Crtiical Infrastructure Aspires for Comprehensive Protection

The critical infrastructure sector has been regarded as one of the most important sectors in terms of national security around the world since it is highly vulnerable to terrorist threats. There were about 2,500 attacks on critical infrastructures around the world that can be linked to terrorist organizations from 1996 to 2006, according to a report by Electric Power Research Institute. To prevent possible disastrous consequences, governments usually adopt various high-tech security products that come with better risk management systems and also higher prices. It is forecast that the global infrastructure market will grow from US$63.7 billion in 2013 to $105.9 billion in 2018, at a CAGR of 10.7 percent, by MarketsandMarkets. North America will remain as the market with the most revenue, whereas the markets in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa are expected to experience greater market traction.

MAJOR SECURITY THREATS TO CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURES

Critical infrastructures have always been one of the most prominent security focuses of national security. Critical infrastructures refer to several essential and fundamental facilities, interdependent systems, and assets that support a country's politics, economy, transportation, security, energy, health, education, communication, etc. - to put it simply, it has a huge impact on the public's daily activities. For instance, if any power plant is damaged, it can jeopardize a country's security and lead to unimaginable public consequences and inconveniences, as it can take several weeks to months for total site functionality to be restored.

Critical infrastructures are mainly threatened by terrorism, vandalism, intrusion, and espionage, and are often considered a major target of anti-government actions. These critical sites should also be protected from industrial accidents and natural disasters which will instantly endanger the public once they occur. If a dam, for instance, is sabotaged, the damage may cause insufficient water resources, flood control failure, agriculture irrigation failure, and even disable electricity from being generated around that area, or worse, across the country. If a power grid is attacked, the damage may lead to chemical leaks and cause further destruction.

An example of this is the power grid attack in California last April, which has recently been disclosed as an act of domestic terrorism, in which 17 transformers were fired at by unknown snipers for 19 minutes. The attackers had cut the fiber optic telecommunication cables in an underground vault near the site before entering the site and shooting at the oil-filled cooling systems of the transformers, causing massive oil leaks and the transformers to overheat. Fortunately, the damage was controlled; however, it still took 27 days for the facility and the damaged transformers to be repaired - each transformer can cost millions of dollars to build, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

Physical threats are not the only danger that critical infrastructures need to be protected from. Apart from potential physical threats, critical infrastructures are at risk of cyber attacks as well, due to the increasing popularity of, for instance, cloud computing and networked products in recent years. As a result, data centers have become one of the most crucial focuses for risk management in critical infrastructures, according to an expert from Siemens Building Technologies.

In fact, earlier this February an official guideline, Cybersecurity Framework, released by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in the U.S., points out what a comprehensive cyber protection procedure for critical infrastructure sector should be like. The framework, pushed by the White House, can help an organization to identify and prioritize actions for minimizing cyber risks. It also provides a set of recommended activities to assist owners and operators to increase their knowledge of cyber risk management. This gesture directly from the presidential office suggests the prominence of the cyber security of critical sites to a country.

KEY CHALLENGES IN CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION

A power grid is usually set up with multiple buildings, assets, and facilities, spread over a vast geographical area. Critical infrastructures generally invest in various technologies over time, resulting in the wide adoption of legacy and new devices, according to Darren Chalmers-Stevens, VP of EMEA at VidSys. Regarding overall size, number of buildings, and vast system deployments, managing a power grid in an organized manner is the primary challenge of protecting critical infrastructures. In order to efficiently and conveniently manage the entire energy station across multiple locations, it is crucial for critical infrastructures to centralize operations and increase situational awareness on both physical and logical threats through greater system integration.

MULTI-LAYERED PERIMETER DETECTION AT THE FRONT LINE

Risk management of critical infrastructures could be a great challenge to a site operating manager, due to complex deployment of disparate systems, devices, and facilities within a vast area. Critical infrastructures tend to favor multi-layered perimeter systems, which are able to comprehensively prevent various threats, like vandalism, trespassing, terrorist acts, and etc.

It is forecast that the global market size for electronic perimeter security sensors and video in electrical utilities and oil refineries will top $160 million in 2014, despite the economic slowdown in 2011 and 2012. This strong growth is resulting from the trend of using remote video and networked sensors in order to remotely configure and conduct devices from a distant location, according to a report by IMS Research, an IHS company.

For energy grids, any security threat or attack might lead to catastrophic results, which is exactly why managers are prone to using multi-layered perimeter detection systems.

A nuclear site is the perfect candidate for a multi-layered perimeter system. "A common architecture for nuclear power stations and other high security sites is an initial layer of a volumetric-tall sensor (4m to 6m high) with very high possibility of detecion; once an alert is generated, the intruder has to penetrate a fence which would delay the intruder for a few minutes to move on, even if the intruder is well equipped," suggested by Hagai Katz, Senior VP of Marketing and Business Development at Magal Security Systems. "Behind the layer, there is typically a clear space of about 10-meters wide; it is an area always kept clear, facilitating ease of verification, be it by security cameras or another detection layer, such as microwave sensors, buried volumetric cables, or even IR detectors. And finally there is a second fence for further delay, which may be equipped with a smart fence mounted sensor."

Integration of Video Surveillance and Intrusion Systems
In perimeter security, it is crucial to properly integrate video surveillance with intrusion systems. If individuals or vehicles intend to breach a critical site, the intruder will trigger the perimeter sensors. The system will then immediately send out a security notification to the command center with a corresponding image from the surveillance camera at the particular site so operators will know how to respond.

"Without integration between video surveillance and intrusion systems, it would be difficult to maintain a high level of awareness when a sensor detects a break-in - it would be time consuming for a security operator to find the appropriate video footage of an event," Joshua Phillips, Director of Marketing of Enterprise and Critical Infrastructure of Video Intelligence Solutions at Verint Systems stated.

