A video surveillance system with around 40 IP and thermal cameras from Dahua Technology has been installed at Yarmouth Harbour on the Isle of Wight.

The harbour consists of a large marina, docks for the Wightlink Ferry terminal, and pontoons and boat moorings upstream. The previous system was becoming outdated, with poor picture quality and cabling issues. Following a number of thefts from boats and boat fires in neighbouring harbours, a new solution – including a thermal imaging capability – was specified.

The Dahua cameras are a mix of thermal bullets, IR bullets, Ultra PTZs, IR domes and fisheye cameras. The thermal cameras are especially suited to wide area outdoor video surveillance and are ideal for the large, water-based environments at the harbour. The cameras feature Vox uncooled thermal sensor technology and high thermal sensitivity at less than 40mK, enabling them to capture more image details and temperature fluctuations. With a built-in fire detection functionality, the cameras provide an extremely sensitive fire alarm system.

The IR bullet cameras feature highly efficient H.265 encoding technology, PoE and IR illumination at up to 50 metres, as well as a wide dynamic range, providing vivid images even in the most intense contrast lighting conditions and delivering powerful day/night surveillance in a compact package.

At one of the moorings upriver, there is no power supply on isolated pontoons, so wind power and solar energy have been harnessed to operate the cameras.

Images are transmitted wirelessly back to a control room at the main harbour office. When the control room is not staffed, Yarmouth Harbour can nominate individuals to receive alerts and images on their tablets and smartphones via the Dahua surveillance app.

As well as the harbour itself, the system also covers the adjacent Yarmouth pier, a Grade II listed structure said to be the longest wooden pier in the UK and recently refurbished. Automatic people-counting technology has been incorporated into the cameras at the pier’s entrance to monitor numbers on the pier as a health and safety measure.

“The new surveillance system has transformed our ability to monitor the harbour for the safety and security of our customers, staff and the visiting public,” said Dave Rice of Yarmouth Harbour Commissioners. “The HD picture quality is superb and you can pick out people’s faces, so there is no comparison with the previous cameras. The system has proved straightforward to use and we are delighted with its performance to date.”

“This proved an interesting project to work on, not least because parts of the installation had to be carried out by boat,” said Chris Snell, managing director of security installation firm, Central Southern Security. “The Dahua equipment has been a pleasure to work with and will provide Yarmouth Harbour with a great solution for many years to come.”

FLIR Systems announced Sonia Galindo as Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Secretary, and Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer. Ms. Galindo will assume a key role on the executive team reporting to President and CEO Jim Cannon, providing leadership and management of all legal and compliance matters in support of the company’s business objectives.

Ms. Galindo will lead FLIR’s global legal team and serve as the primary legal advisor to senior management and to its Board of Directors. She will have responsibility for all legal issues worldwide, including mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, intellectual property, export-import, data privacy, cybersecurity, ligation, employee law and other matters that arise in course of business at FLIR.

Ms. Galindo joins FLIR from Rosetta Stone, an education technology software company, where she served as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary since 2015. During her legal career, which started at the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission and included private practice at a large national law firm, Ms. Galindo has spent the last 14 years providing legal counsel at multiple international publicly traded companies with increased responsibilities and capacity. From 2012-14 she worked at Keurig Green Mountain, Inc. as Vice President, Associate General Counsel-Corporate, and Secretary and from 2005-08 at McCormick & Company, Inc. as Associate Counsel & Assistant Secretary. In addition, Ms. Galindo served as Ethics & Employment Counsel at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation from 2008-11. Ms. Galindo earned a Juris Doctorate from the John Marshall Law School and both a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and Bachelor of Arts degree in Finance at Hood College for Women.

“Sonia brings a wealth of legal expertise to FLIR, and I look forward to her contributions to the executive team,” said Jim Cannon, President and CEO at FLIR. “At FLIR, our task is to exceed our commitments with integrity, and Sonia will provide the leadership necessary to operate in accordance with the global laws under which the company operates.”

