The Connected World
Vital requirements exist for convenience and efficiency
- By Ken LaMarca
- Feb 01, 2017
The abundance of networked solutions
and devices—both security and nonsecurity—
has exploded in recent years,
providing unparalleled convenience and
efficiency. At the same time, every device
that is added to a network could potentially
offer an additional means for hackers and
others to access that network.
Networked Video Management Systems (VMS) are designed
to take advantage of the many benefits of this connected world
while also addressing the vital need to lock down networks to
prevent cyberattacks. Below are the key features, functions and
capabilities that make these solutions ideal for meeting and exceeding
both of these equally important needs.
Key Benefits
Integrated systems. A major trend today is the movement toward
broader and deeper integration between previously disparate
systems and technologies. Integrating video surveillance, access
control, analytics and more transforms what started as a video
implementation into a comprehensive, end-to-end solution that
delivers a larger menu of available options. Often serving as the
hub of overall security applications, VMS are capable of collecting,
sorting and analyzing the ever-growing amount of data generated
by multiple systems. Analysis generates intelligence that
can help keep people, property and assets safer and more secure.
As an example, the integration of video analytics and access
control could enable a VMS to alert appropriate individuals when
someone enters a location after hours. When reviewing incidents,
the intelligence gleaned from combining video and other data allows
organizations to implement new policies and procedures to identify and track a variety of incidents
and events. The seamless integration between
diverse systems shifts the functionality
of video surveillance and security
systems from detection and documentation
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 critical
function, and continuous system operation
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 designated
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-profile
data breaches gaining significant attention
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 networks
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 multiple
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 headend
where VMS manages these devices and
other integrated systems in a single platform.
Full integration of video, access control
and other security solutions represents
the best the security industry has to offer,
but when put in the hands of the wrong individuals,
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 systems
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 security,
encryption helps reduce legal liabilities
from sensitive information residing on
misplaced or discarded devices, as well as
the risk of common virus attacks. With
National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST) certification, IP devices
and servers with AES encryption greatly help to prevent intruders from reconfiguring
devices or gaining unauthorized access
to stored data. The optimized safety and
security of an AES encrypted solution can
be best illustrated in municipal-wide surveillance
and security applications.
The need to protect large venues are areas
where masses of individuals frequent,
such as stadiums and arenas, and mass
transit terminals and stations, represents a
new challenge for public and private law
enforcement and security management
personnel. Networking surveillance and
security systems, and providing access to
outside authorities provides an invaluable
means of protection to help prevent
incidents from occurring and to conduct
immediate analysis of unfolding situations
using real-time video and data. Conversely,
such vast integrations need to be bulletproof
against cyberattacks.
Automatic updating. In addition to providing
strong encryption, leading VMS
providers—like all software providers—
continuously develop and deliver updates,
upgrades and patches to ensure the ongoing
stability, performance and security of
their solutions. The main reason for this
is hackers’ and cyber criminals’ tendency
to focus on software vulnerabilities, which
are a favorite target given the rate of success
exploiting them. Once a vulnerability
has been discovered, it’s only a matter of
time before it is shared online, which increases
the potential for successful attacks.
Software providers are aware of these
risks, and are tireless in their efforts to
close “open doors” with security patches
that are delivered in regular updates. The
unfortunate reality is that many organizations
fail to install these updates, leaving
their systems—and to a larger extent, their
networks—vulnerable to breaches and
their potentially disastrous outcomes.
In fact, a recent study found that almost
all of the network software vulnerabilities
detected in the last year could
have been prevented by software fixes and
patches that were readily available before
a breach occurred. More alarming, particularly
considering the critical nature of
security is that a good percentage of these
fixes had been available for five years or
more—but had simply not been installed.
Obviously, keeping any software up to
date is critical. Given the importance of
security, this is especially true for VMS.
However, even the most robust update
will not do any good if it’s not installed.
Fortunately, some VMS providers now include
the same auto-updating capability as
smartphones and laptops in their solution
to ensure end users are running the most
current—and most secure—version.
In today’s connected world, there are
many solutions that excel at taking advantage
of the benefits of this increased
connectivity, while others deliver high levels
of cybersecurity. Serving both equally
critical functions is difficult for most solutions,
but this is precisely the strength of
networked VMS, making these solutions
the best choice for providing the best of
both worlds.
This article originally appeared in the February 2017 issue of Security Today.