The increasing number of consumers preferring a more effective and convenient way to secure their property has caused the rapid growth of the global smart home security market. According to PreciseSecurity.com research, the expanding trend will continue in the following years, with the worldwide shipment of home monitoring and security devices reaching more than 307 million units by 2023.

The global smart home devices market reached nearly 815 million units’ shipments this year. According to 2019 data, it is forecast to grow at a five-year CARG of 14.4% and reach 1.34 billion items in 2023.

The most significant part of that amount or 339.8 million units are coming from the video entertainment category alone. However, the surveys confirm that home monitoring and security devices are the sections expected to grow the most between 2019 and 2023.

In 2018, this segment of the market recorded 97.7 million sold units. During the next twelve months, the same part of the market reached 156.6 million purchased units. The recent surveys indicate that home monitoring and security equipment like smart locks, surveillance cameras, and video doorbells will account for 22.1% of the global smart home devices shipments in 2023 with a CAGR of 18.4%.

Smart Video Doorbells Expected to Reach $1.4 Billion in Spending by 2023

The statistics show that video doorbells are one of the most common purchasing decisions among smart home shoppers worldwide. This relatively young segment of the smart home market is forecast to reach $1.4 billion in spending globally by 2023.

Recent surveys show that video doorbells are most wanted smart home devices in U.S. broadband households as of 2019. Nearly 4 million video doorbells were sold in the United States during this year, with a forecast to reach 5.6 million units by 2023. Other ordinary items among U.S. smart home shoppers were smart speakers with voice assistants, smart light bulbs, and smart smoke detectors.

Genetec, a leading technology provider of unified security, public safety, operations, and business intelligence, has released new research that reveals as many as 68.4%­ — or almost 7 out of 10 — cameras are currently running out of date firmware.

Installing the latest firmware isn’t just about receiving new features, it also ensures that your devices are up to date with the latest cybersecurity measures.

“Our primary research data points to the fact that more than half of the cameras with out-of-date firmware (53.9%) contain known cybersecurity vulnerabilities. By extrapolating this to an average security network, nearly 4 out of every 10 cameras are vulnerable to a cyber-attack,” says Mathieu Chevalier, lead security architect at Genetec.

The research conducted by Genetec also showed that nearly 1 in 4 organizations (23%) fail to use unique passwords, relying instead on the same password across all cameras from the same manufacturer, leaving an easy point of entry for hackers once only one camera has been compromised.

Research was conducted on a sample of 44,763 cameras connected to systems that are part of the Genetec opt-in product improvement program.

Despite many new surveillance cameras now requiring installers and end users to enter a new password or admin credentials upon installation, there are customers out there older equipment that never updated their passwords, which could potentially compromise other critical data and systems that reside on their network, according to the company.

“Unfortunately, our research shows that the ‘set it and forget it’ mentality remains prevalent putting an entire organization’s security and people’s privacy at risk. All it takes is one camera with obsolete firmware or a default password to create a foothold for an attacker to compromise the whole network,” adds Chevalier. “It is critical that organizations should be as proactive in the update of their physical security systems as they are in updating their IT networks.”

Avigilon Corp., a Motorola Solutions company, announces the latest version of its video management software (VMS) now incorporates facial recognition technology.

The new “appearance alerts” capability of Avigilon Control Center (ACC) 7.4 will help commercial organizations, such as educational institutions and hospitals, accelerate response times by identifying people of interest in enterprise settings, according to the announcement.

For example, the technology can alert the security team at a local high school when a banned or flagged individual has entered the campus.

People of interest are identified based on a secure, controlled watch list created and maintained by authorized users at the commercial organization.

If a potential match is found, the user is alerted within the ACC software, and security personnel can then determine whether further investigation or action is necessary.

“Our latest ACC software delivers substantial benefits to our commercial customers by offering facial recognition technology in a secure and controlled manner,” states John Kedzierski, senior vice president, video security solutions, Motorola Solutions. “The appearance alerts capability enables our customers to move from a reactive approach — staring at a wall of video feeds where critical information can be easily missed — to a proactive approach that brings important information directly to authorized users so they can make better-informed decisions.”