There could be up to hundreds of surveillance cameras installed at the site of an energy grid to make sure that the entire area is completely covered. As the front line of a critical infrastructure site, a perimeter system especially requires constant monitoring with surveillance devices, in order to have the site comprehensively controlled.

However, for the security guard and operator, it is almost impossible to continuously concentrate on watching every camera during their shift, not to mention identifying the correct on-site security camera and location right when the security alarm goes off. Adopting video analytics not only helps the operator to prevent an intrusion or attack, more importantly, it makes sure that the guards and operators will not miss any suspicious actions. "Upon motion detection or other abnormalities detected, security operators can get a geospatial location on the targeted suspect and immediately dispatch a response," Phillips mentioned. Physical motion detection can help security operators spot threats effectively even in harsh external conditions and weather.

A TOTAL INTEGRATION PLATFORM

A common goal, when it comes to critical infrastructure protection, is the ability for security guards and operators to identify and respond to threats in the shortest time possible. In order to immediately and efficiently react to possible threats on site for large-scale operations, it is crucial to have a central management system with an open platform to allow for integration between different security measures and subsystems.

Besides, security systems like video surveillance, access control, and perimeter security, a total management integration platform should be able to connect effortlessly with other major systems. These systems include IT, fire and smoke detection, alarm, extinguishing, telephone, radio communication, and building automation that might be in the critical sites. These systems should be easily integrated through a single platform, regardless if they are new or legacy products and devices.

This total integration platform can make sure that any operator is able to manage all systems on site whenever a natural disaster, unexpected incident, or attack occurs.

"The integration of video surveillance, access control, intrusion alarm, and fire detection is an ongoing and growing phenomenon which requires a tailor-made approach on behalf of the vendors and integrators, as some of the systems, such as access control, are quite old, but still operable," said Aluisio Figueiredo, COO of Intelligent Security Systems.

Providing a safety and security solution that integrates different systems into a single, multi-modal, administrative solution is not just about merging equipment, devices, and systems - it is about putting into place a solution to support clearly defined working routines whilst ensuring rapid, compliant, and efficient response to emergency situations along with the mandatory, post-incident reporting analysis, according to Siemens Building Technologies.

CONCLUSION
Security deployment in a critical site is never an easy task, as there are many obstacles and concerns, such as environment, budget, and consensus among every department, which will affect the final security procurement in a critical infrastructure. Despite the challenges, the security market in the critical infrastructure sector is still full of opportunities for providers due to its importance in national security and safety.

Crtiical Infrastructure Aspires for Comprehensive Protection

The critical infrastructure sector has been regarded as one of the most important sectors in terms of national security around the world since it is highly vulnerable to terrorist threats. There were about 2,500 attacks on critical infrastructures around the world that can be linked to terrorist organizations from 1996 to 2006, according to a report by Electric Power Research Institute. To prevent possible disastrous consequences, governments usually adopt various high-tech security products that come with better risk management systems and also higher prices. It is forecast that the global infrastructure market will grow from US$63.7 billion in 2013 to $105.9 billion in 2018, at a CAGR of 10.7 percent, by MarketsandMarkets. North America will remain as the market with the most revenue, whereas the markets in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa are expected to experience greater market traction.

MAJOR SECURITY THREATS TO CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURES

Critical infrastructures have always been one of the most prominent security focuses of national security. Critical infrastructures refer to several essential and fundamental facilities, interdependent systems, and assets that support a country's politics, economy, transportation, security, energy, health, education, communication, etc. - to put it simply, it has a huge impact on the public's daily activities. For instance, if any power plant is damaged, it can jeopardize a country's security and lead to unimaginable public consequences and inconveniences, as it can take several weeks to months for total site functionality to be restored.

Critical infrastructures are mainly threatened by terrorism, vandalism, intrusion, and espionage, and are often considered a major target of anti-government actions. These critical sites should also be protected from industrial accidents and natural disasters which will instantly endanger the public once they occur. If a dam, for instance, is sabotaged, the damage may cause insufficient water resources, flood control failure, agriculture irrigation failure, and even disable electricity from being generated around that area, or worse, across the country. If a power grid is attacked, the damage may lead to chemical leaks and cause further destruction.

An example of this is the power grid attack in California last April, which has recently been disclosed as an act of domestic terrorism, in which 17 transformers were fired at by unknown snipers for 19 minutes. The attackers had cut the fiber optic telecommunication cables in an underground vault near the site before entering the site and shooting at the oil-filled cooling systems of the transformers, causing massive oil leaks and the transformers to overheat. Fortunately, the damage was controlled; however, it still took 27 days for the facility and the damaged transformers to be repaired - each transformer can cost millions of dollars to build, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

Physical threats are not the only danger that critical infrastructures need to be protected from. Apart from potential physical threats, critical infrastructures are at risk of cyber attacks as well, due to the increasing popularity of, for instance, cloud computing and networked products in recent years. As a result, data centers have become one of the most crucial focuses for risk management in critical infrastructures, according to an expert from Siemens Building Technologies.

In fact, earlier this February an official guideline, Cybersecurity Framework, released by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in the U.S., points out what a comprehensive cyber protection procedure for critical infrastructure sector should be like. The framework, pushed by the White House, can help an organization to identify and prioritize actions for minimizing cyber risks. It also provides a set of recommended activities to assist owners and operators to increase their knowledge of cyber risk management. This gesture directly from the presidential office suggests the prominence of the cyber security of critical sites to a country.

