Shoplifting and revolution

Today in our rapid-fire newspower edition, we look at shoplifting, which is on the up as the recession apparently ‘bites deep’. Snarl.

Then there’s Dedicated Micros, who are claiming that their CamVu Integrated Camera Recorder is “redefining CCTV”. Is it? What was the original definition anyway?

Don’t forget Viseum’s new website, which has some exclusive footage of drug dealing criminal lowlife scumbag chaps caught in the act. Naughty!

Elsewhere, there’s ANPR integration for Bosch’s DiBos; and a prestigious airport contract for ICTS. Tremendous work.

Enjoy the newsing!

www.info4security.com, www.ifsec.co.uk

Employee crime, and buying online

Hello. After a few technical kerfuffles on Friday, and a Saturday of server-moving thrills and spills, we’re back and operating at full capacity. Wonderful.

Today we lead with a story about London’s Met Police launching its PREFIT forum in association with the screening industry, to tackle the rise in employee crime. Cross-sector action!

There’s also a new e-commerce, online catalogue site from Dedicated Micros for its UK customers. Technological!

Elsewhere there’s Hugo Rosemount on the difference between Hollywood and reality when it comes to national security; access control gone wild in Cancun for Salto; and changes afoot at SectorGuard following the Legion Group buy-out.

Don’t forget to take our CCTV End User Survey. You can win vouchers and you will look like some kind of amazing hero to your friends and colleagues.

Well, hello: www.info4security.com, www.ifsec.co.uk

The security week: IFSEC 2009 special

Hello. I am sitting in bed as I type this. Truly. It’s not because the powers that be at I4S Towers have installed bunks and have us working around the clock in some kind of prison-camp style arrangement. No, it’s because security shindig IFSEC 2009 finished up yesterday, and I’m knackered.

As a consequence, our theme this week is ‘relaxation‘.

But it’s been anything but relaxing at the NEC Birmingham this week. And we’ve been there the whole time, diligently covering all the action with assorted high-tech tools and good old-fashioned trudging around and scrawling in notepads.

SMT Online supremo Brian Sims hosted numerous discussion and briefings and high-end talks – but still found time to keep all and sundry updated via the magic of Twitter. Find him at twitter.com/smtonlineeditor.

Security Installer boss Alan Hyder brought us a veritable tsunami of news excitement, including this piece on Norbain honcho Alun John’s observations of the state of the CCTV market, and details of Dedicated Micros’ strategy for the year ahead.

I contributed a techno-splodge of video items and photo galleries. These included bits from Cisco Systems, Samsungs Techwin and Electronics, Axis Communications, and a quick demo of an IFSEC Award-winning product from Concept Smoke Screen.

Speaking of the IFSEC 2009 Security Industry Awards – they happened! Oh yes. Hosted by John Sergeant. We had all the winners first! And a photo gallery of beautiful people. As well as some from the security industry. Ha ha ha. I jest. Or do I? Yes, I do.

We’ll have much more from IFSEC 2009 over the coming days and weeks, so keep coming back to info4security.com for your security news fix, information junkies.

I’m going to continue to have a decent lie down. See you next week. Here are some tigers and pumpkins.

IFSEC 2009 – Day 1

Guess what? It’s the end of Day One at renowned security industry trade show IFSEC. You may have heard of it.

The entire I4S extended family is here, having fun together. In a sense. As a consequence, these rambly bits are likely to be somewhat briefer than usual, at least until Friday. That may be a relief. Or, just possibly, it may be utterly devastating.

But fear not – the stories are all there, and there’s video and photos and a whole heck of a lot more besides. It’s all good, clean, family fun.

DM says hidden costs spark return to analogue

Video: Phil Doyle of Axis Communications

Unsold cars create new market for radar

BT Redcare launches new products and prices

IFSEC’s appeal (Day One)

Tonight the IFSEC Awards take place. We’ll be the first to let you know who the winners are – on info4security.com, of course.

Cooperation, opinionation, inebriation

It’s always great to see people and companies getting along, so it’s with excitement today that we report on Lilin joining the Onvif group in order to come up with network interoperability standards. Cooperation!

It’s time again for our SI Editor’s View, wherein Security Installer editor Alan Hyder extracts the opinion sword from his analysis scabbard, and does some full-on metaphorical smiting to a raft of issues – including, for the first time on I4S, an imprisoned Nigerian goat.

What better way to celebrate St Patrick’s Day than with a story about security staff in Birmingham being SIA licensed – and in time for the city’s premature weekend parade, to boot? Answer: There is no better way. Reading this story is the optimum way to celebrate St Patrick’s Day. Some genuine Irish people agree.

Elsewhere, Dedicated Micros has got behind a prostate cancer charity by sponsoring Mt Kilimanjaro climbers; and cybersquatters are continuing to prove a problem, according to the UN. The UN!

Don’t forget to involve yourself with the IFSEC Conference 2009. It’s got an interesting and diverse agenda. Some people believe that if you fail to attend this conference, some kind of ancient curse will be placed upon you. It seems unlikely, but it’s probably not worth risking it.

Schwing! www.info4security.com, and www.ifsec.co.uk. Jiminy!

Lethal robots, SmartWater and gorillas

Robots with machine guns taking out intruders? It’s no longer the cool fantasy of a 14-year old. Lethal robots are here, ladies and gents, as Samsung Techwin are showing with their SGR-1. It’s possibly a little extreme to work in a shopping centre or something like that, though.

There’s always interest in forensic splishy substance SmartWater – today we report on its use in protecting the Tyne and Wear Metro from cable theft.