ACC’s new facial recognition capabilities reflect Motorola Solutions’ commitment to the responsible use of artificial intelligence as well as individual privacy rights, the announcement states. The company states that data stewardship is integral to these new capabilities, including building compliance controls into its products to support this.

For example, user authentication is required for these capabilities, audit logs of user actions are generated, data retention periods for the watch list can be specified within the application, and records can be expunged or deleted on demand as well as verified through auditing and reporting.

Data is locally hosted, owned and controlled by the business or school. The data used to train machine learning algorithms is also thoroughly evaluated, ensuring sufficient quantity, quality and diversity to ensure high accuracy and consistent performance, according to the company.

Featuring 14x magnification and the world’s most powerful image stabilization system, the new FUJINON Techno Stabi TS-X 1440 is the flagship product of the Techno Stabi binocular series

The TS-X 1440 is the new top model in the FUJINON Techno Stabi binocular series and offers outstanding optical performance with 14x magnification and the most powerful image stabilization (±6°) for this segment worldwide. The bright, clear and stabilized image provided by these binoculars makes them perfectly suited for outdoor wildlife and astronomical observation.

The binoculars are very versatile. Not only are they used for wildlife and stargazing observations, but they are also utilized by spectators at sports events and audiences at live concerts. FUJIFILM exploits its outstanding optical technologies and design concepts to meet the increasing demands in these fields of application. This results in top products of the highest quality, such as the new FUJINON Techno Stabi TS-X 1440.

The TS-X 1440 is a high-performance binocular with 14x magnification and an extremely powerful image stabilization. The superb image stabilization is achieved thanks to the application of proven and tested FUJIFILM camera lens technologies. The oscillations registered by a gyro sensor are compensated for by a precisely controlled prism in the optical beam path so that a high image stabilization of ±6° is reached.

In addition, the large lens elements, with an effective diameter of 40 mm, contribute to the extraordinary speed of the binoculars, while FUJIFILM’s unique EBC multiple coating reduces annoying lens reflections and ghosting. This coating also reduces chromatic aberration while increasing the transmission rate, resulting in an exceptionally clear and bright image.

Finally, the modern and ergonomic design of the FUJINON TS-X 1440 has been combined with a water-repellent construction to ensure that even when used on a boat or a vehicle, the binoculars are always safe to handle and work quickly, precisely and reliably every time.

Chinese technology giant Huawei filed a lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission last week, seeking to hit back at U.S. government regulators who have made it difficult for the company to conduct business with American companies.

In November, the FCC voted to forbid American telecommunications companies from using federal subsidies to buy equipment from Huawei and ZTE due to the corporations posing security risks, The New York Times reported.

The lawsuit comes after Huawei was already placed on the Commerce Department’s Entity List, which makes it nearly impossible for U.S. companies to sell products to Huawei and vice versa. While the department has begun to grant licenses to some companies to sell tech to Huawei, many more companies will not be able to do so as long as Huawei and its subsidiaries are on the list.

Huawei already filed a lawsuit against the Commerce Department in June following the decision to effectively “ban” Huawei, which was formerly a large business partner of several companies in the security and video surveillance industries.

While Verizon and AT&T have not used the companies’ chips and other equipment for years, rural telecommunications providers have relied on it and are struggling to transition their systems to other technology.

“The F.C.C. claims that Huawei is a security threat, but F.C.C. Chairman Ajit Pai has not provided any evidence,” Huawei’s chief legal officer, Song Liuping, said during a news conference last week, according to the Times.

“Carriers across rural America — in small towns in Montana, Kentucky, and farmers in Wyoming — they choose to work with Huawei because they respect the quality and integrity of our equipment,” Song added.

Despite the obstacles to selling to and buying from companies in the U.S., Huawei’s business has remained fairly steady, according to the Times.

By 2021, more than one billion surveillance cameras will be installed across the globe, according to a new report issued by IHS Markit.