KEY CHALLENGES IN CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION

A power grid is usually set up with multiple buildings, assets, and facilities, spread over a vast geographical area. Critical infrastructures generally invest in various technologies over time, resulting in the wide adoption of legacy and new devices, according to Darren Chalmers-Stevens, VP of EMEA at VidSys. Regarding overall size, number of buildings, and vast system deployments, managing a power grid in an organized manner is the primary challenge of protecting critical infrastructures. In order to efficiently and conveniently manage the entire energy station across multiple locations, it is crucial for critical infrastructures to centralize operations and increase situational awareness on both physical and logical threats through greater system integration.

MULTI-LAYERED PERIMETER DETECTION AT THE FRONT LINE

Risk management of critical infrastructures could be a great challenge to a site operating manager, due to complex deployment of disparate systems, devices, and facilities within a vast area. Critical infrastructures tend to favor multi-layered perimeter systems, which are able to comprehensively prevent various threats, like vandalism, trespassing, terrorist acts, and etc.

It is forecast that the global market size for electronic perimeter security sensors and video in electrical utilities and oil refineries will top $160 million in 2014, despite the economic slowdown in 2011 and 2012. This strong growth is resulting from the trend of using remote video and networked sensors in order to remotely configure and conduct devices from a distant location, according to a report by IMS Research, an IHS company.

For energy grids, any security threat or attack might lead to catastrophic results, which is exactly why managers are prone to using multi-layered perimeter detection systems.

A nuclear site is the perfect candidate for a multi-layered perimeter system. "A common architecture for nuclear power stations and other high security sites is an initial layer of a volumetric-tall sensor (4m to 6m high) with very high possibility of detecion; once an alert is generated, the intruder has to penetrate a fence which would delay the intruder for a few minutes to move on, even if the intruder is well equipped," suggested by Hagai Katz, Senior VP of Marketing and Business Development at Magal Security Systems. "Behind the layer, there is typically a clear space of about 10-meters wide; it is an area always kept clear, facilitating ease of verification, be it by security cameras or another detection layer, such as microwave sensors, buried volumetric cables, or even IR detectors. And finally there is a second fence for further delay, which may be equipped with a smart fence mounted sensor."

Integration of Video Surveillance and Intrusion Systems
In perimeter security, it is crucial to properly integrate video surveillance with intrusion systems. If individuals or vehicles intend to breach a critical site, the intruder will trigger the perimeter sensors. The system will then immediately send out a security notification to the command center with a corresponding image from the surveillance camera at the particular site so operators will know how to respond.

"Without integration between video surveillance and intrusion systems, it would be difficult to maintain a high level of awareness when a sensor detects a break-in - it would be time consuming for a security operator to find the appropriate video footage of an event," Joshua Phillips, Director of Marketing of Enterprise and Critical Infrastructure of Video Intelligence Solutions at Verint Systems stated.

There could be up to hundreds of surveillance cameras installed at the site of an energy grid to make sure that the entire area is completely covered. As the front line of a critical infrastructure site, a perimeter system especially requires constant monitoring with surveillance devices, in order to have the site comprehensively controlled.

However, for the security guard and operator, it is almost impossible to continuously concentrate on watching every camera during their shift, not to mention identifying the correct on-site security camera and location right when the security alarm goes off. Adopting video analytics not only helps the operator to prevent an intrusion or attack, more importantly, it makes sure that the guards and operators will not miss any suspicious actions. "Upon motion detection or other abnormalities detected, security operators can get a geospatial location on the targeted suspect and immediately dispatch a response," Phillips mentioned. Physical motion detection can help security operators spot threats effectively even in harsh external conditions and weather.

A TOTAL INTEGRATION PLATFORM

A common goal, when it comes to critical infrastructure protection, is the ability for security guards and operators to identify and respond to threats in the shortest time possible. In order to immediately and efficiently react to possible threats on site for large-scale operations, it is crucial to have a central management system with an open platform to allow for integration between different security measures and subsystems.

Besides, security systems like video surveillance, access control, and perimeter security, a total management integration platform should be able to connect effortlessly with other major systems. These systems include IT, fire and smoke detection, alarm, extinguishing, telephone, radio communication, and building automation that might be in the critical sites. These systems should be easily integrated through a single platform, regardless if they are new or legacy products and devices.

This total integration platform can make sure that any operator is able to manage all systems on site whenever a natural disaster, unexpected incident, or attack occurs.

"The integration of video surveillance, access control, intrusion alarm, and fire detection is an ongoing and growing phenomenon which requires a tailor-made approach on behalf of the vendors and integrators, as some of the systems, such as access control, are quite old, but still operable," said Aluisio Figueiredo, COO of Intelligent Security Systems.

Providing a safety and security solution that integrates different systems into a single, multi-modal, administrative solution is not just about merging equipment, devices, and systems - it is about putting into place a solution to support clearly defined working routines whilst ensuring rapid, compliant, and efficient response to emergency situations along with the mandatory, post-incident reporting analysis, according to Siemens Building Technologies.

CONCLUSION
Security deployment in a critical site is never an easy task, as there are many obstacles and concerns, such as environment, budget, and consensus among every department, which will affect the final security procurement in a critical infrastructure. Despite the challenges, the security market in the critical infrastructure sector is still full of opportunities for providers due to its importance in national security and safety.

Low Power Consumption, High Performance iSCSI SAN Storage Array Ideal Video Surveillance Storage Solutions for SMBs

Network-attached storage (NAS), IP-SANs (iSCSI), FC-SANs (Fibre Channel storage area networks) are gaining more traction in recent two years. IP-SAN solutions are particularly the most popular options for data and video surveillance storage applications. The adoption of IP-SANs has elevated both business storage and big data storage applications into a new level.

Q500-P10 IP-SAN (iSCSI) appliance is a turnkey storage solution, and to take the manufacturer Qsan's request of evaluating this product is also a challenge because it needs a lot of resources to test a comprehensive system with expandability. The following review of Qsan's mass storage products highlights their major advantages for surveillance storage.

