work on it. Before you unlock, be sure to leave a comment stating what you did.
Resources

http://wiki.openstreetmaps.org

http://www.openstreetmap.org

http://mapgive.state.gov

http://task.hotosm.org

That’s it. Easy peasy. By the end of the day, you will have helped out relief efforts in perhaps one of the biggest public health crises the world has seen in a while. Give it a whirl and let me know what you think. Also, share this information with other people.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

KiteString - A Web App That Could Save Your Life



I'm all about the use of automated tools as force multipliers in security. Whether you're protecting your home or office, you can always benefit from having an automated tool to help you out. Just remember the biggest vulnerability begins with the user. The folks at KiteString have done an awesome job of creating a wonderful web application that could actually save your life.

KiteString is a check-in service, wherein you create a list of contacts, a check-in phrase (optional), and a duress word (also optional). You also supply the service with your estimated time of arrival to your location. When you fail to check-in via text, the app will notify your emergency contacts.

Who can benefit from a service like this?

  • Victims of domestic violence
  • Stalking victims
  • People concerned with overt threats against their lives (witnesses in criminal cases)
  • Parents of children who travel or who are mobile
  • Senior citizens who need to notify their children should they not arrive somewhere
  • Security enthusiasts
  • Private investigators
When coupled with tools like Tasker, Guardly, Locale, and now, KiteString, the possibilities are endless what you can do with respect to emergency notifications. I'll be doing some side projects with this service to see what else you can do with other tools working in conjunction with KiteString.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

INTERVIEW: Geoff Howe of Howe and Howe Technologies Who Made The SWAT-BOT


I really like being a blogger. I get to explore all of my favorite topics and I get to be very passionate about security. That being said, it is a joy to find people who share my passion and make it evident in their work. The folks at Howe and Howe Technologies have found themselves in that very elite group. For the unfamiliar, I recently did an article about a remote piloted robot developed by the company. The other day, I decided to contact the Maine-based company for an interview to get some additional information. I knew right away upon speaking to Geoff Howe I'd called the right place.

Me: Can you tell me how the SWAT-Bot was developed?
Geoff: Two and a half years ago we started. Before that, in 2006, we were already developing unmanned ground vehicles for the US military. It was during the Fukishima reactor incident that we noticed something very troubling and quite frankly - frustrating. You see we had already developed a firefighting robot called Thermite. There was this incident and we had the technology in our facility to help. However, the infrastructure was not in place at the time. Shortly after that, we had a Department of Homeland Security Testing and Evaluation demonstration for FEMA at the Massachusetts Fire Academy.  The Massachusetts State Police STOP team was there and observed the Thermite and approached us about doing something for SWAT. We immediately began the dialogue and got great feedback from them. By 2012, we had a prototype developed. What was really frustrating was watching the West, Texas fire that killed all of those firemen and knowing we had technology here that could have taken them out of harms way.

Me: What are some of the robot's capabilities?
Geoff:  Well, it weighs 2300 lbs and can be transported in the bed of a pickup truck. Within 3 seconds, it can be operational. Within 15 seconds, the robot is ready to go with the ballistic shield mounted. It has several tools to include the DragonTail which shoots a projectile at a vehicle with a grappling hook and can drag cars. It also has a door breacher that can act as ram also, a tire deflator which was developed out of a request by Southern Maine Special Reaction Team, a negotiating basket, and HD video transmission. The HD video is done 1080p and is real-time. It was developed from technology used in sportscasting. There's also a light that has 16000 lumens.

Me: I'm really impressed by how cool the tech is behind this. Where does the person who pilots this operate from?
Geoff: The cool thing is he can be anywhere in the SWAT formation known as the stack. The best part is it can controlled by tether from a command vehicle with 300 foot tether.

Me: How long does it take to train operators? Maintenance?
Geoff: Maybe an hour. It's very easy to learn how to pilot. Maintenance can be done by the end-user and is very minor or we can send one of our field service reps out on an as needed basis.