An estimated 770 million cameras are already in place, with about 54 percent of them installed in China, according to CNBC, which reported on a pared-down version of the study.

The Americas are home to the next largest amount of cameras, with 18 percent found in those continents. Asia, excluding China, has about 15 percent of the remaining cameras in the world.

According to the research, the places with the greatest opportunities for growth in the video surveillance market include developing countries like India, Indonesia and Brazil.

The report found that those three countries are expected to join China and the U.S. in the top five markets for surveillance cameras. Japan and the United Kingdom currently hold those spots, with the U.K. currently having more surveillance cameras per capita than any other European country.

Researchers found that the U.S. is only slightly behind China in terms of cameras per person. One camera was installed for every 4.1 people in China in 2018, while the number in the U.S. is a camera per 4.6 people.

Another recent survey found that the U.S. has more surveillance cameras per capita than China, with 15.28 surveillance cameras per 100 citizens. China has a density of 14.36, according to the computer security site Precisesecurity.com.

China’s video surveillance industry provides AI technology to 63 countries, CNBC reported, and is home to some of the largest companies in the market, including Huawei, Dahua and Hikvision.

Micron Technology unveiled the world’s highest-capacity industrial microSD card – Micron i300 1TB3 microSDXC UHS-I – to address the edge storage needs of the video surveillance market and other industrial applications. The new Micron i300 1TB microSD card is based on Micron’s advanced 96-layer 3D quad-level cell (QLC) NAND technology, now making it cheaper for small- to-medium-sized deployments to have primary storage in the camera compared to a centralized storage architecture. The i300 microSD card enables users of video surveillance systems to capture and store more than three months of high-quality video footage on-device and at the edge.

“Micron’s i300 industrial-grade microSD cards for edge storage open the possibility for a broad range of video surveillance as a service deployments that no longer require local network video recorders,” said Amit Gattani, senior director of Segment Marketing in Micron’s Embedded Business Unit. “Micron’s 96-layer 3D QLC NAND is instrumental in helping us deliver 1TB of storage in a microSD form factor and at a breakthrough price point to accelerate edge storage and cloud-based service models.”

Intelligence at the Edge

VSaaS systems are increasingly integrating artificial intelligence-based and higher-resolution cameras that require more storage at the edge. The Micron i300 1TB microSDXC card allows 24/7 continuous capture and storage of up to 1TB of high-quality video in the camera. Users of video surveillance systems can now store large amounts of video footage on-device, opening a broader set of uses for cloud-managed solutions.

“Demand for commercial surveillance cameras continues to grow at a rapid pace,” said Jeff Janukowicz, research vice president at International Data Corporation (IDC). “Smart cameras, artificial intelligence, machine learning and threat detection are being driven to the edge for real-time responsiveness, making Micron’s 1TB microSD card an invaluable solution for differentiation and innovation.”

Micron’s industrial-grade microSD portfolio is designed to endure the harsh environments in which surveillance systems are deployed. The Micron i300 1TB microSDXC card minimizes frame drops in a 24/7, 30 frames per second (FPS) recording environment, offering twice the reliability of hard disk drives at 2 million hours mean time to failure. The card features a smart tool for monitoring the health of devices.

“VIVOTEK has launched a series of edge-computing network cameras and successfully deployed Micron’s high-quality industrial-grade microSD cards,” said Shengfu Cheng, director of Marketing and Product Development Division, VIVOTEK Inc. “Micron’s portfolio of industrial microSD cards up to 1TB equips us to deliver greater flexibility, scalability and maintenance efficiency to our customers, all of which contribute to a better return on investment.”

The Micron i300 microSDXC UHS-I card is offered in 128GB to 1TB capacities, which are available for ordering. The entire industrial-grade portfolio includes capacities ranging from 32GB to 1TB.

The ADA university in Azerbaijan started the construction of a new teaching building in 2017. Its multimedia classroom has been equipped with Dahua’s technology to help provide 40 square metres of LED screens to provide students with advanced and modern teaching equipment.