Common Misconceptions about IP-SAN and NAS Applications

Before reading the full article, there are some misconceptions about IP-SAN that need to be clarified.

There is a common comparison about NAS and SANs, in particular IP-SANs, which leads users to have a misconception that using NAS was better than using SANs when it comes to performance, cost-efficiency, and convenience. Customers then prefer those solutions than NAS-like NVRs for security and surveillance applications.

As a matter of fact, adopting any of these two storage solutions doesn't create big differences in results.

First, let's take a look of P500-P10's type of IP-SANs. This product functions as a storage area network, where external storage devices and servers are connected using Ethernet (IP-SANs), Fibre Channel technology (FC-SANs), disk-arrays, hard disk cabinets for example, and SANs allow multiple servers to share a pool of storage, making it appear to the server as if it were local or directly attached storage. Despite that the price and the complexity of IP-SANs have reduced, most mass storage equipments are still mainly for midrange and enterprise applications.

Network-attached storage (NAS) is conversely a file-level computer data storage connected to a computer network providing data access to a heterogeneous group of clients. Traditionally, NAS has been used for file services only and SAN for all other applications. Even that NAS not only operates as a file server, but is specialized for this task either by its hardware, software, or configuration of those elements, and provides both storage and a file system. This is often contrasted with SAN. Similar with SAN, NAS systems contain one or more hard disks, often arranged into logical, redundant storage containers or RAID.

While the development of SANs was in part a solution to the problem of slow access to network-attached storage, where a stripped-down operating system is often used and delivers lower transmission performance, there are also some NAS vendors offering some standalone NVR NAS suited for small scale surveillance projects with limited scalability compared to a SAN. Therefore, NAS and IP-SAN are not mutually exclusive in applications.

To conclude, an IP-SAN deals in blocks of data to perform directly the transmission, a NAS operates at the file level to transfer data with networks; they have different deployments and scales.

IP-SAN (iSCSI) vs. FC-SAN

For the mass storage, there is another debate on the IP-SAN (iSCSI) vs. FC-SAN issue even though they are both block-level networking architectures. Take Q500-P10 IP-SAN for example, it adopts common Gigabit Ethernet ensuring easy deployment while FC-SAN requires more expensive and sophisticated Fibre Channel implementation, which makes preferences for low cost IP-SAN solutions than FC-SAN ones.



Even that, some FC-SAN appliances such as Q500-F21 and Q500-F20 embed both FC-SAN and IP-SAN supports so that users can allocate internal disk capacities according to their own provisioning requirements. Delicate Package and Interface Design Ever since we opened the box of Qsan Q500-P10 appliance, Qsan's delicate package has proven their manufacturing capabilities: they provide three layers of foam protection for one hard drive tray and use compartments of interlace design to prevent any bumps and scratches with or without hard disk drives installed.

The front side of Q500-P10 enclosure features an aesthetic and lockable net cover to prevent any intended or accidental removal of HDDs. This appliance has 24 HDD slots with SAS interface to ensure stability and functionality. The power switch and operating status LEDs are hidden under the handles at front sides. There is also a reset button to prevent unintended manipulation which ensures the ease of operation.

To further enhance the safety of use, there are three switching power modules on the back panel of Q500-P10, that have handles and are easy to pull out, as well as lock devices to prevent against the looseness of power plug.

AegisSAN Q500-P10 features Intel's newest low-power chip, the world's first atom-based SAN solution with the benefits of increased energy efficiency. It has six 1GbE iSCSI ports, one 1Gb Ethernet port, another 2 hot swappable/redundant fan modules and RS233 port. These connectors on the rear panel are well arranged and designed for great ease of operation.

High Availability and Reliability

AegisSAN Q500 series of storage appliances feature dual active controllers plus the fully redundant and modular hardware components to make the disk array highly available for mission-critical applications. It offers multiple paths and load balancing designs as well as hardware RAID to better ensure the reliability and to provide continuous services.

To satisfy the ever-growing business demands, Q500-P10 delivers high scalability supporting up to 256 drives. Q500 series includes snapshot and replication functions to perform remote replication for disaster recovery enhancing the data security and integrity.

SAN is generally designed to lower the total cost of ownership and enable increased availability and reliability, Reliable Storage for Video Surveillance Applications The continuous data storage and protection are crucial in video surveillance applications. During our verification, Q500-P10 has proven that it can work with DVRs or NVRs to collect their analog and digital signals and store them in the central system.

According to Qsan's Q500-P10 storage scenarios, one Q500-P10 system supports up to 512 ip cameras and data from multiple NVRs or other IP nodes. The recorded data could be distributed to NVRs for further analysis or event processing. Each list of Q500-P10 storage system can accommodate the maximum video data from connected 32 NVRs. The system is able to provide more reliable storage that satisfies users' demands or mirroring methods. Q500-P10 system is easy to operate and have superior expansion potential delivering high reliability for video surveillance applications.

Easy Management and Storage

Qsan's Q500-P10 features multiple user interfaces to enhance the management and integration. Users can take the advantages of its Web-based interfaces to perform the configuration and monitoring tasks via mouse clicking. All functions in the user interfaces with the advanced data protection and status monitoring capability of storage devices are fully accessible and easy to manage. Administrators can use this storage system to control and monitor various NVRs and DVRs. The associated settings are easy to be exported from the current configurations. Hence, Q500-P10 administrators can quickly import all of the system configuration settings into their storage appliances.

This system provides great ease of setup and installation. Simply following the steps of its central management software, users can succeed to integrate Qsan's monitoring and management features into the operating windows.

High Expandability

In conditions that users need to expand their Qsan Q500-P10 system with larger amounts of IP cameras and NVRs, or to keep the data for longer periods of time, and to have higher resolution demands of the video quality, Q500-P10 storage system is easy to scale up without degrading the server performance. It is verified that Q500-P10 can use single RAID controller to handle the data streams from up to 16 NVRs and 192 units of 1080P full HD cameras.