Me: Geoff, this sounds like an amazing robot. I hope I make it to Maine to test this out. Any parting words?
Geoff: Thanks. We just want the product to be in the hands of people who need it the most. After Boston and all these other shootings, we can't help but see the demand and need for this. We're an R&D company so making things like this is what we do. I don't want to see another tragedy where we have the technology in our facility and not in the hands of first responders.

For more information:

http://www.howeandhowe.com/rs1-rbs1-robotic-ballistic-shield.html

Monday, May 6, 2013

VIDEO: Billboard That Displays A Hidden Message For Abused Children


The video you're watching above is a viral piece created by a Spanish organization called the Aid to Children and Adolescents at Risk Foundation. Basically, it's an ad created that "displays a different message for adults and children at the same time." It does this in the same way 3D illusions are created for children's toys. From different angles, each viewer gets to see a different image. Adults will see a child and message about abuse while children can see an abused child with a message just for them. It's a very cool crime prevention tool I think that could be useful in the United States. Imagine if there was a similar ad but also displayed safe locations or a hidden telephone number.

For more information:

http://gizmodo.com/this-ad-has-a-secret-anti-abuse-message-that-only-kids-493108460

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

VIDEO: SWAT-BOT: This Robot DESTROYS Barricades

I try not to get all mushy-gushy about law enforcement technology videos. Let's be honest - a great many are better known for their hype than their product delivery. Well I'm very encouraged by the SWAT-BOT. Howe and Howe Technologies created the product in coordination with the Massachusetts State Police and comes equipped with a collapsible ballistic shield, and a hardened AR400 steel nose shield to protect those in the line of fire. According to their site, "It serves as a robotic ballistic shield, door breacher and vehicle/debris remover when the environment is deemed unsafe." It has seen action in a variety of high profile SWAT deployments with MSP such as the Boston Marathon manhunt.





SPECIFICATIONS
  • Collapsible for easy transport
  • Remote controlled platform
  • Integrated 5000lb winch
  • Integrated Class III receiver
  • Integrated ballistic vision blocks
  • Additional Options Available:
  • Integrated storage cage
  • Door entry ram
  • HD Video Optics
  • Designed to traverse the most rugged of terrain
  • Durability to withstand challenges other robots this size would not be able to endure
  • Constructed of A440f steel, aircraft grade aluminum , and high quality components
  • Start up of full robotic functions in 5 seconds, significantly lowering response times
  • 100% handcrafted in the USA and draws upon years of robotic research
  • Dimensions Stowed: 72” L x 41” W x 47” H
  • Dimensions Expanded: 72” L x 97” W x 80” H
  • Weight: 2290 lbs
  • Draw bar pull: 1270lbs on asphalt, 1040lbs on concrete
  • 25hp Diesel Engine
For more information:

Saturday, March 9, 2013

INFOGRAPHIC: Presidential Security Facts

INTERVIEW: Guardly Offers Insight Into Indoor Positioning System and The Future Of Emergency Dispatch



I'm just going to put it out there. I love Guardly. After writing my last piece on the public safety mobile app, I decided to subscribe to the service. And to be honest, I'm blown away by it's user-friendly GUI, the depth of its coverage, how robust its emergency protocols are, and the overall potential it has for much greater deployment. So last week, when I saw that they developed a new feature for some of their college campus clients, I became quite curious and called Guardly to find out. Here's my interview with Guardly CEO, Joshua Sookman.

Josh, it's great to speak with you again. I love the product and I'm calling to find out about your latest development.

Scriven, it's great to hear from you. Well, we've been developing a new feature called Indoor Positioning System which will relay to emergency contacts and dispatchers where you are in much greater detail. By greater detail, I'm referring to your location inside a building.

Wow. Is that like GPS? If so, that sounds like an incredible development. 

Not quite. So here's how it works. We begin using the features that already exist in your phone to analyze certain data like WiFi connections and various radio frequencies to narrow down where you are.

How does that look to the dispatcher?