Established by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, ADA University is a state higher education institution engaged in the delivery of undergraduate and graduate degree programmes in addition to research advancement.

42 m2 PHSA1.6-MH indoor fine pixel LED screens from Dahua Technology were seamlessly spliced and installed in the multimedia classroom of the ADA University. The solution features a single control chip with only one IC. The product adopts spread spectrum VFE technology to achieve a higher refresh rate, while its wide colour range provides excellent high restoration and colour uniformity. It can also achieve high contrast, low failure rate and low light reduction. With wide current regulation technology, the brightness of the LED screens can be adjusted within 50-800 nits without losing grey levels, which is applicable in different environments. A centralised power supply was also deployed to lower power consumption.

In addition to providing the devices, staff from the Dahua Delivery Department were also responsible for on-site installation, offering operation and after-sales training to both distributor and staff of ADA University.

The customer was very satisfied with the successful delivery of the project. The students of ADA University can now enjoy vivid and colourful videos and images through the LED screen, bringing a pleasant viewing experience for teachers and students.

“Dahua Technology has a professional technical team, which provides us with high-quality service. We are very satisfied with Dahua Technology’s products. The professional training provided to us is very helpful for our operation and maintenance. We believe that we will continue to cooperate with Dahua Technology in the future,” said Alekberov Mukhdar, Electrical Engineer of ADA University.

HID Global has collaborated with Temenos, a banking software company, to integrate HID’s risk-based authentication solution with Temenos Infinity, a breakthrough digital front office product, and Temenos T24 Transact, a next generation solution in core banking.

The joint offering, available on-premise or in the cloud, provides an agile, simplified path to secure digital banking, reducing the time and cost of delivering risk-based adaptive authentication, threat detection, and transaction signing on the Temenos platform. As part of the integration, HID Global’s authentication solution can now offer self-service functions to over 3,000 Temenos customers through Temenos Marketplace.

HID Global’s authentication solution for Temenos customers combines its Activ ID authentication platform with the HID Risk Management solution featuring real-time risk profiling technology. Also included is HID Approve, a next-generation multi-factor authentication solution for online and mobile banking customers that combines the security of public key-based cryptography and mobile-based out-of-band transaction signatures with the convenience of mobile push notifications.

“HID has partnered with Temenos for more than a decade to provide solutions for nearly 100 banks worldwide,” said Brad Jarvis, Vice President and Managing Director of Identity & Access Management Solutions (IAMS) with HID Global. “This latest collaboration streamlines banks’ ability to implement advanced user authentication services with Temenos Infinity and Temenos T24 Transact. The pre-configured integration makes it easier than ever for Temenos customers to deploy out authentication tools without any customized development.”

“As more and more customers bank through digital channels, incidents of fraud naturally increase, and the ramifications to both bank and consumer can be massive,” said Adam Gable, Product Director – Financial Crime Mitigation, Treasury and Risk, Temenos. “Banks need to protect their customers as well as retain them and improve trust. Using a combination of innovative technologies and techniques, HID’s risk-based authentication solution means customers benefit from improved security at the source of the financial transaction – the device.”

ASSA ABLOY has signed an agreement to acquire AM Group, an Australian industrial door company within entrance automation.

“I am very pleased to welcome AM Group and their employees into the ASSA ABLOY Group. I welcome this complementary addition to our business, specializing in innovative entrance automation,” says Nico Delvaux, President and CEO of ASSA ABLOY.

“AM Group complements both our product offering and our geographic coverage in Australia. By adding their strong product portfolio, which includes rolling steel doors and bi-fold doors, to ASSA ABLOY’s commercial network, technologies and competences, we will continue our successful journey,” says Mogens Jensen, Executive Vice President of ASSA ABLOY and Head of Entrance Systems Division.

AM Group was founded in Australia in 1923 and has 425 employees. The head office is located in Sydney, Australia.

Sales for 2019 are expected to reach about EUR 74 million with a good EBIT margin and the acquisition will be accretive to EPS from the start.

The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions and is expected to close during the first quarter of 2020.