Large industrial units often have a large area containing quite disparate security needs. Hikvision has a wide range of technologies to cater for every need, as was recently seen by a rubber producer in Poland. Kabat Tyre, in Budzyń, produces of rubber products for industry and agriculture, including rubber mats, machine tires, and inner tubes. When it came to developing a new security system to cover its 30,000 m2 production plant, Kabat turned to system integrator Tel-Kom Serwis, which used Hikvision products to deliver a hi-res fit-for-purpose solution that was also scalable for any future development.

Old systems with no flexibility

Kabat Tyre needed to overhaul their security system which was smaller and using lower resolution devices from different manufacturers. They needed to provide hi-res observation for their production halls, warehouse, office building and outdoor areas, particularly to allay their fear of theft from the plant and to provide peace of mind and operational support in case of accidents.

In some areas, image quality in difficult lighting conditions was a particular concern. Not every part of the large area is well lit. Landfills for black rubber products (for example tires) do not reflect well the light, making them difficult to observe with cameras of lower sensitivity.

In addition to this, they needed reliable motion detection and the ability to combine independent recorders into one system. The system needed to provide all of this in scaleable way, as this would be a system that will be expanded in the future.

They wanted to be able to add new features at an affordable price, without a nasty surprise when the bill came in. This was particularly challenging since they could not know what functions they will need.

Sharper images… even in the dark

Tel-Kom Serwis built a solution for Kabat based around five Embedded 4K NVRs (DS-9632NI-I8 and DS-7716NI-I4). These provided a strong core for the solution, also using iVMS 4200 software to manage all of the cameras, all operating within one LAN.

For the outdoor placements, numerous Ultra Low-light Smart Bullet Cameras (DS-2CD4B26FWD-IZS) were used. These use Hikvision’s DarkFighter technology to provide bright, colorful images even in very low light conditions. To cover the internal areas of the production hall and corridors, the EasyIP 2.0 plus fixed cameras (DS-2CD2T42WD-IS) were installed, and IR fixed cameras (DS-2CD2142FWD-I) monitored the office.

The tire testing points needed a slightly different device, since temperature exceptions needed to be monitored to protect against potential fires. So here, a Thermometric Bullet Camera (DS-2TD2136T-15) was used. With hi-res images, even in the darkest areas, security operators have a much better view of what’s happening across the whole 3.5 hectare site.

Arkadiusz Wierzbicki, from Tel-Kom Serwis, says: “A Hikvision solution made perfect sense to deliver this solution for Kabat Tyre as it provides easy installation, reliability, intuitive operation and good image quality. There are also no hidden costs, which was important for the ongoing development of their system.”

So Kabat Tyre now has a high resolution solution that brings all of its security needs together in a system that can be expanded to meet their changing needs in the future.

The future also looks rosy, as Kabat’s investor was so satisfied with the quality of the system, that it is already in talks with Tel-Kom Serwis about expanding it further. It is planned to build more halls increasing the production potential, in which CCTV systems and Access Control will be installed by Tel-Kom Serwis.

FUJIFILM presents the new long-range camera module FUJINON SX800 to the surveillance systems market. With a full HD camera and an optically stabilized, 40x zoom lens from FUJINON, two high-performance components are integrated into one system. This innovation is the result of years of experience in digital cameras and a dedication to the highest optical quality. Thanks to its powerful 1/1.8″ image sensor, the long focal length range of 20 mm to 800 mm and state-of-the-art image processing technology, the FUJINON SX800 is ideally suited for aerial surveillance.

In modern society, the security needs of citizens are constantly increasing. Surveillance cameras with long focal lengths are not only used to address sensitive issues such as border security but are increasingly being incorporated into public infrastructure such as airports, seaports and motorways.

Long range surveillance systems must cope with special challenges. For optics with long focal lengths, the smallest vibrations are sufficient to compromise the image information. Heat haze or fog in the air also impair image quality. And, a focus drive that is too slow leads to safety-relevant information loss. However, with the development of the new FUJINON SX800, FUJIFILM has found a way to minimize the impact of these challenges. Instead of developing a surveillance camera and a separate matching lens, the concept of a fully integrated system consisting of camera and lens has been realized.