It works just like the original display but with added metadata. It can tell the dispatcher if you're in a specific room or the elevator shaft or a stairwell.  We use those radio frequencies and WiFi hotspots to do this. Each location in a building will have a different frequency signature. So that data can point to a specific location in the building. Basically, we want to take what used to be a 2D world and used augmented metadata to depict a 3D environment for the dispatcher. We believe doing this will decrease response times in getting help to you, as so much time is used in the initial moments of an emergency dispatch call to get this information out of the caller. Having that information available immediately, should reduce the time from call to dispatch.



Where is this available and on what platforms?

It's available only to select customers and is available on the Android OS.



So I've made no secret that I love Guardly and I see it as part of a greater movement in emergency management to decrease response times and provide better and more timely information to emergency responders. What are your feelings about such initiatives as Text to 911?

Great question. Honestly, I think it's a great step in the right direction. With it and services like guardly we should lesser response times. Again, the more information you get, no matter how you get it, is absolutely the key. An area of concern for us and those of us in emergency management is the potential for emotional stress and possible PTSD-related issues given the level of information dispatchers could be exposed to. As we expand what is capable from using all of the features mobile phones come with such as video and audio, there is a potential for having too much information exposure for those who may not be accustomed it.  We also believe services like Guardly are an evolution of technologies that have made things more "hyper-local" and personal. We believe, as these technologies grow and evolve, so will services like Guardly and the quality of information available to first responders.

Josh, as always, it has been great talking to you. I look forward to seeing more of what Guardly has in store for the public safety sector.

For more information on Guardly's Indoor Positioning System, see the link below:

https://www.guardly.com/solutions/technology/indoor-positioning-system

To read my review on Guardly, click on the link below.

http://blog.thesecuritydialogue.org/2012/12/review-guardly-will-change-what-you.html

To download Guardly, click here.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Who's More Advanced - Syrian Rebels or DARPA?

Every revolution starts almost the same way.  Rocks are thrown, then Moltov cocktails. Rebels amass small arms.  And then they get "creative".  The same can be said of Syrian rebels who have converted just about every piece of armament they've captured into another weapon.  Take for instance, their use of cluster bombs to manufacture rockets.  Wired Magazine did a piece with video from the rebels on just how this is done.
The fuses from cluster bombs get recycled in makeshift weapons foundries for use inside Qassam-style short-range rockets. Taking a page from Hamas in Gaza, the Syrian rebels are now manufacturing their own rockets — much as they have other weaponry — even though gulf Arab states keep a weapons pipeline flowing.

Back at the foundry, the intact fuse has its benefits. The rebels remove the tail fin from the cluster bomb, leaving the main charge, and then attach a homemade rocket motor.

They've even started manufacturing tanks.  That's right. You read it correctly.  They have designed their own "tank".  It's built from a disassembled car and uses on-board cameras with an video game console controller.  Yup. The Syrian rebels may be more advanced than DARPA.


Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Review: Guardly Will Change What You Think About 911


As you know, I am always looking for cool security products to talk to you about. About a week ago, I started a conversation with Josh Sookman via LinkedIn about his mobile application called Guardly. According to the company's web site, Guardly is "a platform for emergency communication that changes the way mobile personal safety is delivered. Smartphone users that find themselves in an emergency situation can alert, connect and collaborate with local authorities as well as their own personal safety networks in a single tap. Guardly is committed to dramatically decreasing the amount of time it takes responders to arrive at an emergency."  The company was founded in August 2010 and its mobile application is available for download on Windows, Android, Blackberry, and iTunes.

So how does Guardly separate itself from competitors that in my opinion, failed miserably. It stands out on the information it provides to dispatchers and emergency contacts. Most companies who attempt to do what Guardly has done will at a bare minimum only provide maybe a GPS location and will often limit how many people you can notify. According to Mr. Sookman, "Within 5 seconds, Guardly can provide information like who is involved, what is going on (type of emergency) and where the emergency is." if you've ever been in an emergency dispatch center or an actual emergency situation, you know how critical timing is with getting this type of information. As they say, "The sooner the better." On college campuses who used the application they noticed an overall reduction in response time by 44%, according to a case study published by the company. Vicki Brown, Director, Campus Services Security at OCAD University says, "Our partnership with Guardly enables the University to extend the reach of its emergency phones on campus by putting a virtual emergency phone onto smartphones carried by students. It also enables us to track changes to the location of an emergency in real-time and communicate with the victim and his/her responding safety network throughout the incident until resolved." 