If users want to keep the recorded data for longer periods of time, Q500-P10 scalable units can be quickly added in the system without any down time. When incorporating with more IP Cameras and NVRs, the second controller can non-disruptively and immediately take over the jobs. Such advantages allow Qsan's AegisSAN Q500-P10 storage appliance to be easily adjusted and expanded without any down time issues.

Ideal Solution for Security and Surveillance

To meet the crucial security requirements in verticals such as banks, airports, financial organizations, and retail stores, Qsan AegisSANQ Q500-P10 features hot swappable and fully redundant hardware components from dual active RAID controllers, power supplies, fan modules to JBOD expanders. All these components are hot pluggable ensuring 24/7 continuous service for security applications.

In security and surveillance industry, above benefits are essential for a good storage system to keep recorded data for a longer period of time.

Network Camera 2014 Update: Standard Features and Functions

Over the past few years, network cameras have broken out of their shells and began to gain acceptance and adoption. Meanwhile, the network video surveillance market continues to be headed to a “tipping point” in 2014. This can surely be attributed to the maturity of the IP-based cameras and systems available today, as well as the increasing affordability due to intense competition from manufacturers all around the world.

According to a report from IMS Research, part of IHS, revenue for network video surveillance will overtake analog sales for the first time ever in 2014. Also, over 75 percent of new enterprise projects are employing IP cameras in their constructions. Not only that, but IP cameras are now increasingly being adopted by the SMB and residential sectors with the increasing popularity of cube ip cameras, since homeowners and small to mid-sized business owners can monitor their own stores without having to spend a fortune on surveillance solutions that are overly complex for their environments.

Based on another report by Allied Market Research, the combined North American market for IP-based video surveillance and video surveillance as a service (VSaaS) is forecasted to expand dramatically, rising from US$2.4 billion in 2013 to more than $18 billion by 2020. As these reports suggest, network video is and will be the mainstream for years to come.

With so many flashy features available, the following are some of the most important features or functions in a, or for a, standard network camera. After making massive improvements and advancements, what else is next? This year, it seems many manufacturers are leaning in favor of the low-light function.

LOW LIGHT ALLOWS VISIBLE COLOR IN NIGHTTIME ENVIRONMENTS

The low-light function is the ability of a surveillance camera to capture color images in environments with weak or no lighting. The performance of a low-light camera is highly dependent on the sensitivity of its sensor and the processing ability of its DSP, in combination with its iris type and shutter speed. The iris allows and controls the amount of light to pass through the lens and to the sensor inside the camera.

By working together, they are able to regulate the camera’s light input. New imaging technology as well as higher resolution lenses help to improve overall sensitivity, which continue to improve results from low-light cameras.

Typical day/night surveillance cameras automatically switch to black/white mode once it gets dark, or when lights are shut off. But low-light cameras are becoming increasingly popular as being able to tell colors apart at night is important for identifying suspects and culprits. Low-light cameras are also crucial to settings such as mechanical rooms or critical infrastructures, where the color of lights on different equipment must be discernible. For example, those monitoring in the control center must be able to tell the difference between blue and green lights or red, orange, and yellow lights in order to evaluate the situation in the mechanical rooms and critical infrastructures, and immediately tell if there is an emergency or breach. Presently, the most common lighting condition for a low-light camera to visibly display color images is at 0.01 lux. For more advanced cameras, they are able to visibly display color images in low-light environments up to 0.001 lux.

Now, security manufacturers and their R&D teams are aiming to clearly differentiate colors in nighttime environments up to 0.0001 lux, which is quite a challenge, as it is difficult even for human eyes to see color in this condition. Furthermore, there is no standard test for manufacturers to test their cameras against at the moment. Each manufacturer has its own different set of testing standards which causes inconsistency in camera performance with each different brand. Also, certain testing equipment used by manufacturers to test their cameras may give off some light, which can throw off the results. Another major challenge for low-light cameras is noise in the image captured in low-lux settings. All colors have something known as their own color temperature, which can produce noise. Noise from the color is the biggest issue for low-light cameras due to inability to perform absolute color reproduction, hence it is also important to have the digital noise reduction function to further improve image quality.

WDR ADDRESSES EXTREME LIGHTING

The wide dynamic range (WDR) feature is now standard for almost all security cameras as it helps to address lost details from extreme lighting contrasts present in complex indoor or outdoor environments. Users must note that dynamic range is defined as the ratio of the brightest and darkest regions in an image, and not as an absolute value.

The most common form of WDR uses the multi-exposure method, which consists of capturing two frames at one short and one long exposure speed. The first exposure captures details in bright areas in the scene while the latter captures details in dark areas in the scene. The two images are then combined for an image with visible details in both the bright and dark areas. Most common WDR falls somewhere between 50 to 70dB, while advanced WDR ranges from 100 to 130dB. Currently, the most advanced WDR, the third generation for that matter, is also called “True WDR," capturing four frames for comparison to achieve optimal results, as opposed to the two frames taken with past WDR technology. The increased number of frames taken for comparison helps to address issues such as lighting differences between the foreground and background in the image.

Though many manufacturers boast cameras with 130dB, in reality, it is already considered quite impressive if these cameras can reach around 120dB. Users must evaluate where they plan on installing their cameras and if WDR features are actually needed. Applications where WDR are typically needed include parking lots, big plazas, building entrances, ports, tollbooths, and other areas that are frequently affected by changing light conditions.