In addition to the high-quality zoom optics, the FUJINON SX800 has a powerful combined optical and electronic image stabilization mechanism that provides angle correction of up to ±0.22 degrees. The integrated high-speed autofocus provides a sharply focused image in less than a second, while a fog filter and heat haze reduction technology helps prevent weather interference.

The system provides consistently sharp images – even of objects several kilometers away. In addition, the integrated design of the new FUJINON SX800 reduces the high adjustment effort normally required for camera installation.

As of Q3 2019, the FUJINON SX800 will be available as both a mobile stand-alone device and as a system that can be integrated into a pan-tilt head.

According to official EU data, by 2016 94% of European large businesses were issuing their workers with some sort of connected mobile device. We seem to use our smartphones for everything. Yet, according to Assa Abloy, mobile phones are actually under-utilised when it comes to building security and access management.

Evolving technologies now enable us to manage access rights via mobile phone apps, open a door with a virtual key credential, and much more. An estimated 44 million mobile credentials will be downloaded by 2021, according to a recent IHS Markit forecast.

Assa Abloy believes that this is all because a mobile phone is so well adapted to controlling access at the workplace. It is convenient, secure and flexible. A screen-lock adds an extra layer of PIN, swipe passcode or fingerprint security. With phones, multi-factor authentication is baked into the credential. And how quickly would you notice if a plastic key-card went missing? Nowhere near as fast as you’d spot your smart phone was gone. Security and facility managers can do things with virtual keys that are impossible with a plastic credential. They can issue, revoke or amend them instantly and from anywhere with secure cloud access via a mobile phone. However briefly a temporary visitor needs to enter your building, the easiest way to let them in is with their phone.

Another recent analyst report suggested as many as 20% of organisations would use smartphones for access, in place of plastic smart-cards, by 2020. The move to mobile access control seems inevitable.

“Other highly security-aware industries like banking demonstrate the advantages of the smartphone,” says Thomas Schulz, Director Marketing & Communications Digital and Access Solutions at Assa Abloy EMEA. “Similarly, we see fast-growing interest in unlocking doors and other openings with mobile credentials, and in facility managers administering access rights via their smartphone.”

Schulz points to the new Arkansas State University campus in Mexico, where students and staff have no access cards to collect or validate. Every site user installs and validates their own Openow app and collects keys virtually.

A recent global survey has shown that biometric technology is already considered to be mainstream, that fingerprint technology is the most popular form, and respondents from the U.A.E and Brazil are the most enthusiastic to the idea of using biometric technologies.

Idemia, a world leader in augmented identity launched an independent international survey of 2,800 respondents to see what people around the world think of biometrics. More than 200 to 400 interviews were conducted in each of the 11 countries, representative of the overall population. The company drew ten main conclusions from the survey results.

1. Biometric authentication technology has a good reputation

Around the world, people are overwhelmingly positive about biometric authentication technologies, with 74% of respondents having a positive or very positive attitude towards it. What’s drawing them in? Having a single unique login, preventing fraud and the overall ease of use top of the list.

2. The World is ready

According to the survey, a whopping 90% of people around the world say they’re ready to use biometric identification processes. The majority, 61%, would use it to unlock their phones while others envisioned paying in store and online.

3. The tech/non-human aspect of biometrics is not a turn-off

Surprisingly the technical aspect of biometrics and the often-associated lack of human contact raised very few red flags among survey participants. Meanwhile, respondents were fearful of identity theft, data fraud and privacy concerns.

4. Biometric technology is already mainstream

Most of those surveyed (78%) have already dabbled in biometric authentication, namely fingerprint verification (63%). In our tech-infused world, only 22% of respondents have never tried it before.

