A New Age in Incident Response on Display at GSX

A New Age in Incident Response on Display at GSX

How companies can change their approaches to social media platforms, to the benefit of customers.

One of the undeniable facts underlying nearly every exhibition at GSX in Chicago is the growing security concerns and challenges faced by every organization, regardless of size. Active shooter threats and cybersecurity breaches seem to be on everyone’s minds. I can see one example from the Security Today booth. Evolv Technology’s sign hangs in the distance, reading: “Stop Active Shooters. Introducing Evolv Express.”

Edward Ajaeb, the founder and president of private investigation firm Nighthawk Strategies, told me on Wednesday that the changing nature of these threats requires a different response. Earlier this week, Ajaeb led a well-attended educational session that zoned in on online and social media investigations.

His presentation included case studies in which suspected shooters were investigated through social media sites, including the Las Vegas shooting in 2017 and the most recent highway shooting in Odessa, Texas. One of Ajaeb’s key takeaways from the presentation was that a large portion of security professionals are not yet well-versed in social media sites outside of Facebook and Twitter.

Ajaeb has found Venmo, Skype and Snapchat particularly useful in conducting investigations due to the apps’ features that offer information that is readily available to the public. For example, Venmo (which is owned by PayPal) keeps transactions between two users public by default and has an easily searchable database that allows private investigators to track when a user had contact with another person and an idea of what that contact was.

Using social platforms to conduct investigations is not new, but the platforms that house important information, from your location to your mindset at a certain time of day, are changing every day, if not every hour.

Ajaeb’s observations about the industry’s widespread lack of knowledge of the latest social media platforms -- outside of firms that offer social media intel and monitoring services -- reflects how much growth the industry could see in this area. I look forward to seeing how the industry can learn from people in the field and translate that knowledge into better services for their customers.

About the Author

Haley Samsel is an Associate Content Editor for the Infrastructure Solutions Group at 1105 Media.

Featured

  • The Future is Happening Outside the Cloud

    For years, the cloud has captivated the physical security industry. And for good reason. Remote access, elastic scalability and simplified maintenance reshaped how we think about deploying and managing systems. But as the number of cameras grows and resolutions push from HD to 4K and beyond, the cloud’s limits are becoming unavoidable. Bandwidth bottlenecks. Latency lags. Rising storage costs. These are not abstract concerns. Read Now

  • The Impact of Convergence Between IT and Physical Security

    For years, the worlds of physical security and information technology (IT) remained separate. While they shared common goals and interests, they often worked in silos. Read Now

  • Unlocking Trustworthy AI: Building Transparency in Security Governance

    In situations where AI supports important security tasks like leading investigations and detecting threats and anomalies, transparency is essential. When an incident occurs, investigators must trace the logic behind each automated response to confirm its validity or spot errors. Demanding interpretable AI turns opaque “black boxes” into accountable partners that enhance, rather than compromise, organizational defense. Read Now

  • Seeking Innovative Solutions

    Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. You may recognize these terms as the “5 Phases” of a grieving process, but they could easily describe the phases one goes through before adopting any new or emerging innovation or technology, especially in a highly risk-averse industry like security. However, the desire for convenience in all aspects of modern life is finally beginning to turn the tide from old school hardware as the go-to towards more user-friendly, yet still secure, door solutions. Read Now

  • Where AI Meets Human Judgment

    Artificial intelligence is everywhere these days. It is driving business growth, shaping consumer experiences, and showing up in places most of us never imagined just a few years ago. Read Now

New Products

  • Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden Door Controls has relaunched its CV-7600 card readers in response to growing market demand for a more secure alternative to standard proximity credentials that can be easily cloned. CV-7600 readers support MIFARE DESFire EV1 & EV2 encryption technology credentials, making them virtually clone-proof and highly secure.

  • 4K Video Decoder

    3xLOGIC’s VH-DECODER-4K is perfect for use in organizations of all sizes in diverse vertical sectors such as retail, leisure and hospitality, education and commercial premises.

  • Unified VMS

    AxxonSoft introduces version 2.0 of the Axxon One VMS. The new release features integrations with various physical security systems, making Axxon One a unified VMS. Other enhancements include new AI video analytics and intelligent search functions, hardened cybersecurity, usability and performance improvements, and expanded cloud capabilities