Guardly can also provide information like alert history which according to Mr. Sookman, is useful in situations like harassment or domestic abuse. This is information other jurisdictions may not have, particularly if the original agency is in the private sector. Guardly enables the original agency to forward the intel it has on a particular emergency via its Enterprise platform. Of course, as a personal download choice on your mobile phone, there won't be an alert history to share.

A few days ago, I wrote a piece on duress situations and how important it was to have duress switches in areas where the interaction between suspect and victim take place. Guardly does this as well. Once you tap the Guardly icon, it counts down from a preset number while vibrating each second and automatically sends out an alert. Depending on your preference, it can be set to automatically call 911 and your emergency contacts or just your contacts. Guardly also used what Sookman termed "geofences" which in essence are geographical boundaries. Guardly enterprise customers set up "geofences" around their respective properties on a map and when alerts come through in their fence they receive a "status update". If the institution is sending first responders like security or in-house medical and the caller escalates the emergency to a 911 call center that sends an outside agency to respond, the customer is alerted and can send the caller's alert history and profile data to the 911 dispatcher.

Initial screen you see when you tap the Guardly app

I found setting up Guardly was extremely easy. You fill out some very basic information, followed by certain health information like blood type or any other known medical information. It will also ask for your addresses (home and work), email, and backup numbers. You will need to provide information on your contacts like name, cell phone number, and email. I recommend cell phone numbers for contacts because Guardly can also send texts to them as well. What I found interesting was that it warns users to alert your contacts that you've made them emergency contacts. I got at least three emails from people asking what the service was (Guardly will send them an email to confirm that you have added them as a contact). I did this to see if my contacts would in fact get an email.

What is unique, on both its personal and enterprise platforms, are its emergency contact groups. In my opinion, this is where Guardly makes its most notable departure from its rivals. You can create groups depending on the types of emergencies you expect to encounter like food allergies, stalking, abuse, etc. I have one set for work emergencies.  Once an alert has been sent out, your contacts can then join a conference call about your emergency with you and the dispatcher using the infrastructure from your cellular provider through Guardly.

Typical Guardly collaboration screen

Did I mention you can even send a photo to the dispatcher or your emergency contacts? It will allow you to send an instant message from your phone to the dispatcher. This, of course, is available only on its Enterprise platforms. Mr. Sookman informed me they have customers ranging from campus police, corporate security elements, real estate agencies, and private security firms. A visit to their web site is a testimony to the success they've had with these entities. LeFrancis Arnold, President, California Association of Realtors says, "With criminal attacks against realtors on the rise and the prevalent usage of smartphones by realtors,it was a natural fit to equip our members with Guardly as a tool to stay safe...We encourage members to take advantage of this technology and to share it with family, friends, and clients." Mr. Sookman told me there has been "some expressed interest" by municipalities in the United States and Canada.

Given my experiences with this application, I would HIGHLY recommend any agency who deals with emergency situations to take a serious look into Guardly.

To learn more about Guardly and how it can benefit you or your organization, click on the link below:

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Top 8 Coolest Android Apps For Security Professionals

As a security professional, I recognize that I am in a niche career field.  With regards to being in a small but growing industry, I'm forever discovering the small amounts of electronic tools to aid me in my professional endeavors.  Even worse, I have an Android smartphone.  If you've Googled anything having to do with apps or web sites that have tools for our industry, you already know iTunes has a significant portion of quality products.  I'm no quitter and I like to think outside of the box.  Over the course of this year, I discovered several apps that have just the right tools needed in this job.

1. First and foremost is the note-taking app - Evernote.  This app when paired with an existing account through their site enables you to take notes, record audio, tag your location, and attach pictures and other documents.  Whether you're in an investigator or a physical security planner in the field, this app is perfect.
 Click here to learn more.


