Security Products

By Karina Sanchez · December 2006

SimplexGrinnell Receives Award from Fire Protection Engineers
SimplexGrinnell recently received the 2006 David A. Lucht Lamp of Knowledge award from the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE).

The Lamp of Knowledge award, established in 2005, recognizes an organization, company or individual that has contributed substantially to increasing the opportunities for higher education in fire protection engineering. This year's presentation was made to SimplexGrinnell at SFPE's annual awards and honors banquet in Elliott City, Md.

"We are deeply honored to have been selected by SFPE for the David A. Lucht Lamp of Knowledge award," said Dean Seavers, president of SimplexGrinnell. "The commitment to education is an important part of our heritage and a cornerstone of the approach we take today as a fire and life-safety company. All of us at SimplexGrinnell thank the society for recognizing the company's ongoing support in educating fire protection engineers and advancing the protection of life and property."

"Education is core activity for SFPE, and SimplexGrinnell has an exemplary record of supporting higher education opportunities for fire protection engineers. SimplexGrinnell helps to foster fire protection engineering education and activities of SFPE that help to keep people and property safe from fire," said David Evans, P.E., FSFPE, executive director of SFPE.

The Lamp of Knowledge award is named after David A. Lucht, the recently retired founding director of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute graduate degree program in fire protection engineering. During his 42-year career in fire safety, Lucht spent more than 25 years building and growing WPI's Fire Protection Engineering program and the Center for Firesafety Studies.

"SimplexGrinnell exemplifies the ideals of the Lamp of Knowledge and is certainly a fitting recipient for the 2006 award," Lucht said. "It's important to note that the fire protection engineering program we built at WPI would not have been possible without the relationships that were established with business and industry. All of us involved in fire protection engineering appreciate the exceptional commitment SimplexGrinnell has made to higher education and the industry as a whole."

SimplexGrinnell's selection for the Lamp of Knowledge Award reflects the strong relationships the company has cultivated over the years with some of the nation's leading institutions for fire protection engineering education and graduate research, including WPI and the University of Maryland. SimplexGrinnell's involvement with the two universities, and fire protection and safety engineering technology academic institutions, such as Oklahoma State University, has included financial contributions, hands-on internship opportunities, donation of fire alarm and suppression equipment, support for student research projects and the provision of lecturers for specialized courses.

Companies Integrate Components for End-to-End Access Control System
Honeywell recently announced that it is working with Novell, ImageWare Systems Inc. and ActivIdentity to offer an integrated physical and logical control system for complying with HSPD-12, which mandates the implementation of a common personal identification card to be used for accessing federally controlled facilities by both government employees and contractors. 

Together, the companies provide all components of FIPS 201 such as an identity management system, a card management system, logical and physical access control systems and PIV cards. Other components to the FIPS 201 solution are contactless readers, physical access control panels, contact chip readers and card printers/encoders. The largest components of the solution are those that comprise the IT infrastructure to manage processes, provide work flows, PKI certificates and share data across systems.

"Working together allows us to take physical security to the next level with complete enterprise management of data and credentials," said Beth Thomas, senior product manager, credentials and readers, Honeywell. "In addition to our government customers, many of our commercial customers will also benefit from the best practices of our FIPS 201 solution."

"Organizations increasingly need to integrate physical access with logical access, and create a tighter connection between identities and credentials to enable the seamless convergence of IT and physical security systems," said Loren Russon, director of product management for identity and security management solutions, Novell. "This joint offering integrates and simplifies the deployment and management of key systems the industry is already using today."

"As the deadline approaches for federal government agencies to begin issuing PIV cards, agencies can rely on this collective offering to ensure timely government-wide interoperability compliance among various systems for flexibility, scalability and functionality," said Jim Miller, ImageWare’s chairman and CEO. "We are pleased to offer our expertise in biometric identity management."

"In working with innovative government agencies in deploying identity and security solutions, including the DoD, VA and DoI, ActivIdentity has created valuable practices that agencies implementing PIV projects can follow," said Robert Brandewie, ActivIdentity senior vice president, Public Sector Systems.

SecureWorks Named One of Georgia’s Top 10 Fastest-Growing Companies
For the second year in a row, SecureWorks, provider of pure-play managed Internet security services, has been named one of the top 10 technology companies in Deloitte's prestigious Technology Fast 50 program for Georgia. The program is a ranking of the 50 fastest-growing technology, media, telecommunications and life sciences companies in the state by Deloitte & Touche USA LLP, a professional services organizations. Rankings are based on the percentage revenue growth over five years from 2001 to 2005. SecureWorks ranked sixth in this year's Technology Fast 50 program and ranked third in Deloitte's 2005 Technology Fast 50 program. SecureWorks also received a ranking of 163rd on this year's Inc. 500 fastest-growing private companies list.

SecureWorks has 1,500 clients and more than 5,000 devices under management. The company leverages proprietary technology to secure the edge of the network and advanced monitoring to defend against internal threats. 

"I attribute our success to our expert staff, our dedication to excellent client service and the superb quality of our security services," said Mike Cote, president and CEO of SecureWorks. "SecureWorks continues to achieve these accolades because we are providing enterprises and commercial companies with managed security services that truly protect their assets, and we are offering them in a manner which fits their business needs. It isn’t every day that you get a chance to be involved in such important work—protecting thousands of companies' networks and their clients from hackers. SecureWorks' employees are passionate about security and passionate about their clients. It is this combination which has enabled us to become the leading MSSP and one of the fastest-growing technology companies in the country."

"To rank on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50, companies must have phenomenal revenue growth over five years," said Andrew Harris, Deloitte’s Southeast regional managing partner for the Technology, Media and Telecommunications industry practice. "SecureWorks has proven to be one of the fast-growth success stories in Georgia, and we applaud their dedication to making their vision a reality."