HIGHER FRAME RATES ENABLE FASTER-THAN-REAL-TIME VIEWING

Frame rate refers to the number of frames a camera can capture in a second. Human vision, in terms of real-time viewing, will equate to about 30 frames per second (fps). With current technologies, standards for frame rate have come to 720p HD (1,080 x 780 pixels) and 1,080p full HD (1,920 x 1,080 pixels) cameras capturing images at 30fps, providing users with real-time view in high definition. As technology continues to improve, the norm is now moving in the direction of 60fps at HD and megapixel resolution — faster than human vision. Increased frame rates with higher resolution will be extremely beneficial in applications such as toll roads and highways, where cars travel at a high speed, so law enforcement officials are still able to snap a clear picture of the license plates of any law-violating vehicles.

Not long ago, towards the end of 2013, LILIN came out with a 2-megapixel ip camera that is able to capture images at an astounding rate of 120fps. At present, the most common spec is 30fps for a 2-megapixel camera, even though there are megapixel cameras ranging from 1.3 to 29 megapixels. However, the higher the resolution, the slower the frame rate will be as the image sizes are larger and it becomes more difficult to compress with existing H.264 standards. Once H.265 transforms from myth to reality and starts being implemented on a wide scale, this issue will surely be resolved. A major deciding factor for frame rate is highly dependent on the CPU, which varies decisively even though they have the same core but it can offer multiple different features that lead to different performances. Most manufacturers prefer Arm processors, which are put in most SoCs of surveillance ip cameras.

SUFFICIENT BANDWIDTH FOR SMOOTH TRANSMISSION

Having sufficient bandwidth is extremely important for smooth streaming of videos; however, there are several factors that must be taken into account when calculating appropriate bandwidth needed for implementing an IP-based video surveillance solution system. These factors include recording resolution, number of cameras, compression type, fps, duration of recording, and if recording will be event-based or continuous. Also, compression type can be separated to MJPEG, MPEG-4, or H.264. The amount of bandwidth a video recording takes up is also dependent on the amount of motion that takes place in that environment. For instance, cameras can be configured to constant bit rate (CBR) or variable bit rate (VBR) mode. In busy settings where the scenery is constantly changing, such as bus terminals, train stations, airports, and so on, the cameras will be set to CBR. When recorded and played in CBR mode, the video footage is very smooth, but it can only be used for applications where there is enough bandwidth to support it or the image quality will be compromised. When recorded and played in VBR mode, bit rate only increases when abnormal activities or higher-than-usual activities occur. When files go over the bandwidth allowed, it will cause footage to lag. VBR is used in applications where changes to the scenery are rare and few, such as perimeter detection.

Users must note that neither of these settings is better than the other as long as they are used in suitable applications. The normal bit rate needed for HD 720p resolution is around 4Mbps and around 8Mbps for full HD 1,080p resolution. However, large video files often take up a large amount of bandwidth, and when bandwidth runs out, that is when problems arise. Common problems include video artefacts, dropped frames, and reduced resolution when transmitting data, as well as temporary loss of connection and freezing. This is another reason why cameras with ultra-high resolution are usually used primarily for identification and not for recording. To address this issue, users must learn how to properly manage their bandwidth so that it is carrying valuable data as opposed to redundant information.

STREAMING VIDEO: ONE WAY OR ANOTHER

Current video surveillance cameras are now able to provide up to three or four streams simultaneously. Usually, if a camera offers three streams, they are usually separated into one live, one recorded, and one remote stream. Advanced cameras are able to offer up to five streams, two live, two recorded, and one remote. The main stream is usually streamed and recorded in full HD with H.264 compression in real time at 30fps. The second stream will be recorded at a slightly lower rate, around 15fps. Depending on what the CPU can offer, the resolution of remaining streams will be lowered to CIF or D1.

At its best, a camera with three streams will be able to stream and record in real time at full HD resolution for all video streams. For anything higher than three streams, the stream rate and resolution will usually decrease for each additional stream, unless the CPU is powerful enough to handle more. As remote streams are able to be accessed and viewed through mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, they are oftentimes affected by services provided by telecom companies. When the files being viewed remotely are too large, it will be likely to lag.

Now, network cameras are already beginning to take over the video surveillance market. In a few years, the sales of network cameras are sure to surpass those of analog cameras because this technology is proving itself to be mature and reliable, while becoming increasingly easier to install and operate. Network cameras are at a point where they are able to record in high resolution in real time in a low-light environment, while addressing extreme lighting conditions, and stream these feeds in a stable and reliable manner. These network cameras are almost able to do what the human eye can do. The only thing manufacturers can do now is aim higher.

A&S Test Report - 1080P Crystal Clear Night Vision

10x Optical Zoom All-in-one Infrared Camera EverFocus EZN3261 2 Megapixel Infrared Network Camera

EverFocus EZN3261 2.0 megapixel infrared network camera has proven its excellent performance after our one day simulation test.

Good Ventilation, Vandal Resistant and Waterproof Design

EverFocus EZN3261 2 megapixel infrared network camera is made of aluminum enclosure in beige with delicate coating and double-layer structure to provide heat protection and ensure good ventilation for infrared LED light.

All the cables of connectors, where labeled information is provided, are collected at the back arm of this camera to protect the connections from being sabotaged and ensure outdoor IP66 capability (figure 1). This camera supports DC12V power supply and PoE as well enabling flexible power usages. This model also embeds BNC outputs for ease of on site focus adjustment through its 5 directional keys, and it features an external alarm DI/DO connector.

EverFocus EZN3261 infrared network camera is built with a TCP/IP socket without analog signal outputs, so this product has an exclusive auto-zooming feature compared to normal infrared network cameras. This feature allows the adjustments to be done through the buttons on cameras or UI software, providing great ease of on site installations and avoiding the hassles of remote zooming. EZN3261 offers a slot for massive capacity SD/SDHC memory card and bidirectional audio signal transmission capability. Most importantly, EZN3261 is a day-and-night functional camera with 12 efficient LEDs and photoresistors in front to automatically turn on the auxil LEDs (figure 1). The built-in IR lens supports 4.9-49 mm 10x optical zoom and auto-iris. Users can perform the image zooming and autofocus controls via its software interface.