2.  Next up is EvidenceCam. This app will - stamp your GPS coordinates, date/time, and address where you're located as well as include a "Notes" tab to add user notes regarding the photos captured. This app is great for investigators who take photos for evidentiary reasons. Here's an actual shot from EvidenceCam.  Click here to learn more.


3.  FloorPlan Creator is perhaps one of my favorites.  It allows you to use your camera and through "augmented reality" create a virtual floor plan of just about any room.Check out the video below to get an idea how it works or click this link to download.



4.  News360 is a news app which takes your interests and compiles news based on them. Awesome for those times when you need a single place to go for your news.  Here are some if its features I enjoy the most.
  • More than 30,000 sources, from the top national news providers, to local and niche sites and blogs
  • The Home feed - stories from the day’s headline news and your specific interests are merged together into a single stream, so that you don’t have to jump between sources and topics to avoid missing anything important 
  • A flexible and smart personalization system, so that you can tailor your news however you want, by choosing the topics, sources, companies and people you want to follow, and News360 will pick up on the nuances of your interests as you read 
  • Synchronize your interests and saved stories with News360 on your phone or at news360.com 
  • Local news using your tablet’s GPS
Click here to learn more.

5.  Ever been out in the field or at your desk trying to determine how a particular vehicle looked?  If you're in the field doing an interview or doing a statement, it can be quite frustrating to rely on a description by a witness or your own recollection possibly hours later.  There's an app to help you accurately identify vehicles called The Patrolman's Vehicle Guide.  According the app's description section, 
"The Vehicle Identification System (V.I.S.) is the only Patrolman’s vehicle guide that’s made by police officers for use by fellow officers. It’s perfect for law enforcement officials to use on the streets, for pinning down vehicle information when interviewing victims and witnesses, or to help determine or rule out suspect vehicles in an investigation. This app works great for security officers on patrol, too.

Inside this application, there is an extensive image database of almost every make and model of vehicle released in the past decade. It’s fast, easy to use, and can cut out a lot of time and legwork from the investigation process, which may mean the difference between solving the case or having it go cold."
To learn more click here.


6.  Remember me blabbing about Evernote earlier?  Well, give me a second to talk incessantly about PolicePad.  Those of us who have done security operations or law enforcement know how hard it is to take professional and legible notes while you're in the field.  Notepads have pages that can be torn or lost.  As luck would have it, something happens where your have to right a report with accurate times, location, people, and dates.  PolicePad does all of that and a bit more.  Click here to learn more.


7.  Okay.  There are "cool apps" and then there are COOL apps.  SmartTools is definitely the latter.  It is an all-in-one measuring tool app.  Through the use of the tech available through your phone, it can determine length, angle, slope, level, thread, distance, height, width, area, compass, metal, sound level, and vibration. It also comes with a flashlight and a magnifier. I told you it was awesome. Click here to learn more.



8.  Let's face it folks.  We meet some interesting people in some very challenging situations.  A prudent security professional realizes any interaction with possible threats can escalate very quickly and has a plan to mitigate the risk from that happening.  One tool I recommend is Guardly.  It's a duress alarm/emergency notification/safety app.  According to the app's description section,
"Out of the box, Guardly comes packed with a free service that allows you to reach everyone in your safety groups by one-way emergency alerts, which include your location, group name and other information that can help them reach you.

Guardly’s premium service instantly connects you to a multi-party conference call, private and secure instant messaging session and real-time location tracking throughout the span of your call for help."
To learn more about Guardly, click here.  Stay tuned because we'll have more details in the very near future about Guardly.  For now just take our word for it, this is an awesome app.



Folks, this list isn't all-inclusive but I think these apps have been extremely helpful to me in my professional endeavors.  Take this opportunity to look them over and let me know if you have some others you'd like to see added.

Monday, December 3, 2012

Honeywell Gets How Duress Switches Should Be Designed

Duress alarms are nothing new.  I recall during the early years of my career setting off a few by accident.  If I do remember anything else, it would be where they were installed.  The vast majority of accidental annunciations were caused by poor placement.  Many were located near an area where you sat like a desk but that sat knee-high on the average person.  Or they were placed were everyday objects were nearby and prone to collision.

