What's In A Cloud?

There were numerous interesting displays and high-level technologies on display during ASIS 2009 in Anaheim. ASIS Europe kicks off its ninth season, April 18-21, 2010, and next year it will be held in Lisbon, Portugal. I mention this because any trip to Europe is bound to be a good time.

At ASIS, I learned an important lesson from Bob Beliles at Hirsch Electronics. Some common issues in business today include: do you know who followed your employees through the door today? Are your employees at their computers or have they left them unattended, exposing your network to a potential security breach?

The headaches come from theft of physical and logical assets, accountability of employee actions and whereabouts, operational gaps in managing employee roles and entitlements and corporate and/or regulatory compliance lapses.

The good news is that organizations don’t have to restructure or perform massive forklift system replacements. Hirsch and numerous IT vendors have combined efforts to close the common gaps in organizational security and help employees to follow applicable policies.

The result is a convergence of security that uses multiple networked databases and information. This convergence provides a holistic approach that enables single step, policy-based physical, logical and network access provisioning throughout user’s lifecycle, physical presence to become policy for granting or denying network access and correlated activity reporting and response.

Here’s how it works. Using established standards from the Trusted Computing Group, Hirsch, Juniper Networks and enterprise core network services provider Infoblox link physical access control events to network access control privileges. The linkage enables physical presence to become a policy for granting or denying network access. An employee must badge in at the door in order to get network access. Short of this, the employee will be denied network access and will be required to make a trip back to a physical credential reader before network access is granted.

I wish we have more time to talk about ASIS, though I’m certain new products and technologies will appear on a regular basis in Security Products magazine. I look forward to sharing more as time goes on. We have several videos posted to our Web site from interviews with vendors and friends. I think you’ll enjoy them as much as we did making the videos.

About the Author

Ralph C. Jensen is the Publisher/Editor in chief of Security Today magazine.

Featured

  • The Future of Access Control: Cloud-Based Solutions for Safer Workplaces

    Access controls have revolutionized the way we protect our people, assets and operations. Gone are the days of cumbersome keychains and the security liabilities they introduced, but it’s a mistake to think that their evolution has reached its peak. Read Now

  • A Look at AI

    Large language models (LLMs) have taken the world by storm. Within months of OpenAI launching its AI chatbot, ChatGPT, it amassed more than 100 million users, making it the fastest-growing consumer application in history. Read Now

  • First, Do No Harm: Responsibly Applying Artificial Intelligence

    It was 2022 when early LLMs (Large Language Models) brought the term “AI” into mainstream public consciousness and since then, we’ve seen security corporations and integrators attempt to develop their solutions and sales pitches around the biggest tech boom of the 21st century. However, not all “artificial intelligence” is equally suitable for security applications, and it’s essential for end users to remain vigilant in understanding how their solutions are utilizing AI. Read Now

  • Improve Incident Response With Intelligent Cloud Video Surveillance

    Video surveillance is a vital part of business security, helping institutions protect against everyday threats for increased employee, customer, and student safety. However, many outdated surveillance solutions lack the ability to offer immediate insights into critical incidents. This slows down investigations and limits how effectively teams can respond to situations, creating greater risks for the organization. Read Now

  • Security Today Announces 2025 CyberSecured Award Winners

    Security Today is pleased to announce the 2025 CyberSecured Awards winners. Sixteen companies are being recognized this year for their network products and other cybersecurity initiatives that secure our world today. Read Now

Most   Popular

New Products

  • Compact IP Video Intercom

    Viking’s X-205 Series of intercoms provide HD IP video and two-way voice communication - all wrapped up in an attractive compact chassis.

  • 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.

  • ResponderLink

    ResponderLink

    Shooter Detection Systems (SDS), an Alarm.com company and a global leader in gunshot detection solutions, has introduced ResponderLink, a groundbreaking new 911 notification service for gunshot events. ResponderLink completes the circle from detection to 911 notification to first responder awareness, giving law enforcement enhanced situational intelligence they urgently need to save lives. Integrating SDS’s proven gunshot detection system with Noonlight’s SendPolice platform, ResponderLink is the first solution to automatically deliver real-time gunshot detection data to 911 call centers and first responders. When shots are detected, the 911 dispatching center, also known as the Public Safety Answering Point or PSAP, is contacted based on the gunfire location, enabling faster initiation of life-saving emergency protocols.