1080P High Definition and Accurate Color Rendition

EverFocus EZN3261 infrared network camera adopts 1/3" CMOS sensor, which enables enhanced image resolution even in low light environments to deliver good image quality in both 16:9 and 9:16 formats. This model supports four streams and multiple formats of compression outputs. When testing with H.264 compression and 2 megapixel formats in main stream of 1080P, we can see that the 16:9 EIA resolution chart and ISO12233 chart show clearly lines around 1200 TVLs (figure 3a and 3b). These results make EverFocus EZN3261 an ideal solution for full HD surveillance. When we monitor the moving object in a dynamic scene, the target doesn't have any image smear. As this product is designed for day-and-night surveillance, users can select whether to use infrared illumination or specific light modes according to different environments. This camera can also switch automatically to monochrome mode in low light conditions to reduce the noise.

When viewed with the standard 24-color rendition and gray scale charts, EZN3261 infrared ip camera shows accurate color rendition. It delivers crisper image quality and excellent noise suppression performance, making it a qualified product for high-end applications (figure 2).

Above Average Network Streaming Capability and Impressively Low Latency

EverFocus EZN3261 supports four streams of image transmission. In H.264, we set the network data rate to 8 Mbps and the data transmission throughput is from 7.9 Mbps to 8.7 Mbps in constant bit rate (CBR). This value is quite big in streaming but the overall performance of 2 megapixel at 30fps is above average. As to the image latency, EZN3261 shows impressive power with high frame rates in big streaming real-time conditions. The manufacturer's long-proven R&D efforts have made the low latency reliability come true. Its delay is surprisingly low with only 190 milliseconds. To further verify this value, we perform the test again and the result is 200 milliseconds.

High Performance Auto Night Vision Switch and Infrared LED Light

EverFocus EZN3261 is designed for day-and-night surveillance; users can check to automatically or manually turn on the night vision features in Internet Explorer screens. They can also select various modes without LED lighting to meet the low light requirements or choose to use auxil 12 LEDs for a better night vision performance. For this test, we put EZN3261 camera in a camera obscura and set Day/Night mode into Auto. Once the camera obscura is in 8-10lux, we further fine-tune the illumination. During the test, we find that EverFocus EZN3261 will switch automatically from color mode to monochrome mode according to its photoresistors sensing. Meanwhile, the auxil LEDs won't cause the monochrome image to be overexposed or blurry (figure 4a and 4b). When we use Internet Explorer screens to adjust the illumination of the camera obscura to 0 lux, the images of day-and-night surveillance are reliable too. In the day mode, the images under the camera obscura test remain colorful and easy to identify the objects and colors even under 0.5-0.3 lux.

Unlike other cameras of this type, it can eliminate the interferences from spotlights or surrounding LED light sources ensuring stable image quality without flickers. When we turn on the monochrome mode of EZN3261 camera, it provides crisper images with its infrared function and the images of the moving objects in the camera obscura show no smear, noise or sparkle caused from the slower electric shutter speeds. This infrared network camera delivers full HD image experience in good night vision quality of 1080P and able to meet customers' crucial night surveillance demands.

The advantages of EverFocus EZN3261 camera include the wide dynamic range (WDR) feature. When simulating the backlight scenes in harsh light environments, the image difference with or without WDR is obvious. However, its designed WDR dB value could be too high so that the noise in the background stands out making the color rendition inaccurate (figure 5a and figure 5b).

Installation Convenience and Optional Features

EverFocus EZN3261 offers the comprehensive Internet IP-based surveillance software supporting tree-view structures for easy performing multiple layers of menus. Users can simply adjust those options and settings in Internet Explorer screens. Most importantly, the live display images of EZN3261 are embedded in the Internet Explorer operating screens, so that when users make adjustments and settings, they are able to preview the image at the same time without the need to shift between different screens.Finally, EZN3261 only requires PoE connections enhancing great convenience of installation.

Security World - Wise Buying Mindset for Access Control in Middle East(2)

Growing Awareness toward Long Term and Intelligent Investment in ME

End user's investment (in this region) is still focused on actual cost of a system at the moment of buying, but we see a growing awareness on total cost of ownership. This shows investment decision becoming more balanced. People are increasingly committed to the long term impact of their investment as well,” according to Joost van der Willik, MD of Middle East at Nedap. Nedap’s security management platform adds value, particularly, in complex and complicated projects requiring high-standard quality security products enabling advanced integration. Integration on a controller level that goes beyond typical server integration even allows even the utilization of legacy systems which are in place already.

For example, in the banking sector, Nedap’s security management platform is perceived as a valuable solution. Security in banking is crucial. Banks have different types of offices and a wide variety of people that are using these facilities like clients, staff and contractors. This mixture makes it particularly challenging to support and maintain security procedures and processes. Using separate solutions for access control, intrusion, and IP video surveillance and integrating them in one platform typically results in a nightmare for security, facility, and IT managers. Due to the single-server and smart controller architecture, this challenge is simplified significantly.

Nedap Identification Systems, another business unit of Nedap, focuses on identifying the flow of people and vehicles through various estates like cities, airports, seaports, and industrial estates. These are all expected to be smart and Nedap provides intelligent solutions to enhance the overall business efficiency and of course, improve the safety and security.

Security World - Wise Buying Mindset for Access Control in Middle East（1）

Middle East buyers carry strong purchasing power. Compared to four to five years ago, Middle East buyers have become more aware of the general benefits that the new technologies can bring them. At the same time, they particularly prefer future-proof security technologies that will bring them extra value to optimize their business operations and even law and policy enforcement. This kind of buying mindset becomes very obvious when they select access control products.