So you can imagine how delighted I was when I caught this little gem while perusing another blogger, Colin Bodbyl's site - Zeecure.  In this video he's reviewing the Honeywell 264 Money Clip. This is a duress/hold-up alarm designed for cash-only businesses and activates a silent alarm to a central station or the police when the cash is removed from the clip. Of course, this would need to be installed with an existing alarm system.  But this, as Colin aptly pointed out, you no longer need to have a very conspicuous duress button to be located discretely.  Now, the robber gets the "bait-money" and the alarm is set with very little to be done.  Imagine having help dispatched at the onset of the robbery instead of wasting precious seconds or minutes trying to call or push a duress button while completing the transaction.

An additional problem faced by many security practitioners, with regards to duress alarms, is appearance.  Many duress alarms look like switches with no correlation to where they're placed.  For example, why place a duress switch near a counter-space with no electro-mechanical devices near it?  Why not place it where operator and suspect will have their interaction and it not be seen or look to obvious?  I think designers should remember one key thing about duress switches - ALL BAD GUYS WATCH HEIST MOVIES.  This means they're expecting the duress switch.  Why put employees in danger by having a small metal switch near them?  Why not have something like the Money Clip installed where the interaction is and triggered by the interaction and not the employee?  The awesome thing about the Honeywell 264 Money Clip is it looks like a standard clip found in any cash register or cash drawer. It should be noted Honeywell offers three other types of duress/hold-up alarms to include the 256 Foot Rail, 268 Hold-up Switch, and the 270R Hardwired Hold-up Switch in a plastic case.  A prudent customer would require redundant systems (any of the devices listed previously strategically placed inconspicuously) and (if it's not already included) a duress code (numerical code known to select insiders) added into any alarm control panel as well.  I would prefer one that caused the alarm panel to function normally but send the duress signal to a central station or police dispatcher.  Many systems are designed like this.  However, there are some that are not.  Colin also has some unique uses for it as well.  Check his review out below.





Click on the link below to get product information:

Click on the link below to find out where to purchase it:

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

The Power of Sound In Security


 

So, I don't have my hover-board nor my flying car. However, we have seen numerous technological feats within the security industry. Whether it be BRS Labs' use of artificial intelligence to "learn" and detect human behavior via CCTV feeds or the ever-changing world of biometrics, we have witnessed some very interesting and promising tech tools for the industry. Some of them we have featured here at The Security Dialogue.  The other day I came across the Twitter feed for Audio Analytics, a UK-based company which has developed a new dimension to the electronic security world.

Being the curious soul that I am, I contacted Audio Analytics about an interview to learn more about their products.  I spoke with Dr. Christopher Mitchell (PhD), Audio Analytics's CEO and Founder.  Going over his LinkedIn profile and other information I gathered from the Internet, I was drawn to Dr. Mitchell's extensive knowledge of sound information and signal processing.  He's received training at Harvard and a NCGE Fellow.  I digress.

Using audio in security applications is nothing new. Sonitrol was the first and remains the only company using audio as part of its monitoring service. So I asked what was the difference between what we've seen traditionally done with sound in our industry.  Dr. Mitchell replied, "Where Audio Analytic differs is that it does not capture a sound and then trigger an alarm at a monitoring station based on audio level for a human to interpret." Audio Analytic analyses the sound looking for specific sound pattern that can be used to raise an alert into an existing piece of security equipment such as a IP camera or VMS. The sound is looked at as data rather than as a recording or real-time stream of sound.

What surprised me about was the breadth of sound the software can detect.  Dr. Mitchell said it currently looks for sound in four categories - glass breaks, signs of aggression, car alarms, and gun shots. As you can imagine, glass breaks, gun shots, and car alarms didn't trigger as much interest as "aggression".  We've seen glass breaks and gun shot detection in various forms.  In law enforcement, ShotSpotter has become the latest in a growing use of sound analysis technologies.  When asked how they detect for "aggression", Dr. Mitchell stated they look for changes in pitch mostly and sounds attributed to aggressive behavior. Applications where you might see this deployed are lone workers, hospitals, convenience stores, and other places where any sign of aggressive behavior would need to be detected and mitigated as soon as possible.

