October 2006


Features

Backbone for Surveillance

By Sergio Collazo

THE Mount Vernon City School District is located in the southeastern corner of Westchester County, N.Y., operating 15 schools with an enrollment of more than 10,000 students.


Profiling Your Best Behavior

By Yuval Ben-Itzhak

WEB-borne threats are among the most serious security risks facing corporations today. An alarming trend shows that malware and browser-based attacks are increasing in frequency.


You've Got the Power

By Mariann McDonagh

WHEN managing security risks for a critical infrastructure organization, there is no room for error. The Patriot Act defines critical infrastructure as "the systems and assets, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the United States that the incapacity or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination of those matters."


The Sky's the Limit

By Derek Rice

IN 1999, NASA sent a complex digital camera into space as part of the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, a telescope that relays images of the universe back to Earth.


Harvesting Energy

By Curtis Salmon

THE first security systems used wires and were typically only used for newly constructed buildings. For existing buildings, it is often difficult or too expensive to fish wires through walls.


The Key to Security

By David Kraninger

BADCOCK Home Furniture & More is a furniture retailer with a fleet of 45 tractors and 300 trailers, servicing nearly 330 stores in seven states throughout the southeast United States.


Supermarket Hype

By David Barlow

WHEN Carrefour, one of the largest food retailers in the world, expanded its presence of hypermarkets across three continents, the company hired security system integrator UTI to establish loss prevention systems within the unique shopping environment.


A Door Wide Open

By Walter Hamilton

IN the last four and a half years, new government mandates for tighter physical security at critical infrastructure sites have led to significant strides in physical access control innovation.


All Eyes on You

By Sherri Sanjurjo

The mission of the Forks Township Police Department is quite clear to all residents who live within the Pennsylvania township. With cameras and DVRs installed, it is evident that public safety and efficient law enforcement is considered paramount. An enhanced quality of life is what has driven installer ICU Security to do what it has done for the community.


When All Chips are Down

By Jeff Brummet

FOR years, the gaming industry has enjoyed a reputation of employing state-of-the-art surveillance technology and protocol.


Enhancing a Legacy

By Bob McCarthy

THERE are consistently fantastic capabilities of IP surveillance systems being installed in new facilities. Security managers at older facilities may listen with envy about the labor-saving features of new systems and the enhanced reliability they offer.


Biometrics Come Calling

By Steve Down

THE next time you consider installing a new access control system, you might want to think out of the box and go biometric.


Cracking the Codes

By Bill Rossiter, Rick Heffernan

A leading detector manufacturer recently recalled smoke/heat detectors that had been manufactured over a period of several months last year.


A Remote Control

By Tom Heiser

THE Edwin Holmes Co. created the central station intrusion alarm monitoring business model in Boston, in the 1850s.


A Hard-Learned Lesson

By Brian Bray

DO not let the semi-rural setting fool you. Lebanon High School in Oregon, with 1,250 students, grapples with the same problems that plague large, inner-city schools.


The Right Stuff

By Gareth McClean

WHEN you consider the investment companies have made in analog devices, moving to IP can be a difficult task.


Departments

Homeland Security Insider

By Col. Timothy D. Ringgold

THE arrest of 24 British suspects in the plot to blowup commercial airlines using liquid explosives made chaos of air travel and raised concerns about airport security worldwide.


Editor's Note

By Ralph C Jensen

SOME years ago, while working for the Air Force, a cool new word appeared. At least it was new to me. Paradigm.


The Last Word

By Brent Dirks

JUST the thought of making the move from analog video security to an IP-based system can give even the best security manager worries. IP-based systems are becoming more mainstream, advancing security in many applications.


Industry Perspective

By Security Products Staff

CATCHING up with Altronix president Alan Forman is nearly impossible. He is a busy man, but he has reason to be.


Ask The Expert

By J. Matthew Ladd

BURGLAR -- or intrusion -- alarms have been around for many years, and they are often overlooked, as excitement focuses on Internet protocol cameras, biometrics, video analytics and other technological marvels becoming part of the security industry.