TIME-ATTENDANCE FEATURE IS A "MUST"

Access control products usually tend to be designed according to the local culture and lifestyles in a country. When buyers select access control products in the Middle East, the time-attendance feature is most frequently asked about and preferred because the government has clear rules on employee attendance. "It is important to have a localized approach here. We are able to customize the products according to the regional requirements and culture; for instance, the holidays in the Middle East are Fridays and Saturdays, which is different from other geographic regions. In the Middle East, the time-attendance feature is very important to end users, especially in commercial and governmental buildings solutions. End users really need the time-attendance function to enforce the government law and calculate penalties for unpunctual employees. Time-attendance features are available in different ways in our systems, and are part of the overall business reporting tools available in our access control systems. These include building space usage and occupancy calculation, people-flow measurement, entry and exit time of visitors, subcontractors, and employees. We are also developing a visitor management system to manage visitors using electronic devices. Meeting room reservation is also another newly added function," said Tarek Ismail, Sales Director of Middle East at Tyco Security Products.

In the SMB sector, ZK Techhnology FZCO's time-attendance and access control system is popular especially in the Middle East region, especially in Saudi Arabia, Iran, the U.A.E., and Iraq. "We recently launched our latest iris and vein recognition systems, and IP video surveillance cameras with facial recognition. The IP Camera can link with the access control system, after installing software, suitable for business buildings," said Kiven Wu, Sales Manager of Middle East at ZK Technology FZCO.

TECH-SAVVY TECHNOLOGIES ARE PREFERRED

Due to the combination of higher purchasing power and the interest in innovative solutions, "the end users here are becoming more willing to upgrade from the standard mechanical locks to electromechanical locking systems which provide more convenience and have a more technological aspect to them. Electromechanical locks have gained more traction in the GCC than other Middle East countries," said Tarek Marawan, VP of Business Development, for Middle East at Assa Abloy Security Solutions.

Furthermore, in the Middle East, there are no set standards on locks and door hardware. Some countries such as Saudi Arabia prefer American standards (ANSI), while others prefer European standards (EN). So, there is a mixture of standards in the Middle East, depending on the country's history. "However, I would say it provides a good opportunity for a big organization such as Assa Abloy, because we have a diverse range of product lines which comply with all the different standards," continued Marawan.

People, primarily in the GCC countries, have a high acceptance of new and savvy technologies, which accelerates the penetration of network technologies. Just like in the mature markets, the Middle East also started the adoption of NFC and identity management in certain verticals.

"From HID Global's perspective, there are several key trends for access control (in this region). Firstly, there is a growing paradigm shift from proprietary access control architectures to open and flexible solutions addressing customers business requirements for new products and technologies," said Harm Radstaak, MD of Identity & Access Management of EMEA at HID Global. "Another important trend is the increasing adoption of mobile access control, in stages, whereby smartphones will function similarly to that of a card transaction today."

OPTIMIZING BUSINESS OPERATIONS WITH INTEGRATION

Because of the high understanding toward advanced technologies and their benefits in this region, more and more end users are getting away from the traditional buying mindset, such as considering security applications or products only, and are starting to think about how security technologies can optimize their security processes and procedures and fit their security policies. "We are witnessing a rise in demand from organizations to provision a converged physical access control system (PACS) and IT identities on a single card (or smartphone) that can be used to open doors, log on to computers, and for other applications. Integrating physical access control with IT security will create a seamless user experience when securing doors, data, and the cloud. It will improve how organizations create, use and manage identities across many different applications," said Radstaak. "Migrating intelligence to the door will continue with further adoption of IP architectures and future capabilities of smartphones for access control."

Pierre Racz, President and CEO of Genetec also echoed, "Many customers approach us, initially, not just for security, but to get operational efficiency out of it too, such as in retail stores or even city wide surveillance system. We discovered that access control has become a very important sensor to monitor daily business operations. In order to optimize their operations, end users mostly turn to a unified access control and video surveillance system. For example, some of our airport customers charge their employees for not bringing their badges and sometimes the fine is huge. That is because the government has imposed this specific rule on the airport. The airport would get fined without enforcing this rule."

"In many cases, the employees who forget to bring their badges would 'piggyback' on access granted to other employees. So, now, we are using the video with access control to monitor if an employee sneaks in with someone else. So, combining these two technologies help the end users to enforce the rule in a
very cost-effective way."

GREEN CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING MANAGEMENT

New technologies, like green construction, are also driving the market to adopt more new technologies. John Davies, MD at TDSi commented on the changes for the past three years in this region. "We found that the customers want more and more integrated systems, which is not just integration of different elements of the security systems, such as intruder alarms, fire, video surveillance, and access control. More often, customers also want all these security systems to be integrated into a building management system, or back-office systems, like payroll systems and time-attendance systems. From an access control point of view, we can easily know where the people are and see how these people interact. Building management systems also want to interface with access control in order to provide better granular control of heating and ventilation control or lighting systems. Although the Middle East is full of energy, governments and corporations still care about the environment green technologies. We find that Europe has a great track record in developing green technologies, but Asian customers are early adopters of these green technologies; for instance, Hong Kong has been really developing the concept of smart buildings from four to five years ago. In Europe, people are very slow to adopt. However, here, buyers are so different. They really love new technologies and ideas as long as there is a convincing return on investment or cost benefit."

FUTURE DEVELOPMENT

The access control sector is not like the video surveillance sector, which is strictly regulated by government rules. Instead, buyers' selection is mostly dependent on their preference toward specific standards and technologies. In general, thanks to the people's acceptance of new technologies and requirements toward efficient management and long-term investment, we can expect more and more advanced technologies, especially in access control, to be introduced to this region.