Speaking of deployments, given the vast array of sounds Audio Analytic could possibly detect with applicable algorithms, it is not surprising to imagine the customers and applications extend far beyond the traditional security realm.  When pressed about this, Dr. Mitchell was quick to inform me they had been contacted by various entities who also recognize its potential and whose specific requests could not be discussed.

Knowing many of our customers are particularly liability conscious, I also inquired as to its implications to privacy. Mr. Mitchell explained the software "analyzes the sound as bits of data".  Therefore, there is not the ability within their software to "hear" the data being analyzed.  That capability would need to be addressed by a secondary piece of software or hardware.

Like all analytics, this is purely software that would need to be integrated with existing hardware designed to capture both sound and video. A company who has already integrated many of Audio Analytics' features is Next Level Security Systems an integrator offering a full suite of security services. NLSS' Gateway Security Platform provides "Audio Analytic with Glass Break Analytic and optional Gunshot, Aggression and Car Alarm packages", among a slew of other features

Overall, I am quite impressed with what I see being developed in analytics and Audio Analytic's software is no exception.  I can only imagine its applications and deployments as it continues to develop.  One of the greatest problems we face in security are false alarms.  Audio Analytic has the ability look deeper into the environments we protect and aid us in determining more accurately the difference between the benign and an actual threat.  Dr. Mitchell said it best, "In the security world, we have affection for silent movies".  Perhaps it's time we move on.  As I stated before with BRS Labs, I have seen the future and it's now.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

BREAKING NEWS: South Korean Prisons Will Soon Have Robots on Patrol



Robotics has revolutionized the modern workforce landscape.  There is not a major good or product that is not manufactured, processed, or delivered without them.  In the proud tradition of innovating new technologies, the South Koreans have done something entirely new.  Quite frankly, I think its VERY cool.

Robots will conducting patrols within the prisons in South Korea.  The Yonhap news site says, "AFC Chairman Lee Baik-chul, also a professor at the Department of Corrections at Kyonggi University, said the robots will perform simple tasks such as patrolling during night hours and this will significantly help human prison guards focus on other more complex tasks."

What will be some of the priorities for these robot sentries?
“It’s at night when problems can occur. The robots will watch for any signs of suicide attempts or physical attacks on prisoners instead of the human guards. This will allow the human guards to work on more difficult problems such as educational work and counseling,” said Lee.
It appears the robots will be using video analytics and cameras installed in their faces. When it sees a deviation from a set parameter of rules, it will alert the central monitor station who will alert guards to take action. The robots will also be capable of being a communications conduit between guard and prisoners through an internal intercom.

Weighing approximately 165 pounds and being 4'11, the robots should be completed and ready for a field testing in March.  If successful, they could be fully implemented in Korea's newer prisons.

Can you imagine if there robots on patrol at San Quentin or your nearby county jail? It would dramatically reduce the workforce needed to patrol and supervise prisoners. It would be a deterrent against some prison violence and possible illegal activities by having additional "eyes and ears". 

Having the robot serve as a conduit between the guards and prisoners could reduce violence between the two adversarial groups. However, it could also drive a wedge further between the two. It might also cause some officers to miss certain areas during the patrols because they relied on the robotic counterparts to cover it. This occurs many times in the private sector where security officers miss their rounds intentionally because of an over-reliance on surveillance and intrusion detection systems which lull many into a false sense of security.

This is a very interesting development in the field of corrects and one that was bound to happen. It is speculative whether the robots will be successful during field testing or in real operational settings. Given the problems we see in video analytics with false alarms or missed deviations which were not in the programmed set of rules, it would be interesting to see how they overcome such obstacles. This is a development which could have profound effects not just for corrections but for the private security and law enforcement counterparts as well.

Check out this video of Korean robotics operational in a different environment:




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