5. Fingerprint verification is the most popular

Fingerprint is not only seen as the most secure and most accurate form of biometrics but the most convenient as well. Regarding accuracy and security, iris recognition was a close second, while facial recognition was runner-up in convenience.

6. Brazil and U.A.E are the most enthusiastic countries

Brazilians have a very positive opinion about biometric technologies. In fact, 89% have tried it, primarily because fingerprint registration is required to vote in the national election. The U.A.E. comes in second for its positive perception of biometric authentication (81%), appreciated particularly for its innovative and fun aspect. They are the least wary of fraud or data or identity theft.

7. The French are still sensitive about their biometric identity

While the majority (61%) of French respondents has a positive attitude towards biometric technologies, they are below the global average of 74%. Perhaps as a result, the country also had the fewest respondents who had given the mobile wallet a try.

8. Biometrics is big in banking

In banking, 82% of respondents want to replace PIN codes with their fingerprint although 87% would still like to keep it as a backup option.

9. People want to keep a close eye on their biometrics

Respondents are divided on how to register their fingerprints on a payment card, but most of them would prefer to enroll it by themselves via their banking app (42%) or with the help of a bank agent in a branch (67%). A vast majority would prefer to keep it in the chip of their card (40%) instead of having it stored in the cloud (11%).

10. Biometric mobile wallets are not yet trending worldwide

43% of respondents are already using their biometric data to pay with mobile phones. However, there is a huge regional divide with India leading with 86% versus only 11% in France.

The electronic article surveillance market is expected to grow from USD 981 million in 2019 to USD 1,173 million by 2024, at a CAGR of 3.6%, according to the latest information released by Marketsandmarkets. A modernising retail sector and protection against inventory losses, shoplifting, and theft are the major driving factors for the market’s growth during the forecast period.

The evolution of the retail sector means that an increasing number of retailers are deploying retail automation solutions based on innovative technologies, including EAS, to provide services that are flexible as well as easy to access for both retailers and customers. As the EAS solutions help protect inventory loss from shoplifting and theft, optimise retail store performance, and enable inventory intelligence solution along with traffic counting; many retailers are deploying EAS solutions.

Tags are predicted to dominate the electronic article surveillance market (in terms of share) during the forecast period. Tags provide superior protection for goods to reduce theft and shoplifting. They induce an alarm when they pass in an active state through an EAS detection zone at a store’s entrance or exit. Two types of tags are available in the market—hard and soft. The functioning of a majority of tags and labels is relatively similar in terms of detection performance by the security antenna located at the doors. The majority of the demand for tags is generated from apparel and fashion accessories stores, due to the growing number of consumers, the number of retail stores is also rising at a rapid pace, propelling the growth of the electronic article surveillance market for tags.

Growing Usage of RF Technology Based Components

At present, say the analysts, RF technology holds the major share of the electronic article surveillance market, and a similar trend is expected to continue during the forecast period. The growth of RF technology is driven by the growing usage of RF technology based components in the end users including apparel & fashion accessories stores, supermarket & mass merchandise stores, and drug & health product stores. Moreover, RF technology has key features such as ultra-wide detection distance, simple installation and operation, low false alarm rate, strong anti-interference ability, and high stability and durability, due to which the market for RF technology holds major share of the market.

The market in APAC is expected to exhibit the highest growth rate in the electronic article surveillance market. A growing number of retail stores in the apparel and fashion accessories, and supermarket and mass merchandise sector are expected to create a considerable demand for EAS systems. Supermarket and mass merchandise outlets are increasing in number because of the high economic growth, rising consumerism, elevating standards of living, increasing disposable incomes, and changing lifestyles; this is expected to increase the demand for EAS systems in this region.

Companies in this market named as key players by the researchers, include Checkpoint Systems, Johnson Controls, Agon Systems, All-Tag Corporation, Amersec, Tag Company, Ketec, WG Security Products, Softdel, Shenzhen Emeno Technology, Cross Point, Takachiho Koheki, Stanley Security, Shopguard Systems, Dexilon Automation, Feltron Security Systems, and Sentry Custom Security.