Bernard Security Technology Convergence Insights

1. Auflage 2015
ISBN: 978-0-12-803001-1
Verlag: Elsevier Science & Techn.
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 160 Seiten

Security technology convergence, which refers to the incorporation of computing, networking, and communications technologies into electronic physical security systems, was first introduced in the 1970s with the advent of computer-based access control and alarm systems. As the pace of information technology (IT) advances continued to accelerate, the physical security industry continued to lag behind IT advances by at least two to three years. Security Technology Convergence Insights explores this sometimes problematic convergence of physical security technology and information technology and its impact on security departments, IT departments, vendors, and management. - Includes material culled directly from author's column in Security Technology Executive - Easy-to-read question and answer format - Includes real-world examples to enhance key lessons learned

Autoren/Hrsg.

Bernard, Ray

Leseproben

Chapter 1 What Is Security Convergence?
Abstract
Convergence is commonly defined as two or more distinct or separate things coming together. However, convergence is also a technical term used by designers and engineers. Most security practitioners need to understand security convergence because it affects how they design security technology systems and how they develop and improve their security management systems. Security convergence is currently ongoing and will be for at least the next decade, which means that in one way or another it will impact the majority of security practitioners. Security technology convergence refers to the incorporation of information technology (IT) into electronic physical security systems. As business and consumer technologies continue to be adopted for security use, security technology convergence will continue to occur well into the next decade and beyond. Keywords Unified risk oversight™ convergence security technology convergence security management convergence physical security logical security IT Convergence is commonly defined as two or more distinct or separate things coming together. It is often used with things that flow, such as water, air currents, and vehicle or pedestrian traffic. After all, if things are not moving, how can they come together? The term applies, for example, when two lanes of vehicle traffic converge into a single lane. However, convergence is also a technical term used by designers and engineers. Vehicle drivers don’t use or think about the word convergence, even though when driving they focus very closely on the specific point of convergence—the point where the traffic comes together. The drivers who accomplish the convergence are those who point their vehicles in the correct direction and adjust vehicle speed accordingly. Interestingly enough, drivers don’t use the word convergence. Drivers focus on convergence as a secondary concern. Their primary concern is getting to their destination safely and quickly. That they may have to merge their vehicle into a different flow of traffic to change freeways is just another aspect of driving, and it doesn’t require new vocabulary words like convergence. Similarly, when performing their security jobs, end users of security technology or security management systems don’t use the term convergence. They just use the vocabulary of the jobs they are doing. Most security practitioners, however, do need to understand security convergence, even if they won’t use the word much, because it affects how they design security technology systems and how they develop and improve their security management systems. Security convergence is currently ongoing and will be for at least the next decade, which means that in one way or another it will impact the majority of security practitioners. Two Types of Convergence
Security convergence refers to the convergence of historically distinct aspects of security. There are two types of security convergence: security technology convergence and security management convergence. Security technology convergence refers to the incorporation of information technology (IT) into electronic physical security systems. Today, security systems are built using IT components such as computers, software, databases, and networks that are, for the most part, based on standards. Security systems have been made more affordable and reliable by the use of common business computing and networking technologies. Electronic physical security systems previously were built using proprietary technologies that stood alone and were not interconnected with other systems or networks. Today, as communications, computing, and other digital technologies continue to advance, their new capabilities will be adopted into security systems and products by the security industry. Thus, as business and consumer technologies continue to be adopted for security use, security technology convergence will continue to occur well into the next decade and beyond. Security management convergence refers to the bringing together of previously distinct corporate security, physical security, and IT security functions under a single point of management, which could be an individual management position such as a Chief Security Officer or a committee or council such as an Enterprise Risk Council. The Security Executive Council has coined the term unified risk oversight™ for the resulting unified risk perspective. Rarely will the new perspective be called “converged security” because more appropriate terms such as “unified risk management” will be adopted. In the long term, once the unified perspectives become commonplace rather than the exception, the word “unified” will probably be dropped in favor of the simpler phrase “risk management,” whose meaning then will have evolved to encompass a broader scope. Security Convergence Collaboration
As mentioned above, there are two types of security convergence: security technology convergence and security management convergence. Thus there are two areas of convergence collaboration. For example, between physical security and IT functions there is one scope of collaboration at the management level to address security risk management and another scope of collaboration at the operations level to address the IT aspects of electronic physical security systems. Although this book deals mostly with technology convergence, there is also some mention of management convergence, which will be easily recognizable even it if is not specifically called out as such. The Introduction of the Term “Convergence”
Individuals who have recently entered the field of security, either in the course of formal education or by accepting a security position, have been introduced to many of the results of convergence often without the term convergence ever being used in the discussion. That’s because once two separate things have converged, they are now referred to by an appropriately descriptive name for their converged state. Discussions about them don’t need to use the word convergence. On the other hand, security practitioners who entered the security field before or during the 1990s most likely have encountered the term convergence as it was first used by security industry marketers. Many of the marketers and sales people apparently did not fully understand what security technology convergence was. At that time there was a lot of confusion and “mental fog” about convergence. Most people in the security industry (manufacturers and service providers) thought that convergence simply meant putting security systems onto an Internet protocol (IP) network and using network-connected servers and workstations. That thinking brought many in the security industry to declare that security technology convergence was “over,” starting around 2010. To them it was something that had happened and was now old news, even though security technology convergence is still ongoing. Regardless of when you were first introduced to security convergence, the material in this chapter and those that follow provide you with insight into the evolution of thinking on the subject of security convergence and lessons learned along the way. Four Categories of Convergence
Security convergence is a broad spectrum, which I break down into four categories: ¦ Convergence of electronic security systems and IT: This started back in the 1980s with the introduction of the personal computer and kept advancing as computer, network, and information system technologies advanced. It includes all of the “IP” convergence phenomena. It means, among other things, that physical security professionals need to be more IT-savvy. ¦ Internetworking of physical security and business systems and networks: This, too, has been going on since the 1980s and even earlier, when access control systems first started being used for tracking time and attendance. Now it’s really taking off: security video systems are being used for quality, safety, training, and supervision, as well as for security surveillance. ¦ Integration of physical and IT security systems: This is the realm of one-card initiatives and connecting physical access control with information system access control. A common example cited is to ensure that you cannot log on to a computer if you haven’t used your security card or biometric print to gain access into the room the computer is in, thus preventing someone else from using your login credentials in your absence. ¦ Integration of physical and IT security management: Also known as holistic security, integrated security management, and, more recently, enterprise security risk management, this is the adoption of a unified risk perspective for managing security at senior executive levels. What defines these categories is that they each have a different set of security stakeholders. They also tend to have their own unique security...