Gorillas are funny to look at. That’s a universal truth. Helping visitors to gawp at gorillas in comfort and security is Chubb, who have helped strengthen security at London Zoo’s gorilla enclosure. I was actually there recently, and have to report that I felt very safe indeed, and at no stage was I attacked by any form of gorilla or ape.

Also today, Dedicated Micros is giving away free cameras to installers who purchase its SD4 DVRs; and on our I4S India channel, we’ve got an update on security arrangements for the super-rich Indian Premier League cricket tournament.

There’s plenty more besides. You should definitely visit info4security and investigate further. Here is a short song about locating cheese for your pleasure.

Seriously, I recommend visiting www.info4security.com. Oh, and also www.ifsec.co.uk.

A technological marvel!

Normal service has resumed. I’m back in the office, and keen to pump out daily digests like a news highlights distribution machine. Let’s go!

Today we’ve got a major contract from the Ministry of Defence for G4S. Protecting the (supposed) protectors! Way to go.

Then there’s US correspondent John Honovich with his weekly round-up of security matters having an impact on the country some know as ‘America’. Informative!

AD Group – which I am reliably informed is the parent company of Dedicated Micros – has gone ahead and launched itself a YouTube channel. It’s a technological marvel!

And if you thought padlocks had got just about as sophisticated and impregnable as they were ever likely to get, well, more fool you. You really should have stopped before suggesting such a thing. Why? Well, there’s this new padlock for starters.

Did you know that IFSEC is taking place in May? It is. One of the great things about IFSEC is the way the industry’s movers and shakers get together to discuss important security matters. It’s really great. And they do it at the IFSEC Conference 2009. Be there!

Wait a minute! Don’t forget: www.ifsec.co.uk, and www.info4security.com. Phew.

A feast of security news and opinion-type stuff

It’s a feast of security opinion, news and insight on info4security today. Delicious!

Take, for example, SMT Online editor Brian Sims‘ latest Editor’s View – forthright invective covering everything from London’s new Met Commissioner, to identity theft, to a call for transparency from the Security Industry Authority. Get stuck in!

We’ve also got a camera technology launch from Dedicated Micros; and a new camera from Sanyo that features something called a ‘retina-morphic’ algorithm. Fancy sounding!

MacAfee says that businesses are losing more than US$1 trillion in Intellectual Property due to data theft and cybercrime. That’s a ridiculously high number.

And don’t forget the magnificent couple of conferences we’ve got coming up. In March, there’s Securing Educational Establishments, which looks like it will be an absolute beauty. Then, in May, there’s the big hitter: the IFSEC 2009 conference. It’s the place to be.

Hence: www.info4security.com, and www.ifsec.co.uk.

The security week: An arrested Tory, retail challenges, and Johnny Cash

News excitement galore on info4security this week. Brian Sims, editor of SMT Online, gets totally topical with his take on the Tories’ Damian Green being arrested by counter-terrorism officers. Forthright!

And in the week when Woolworths and MFI went to the wall, we’ve got an in-depth piece about the challenges ahead for retail security in a period of economic turmoil.

There were contrasting responses to the aforementioned turmoil – Dedicated Micros has rationalised its EMEA operations, while Kings Security has invested £3m in a new HQ and alarm receiving centre, and Solutions Security, a new UK CCTV distributor, has opened for business. Intriguing!

Security Installer editor Alan Hyder faced up to this week’s (metaphorical) issues inferno, and connecting his opinion nozzle to the firetruck of facts, he liberally doused the blaze with great gushing streams of analysis. In less confusing terms, he wrote his SI Editor’s View. It’s a great read!

Friday. Songs About Security. They go hand in hand, like Michael Jackson and an ape. Today it’s the turn of Johnny Cash. There’s also a chart-busting top ten.

Have you ever wanted to be a Higher Executive Officer Head of Security for the DVLA? I know I have. Well, now both you and I have the perfect opportunity to make this dream become a reality, as this is the Job of the Week on Jobs for Security. Fortuitous!

Another great thing on Jobs for Security is the Weird Work section. Read – then contribute!

If you, like me, despise the notion of building and/or perimeter penetration, you should get along to Impenetrable Buildings and Perimeters, where you will meet plenty of like-minded souls. Keep buildings and perimeters pure, that’s what I say.

Also, riverdancing chimps.

Layoffs, contrasts, and a goat (for some reason)

A couple of different responses to the economic maelstrom we find ourselves in today. At DVR pioneer Dedicated Micros, they’ve decided to cut employee numbers across EMEA operations. Chairman Nigel Petrie says it’s to do with revised growth expectations and “a particular reticence in the UK security sector’s supply chain”.

Meanwhile, over at Kings Security in West Yorkshire, they’re going ahead with plans to open a new £3m headquarters and alarm receiving centre. The complex is officially launched next week.

There are contrasts in the CCTV camera world as well, with Sony launching a couple of new analogue models, while IndigoVision presents a new H.264 dome to the market.

And SMT Online editor Brian Sims brings us details of a new management and leadership course from Response Security Training – while the British Parking Association demands a “parking summit“. Make sure your hand brakes are on! (Because of the ‘summit’. What’s happening here is that I am pretending that ‘summit’ refers to the peak of a mountain or hill, when in actual fact in this case it is referring to a meeting of some kind. Humour!)

One of the things that really gets my goat is building penetration. He can’t stand it! To remedy this awful situation I have registered said goat as an attendee at interesting and useful conference Impenetrable Buildings and Perimeters. If you are there and see a goat with a name tag that says ‘Steven’, make sure you say hi. He’ll appreciate that.