SecureWorks' increase in revenues of 1,548 percent from 2001 to 2005 resulted in a No. 6 ranking in the Technology Fast 50 for Georgia. The average increase in revenues among companies that made the Technology Fast 50 for the region was 872 percent.

To qualify for the Technology Fast 50, companies must have had operating revenues of at least $50,000 in 2001 and $5,000,000 in 2005, be headquartered in North America and be a company that owns proprietary technology or proprietary intellectual property that contributes to a significant portion of the company's operating revenues; or devotes a significant proportion of revenues to the research and development of technology. Using other companies' technology or intellectual property in a unique way does not qualify.

Toronto Transit Commission Selects March Networks for Mobile Video Surveillance
March Networks, a provider of IP-based digital video surveillance solutions, announced that the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) has selected the company for mobile video surveillance on its city buses and streetcars.

Toronto City Council has approved funding for the project that will begin with deployment on 100 vehicles. The remainder of the funding will be a part of the 2007 budget process, with city council and the TTC considering this project to be a priority. The entire fleet of TTC buses and streetcars totals more than 1,750 vehicles.

The R5™ Visual Intelligence Mobile Suite, including the new 5412 MDVR, was selected by the TTC for its reliability and video quality. The deployment of advanced video surveillance will allow for enhanced security and safety of passengers and drivers onboard TTC vehicles. The solution also will be used to assist in optimizing the premium level of service that the TTC offers to its customers.

"As one of the largest transit authorities in North America, the TTC requires the most reliable and scalable mobile video solution to ensure their security needs are met," said Peter Strom, president and CEO of March Networks. "March Networks continues to be the solution of choice for large-scale mobile video surveillance deployments throughout the world."

3VR Takes $15 Million to Deliver Searchable Surveillance 
3VR Security Inc., provider of searchable surveillance, recently announced that it has raised $15 million at a significant increase in valuation, in Series C funding led by DAG Ventures. The round will fuel 3VR's participation in the converged video management market, estimated by industry analysts to reach $7.2 billion by 2008.

DAG Ventures, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based venture fund, brings depth in cable TV, infrastructure, media and wireless industries to the firm. The round also includes follow-on investments from VantagePoint Venture Partners, one of the largest venture capital firms in the United States, In-Q-Tel, a private, strategic venture firm funded by the Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Intelligence Community, and Kleiner Perkins, Caulfield & Buyers, one of the leading technology venture funds.

"Searchable surveillance is a breakthrough innovation with the potential to improve physical security by an order of magnitude," said Greg Williams, general partner at DAG Ventures. "The global appetite for sophisticated technology that improves security is increasing at a never-before-seen rate. Through their innovative approach of treating surveillance video as structured data, 3VR has a unique ability to make surveillance video searchable—which unlocks broad potential for improvements across the security market. We are pleased to be investing in technology that will make a difference in the world in which we all live."

LCRA Looks to Pegasus Technologies to Authenticate Field Workers
Pegasus Technologies, a provider of IT-based security solutions and services, announced that its deployment of CRYPTOcard's two-factor authentication tokens has enabled the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) to positively identify field workers by phone during the critical "red tagging" process—instantly eliminating 60 percent of associated travel time. LCRA estimates this improved efficiency has saved 450 worker hours per year, which represents a project payback time of seven months.

With approximately 2,200 employees, Central Texas-based LCRA generates and delivers electricity, provides water supplies and flood protection, and manages the waters of the lower Colorado River basin. LCRA’s red tagging or lockout/tagout procedure ensures all equipment at the Fayette Power Project's three coal-fired generating units is safely shut down—to prevent accidental release of stored energy—before maintenance staff begin servicing machinery.

"Since equipment can contain stored electrical energy, air, water pressure, or super-heated steam flowing through piping, lockout/tagout is a very serious and meticulous process," said Virginia Moreno, senior safety representative, LCRA.

Prior to using CRYPTOCard's RB-1 pinpad token to authenticate themselves by phone, the maintenance staff had to travel to the clearance station and manually sign the master control document that lists all the isolated equipment to confirm that all machinery had been correctly shut down. With the FPP spread over many acres, LCRA's research showed that more than 60 percent of the time taken to issue red tags was due to the travel time between the field and the clearance station. And with more than 3,000 red tags per year split between LCRA's five maintenance crews, each of which contain between 10 and 14 workers, this travel time added up to more than 450 hours annually.

Today, once a maintenance worker has reviewed the red tags, he or she simply contact the clearance station by radio or phone, switch on the authentication token and enter their PIN. The credit card-style token then generates a random one-time password, which is displayed on the token’s screen, and the worker can simply read the password to the operations staff at the clearance station to verify their identity. As the password is different for every call, it cannot be used by other workers at a later time.

"LCRA is always looking for ways to become more efficient, and CRYPTOCard’s tokens enable maintenance workers to save 60 percent of the travel time previously required to manually sign off on the lockout/tagout process," said Douglas Plummer, business process improvement manager, LCRA. "With an average of 15 minutes travel time to the clearance station, and over 3,000 red tag clearances a year, LCRA estimates that it has saved 450 worker hours per year, which translates into a payback time of approximately seven months. And that is pretty impressive when you consider that LCRA's payback threshold for our investment projects is five years."

NBFAA to Award Scholarships to Children of Police, Firefighters
The National Burglar & Fire Alarm Association has begun accepting applications for the 2007 Youth Scholarship program, which will award $10,000 in scholarships to two children of active duty police officers and firefighters. The first place winner will receive $6,500 to put towards their college education and the second place winner will receive $3,500.

Since the NBFAA Youth Scholarship program was created in 1996, the association and its affiliated chartered state associations have donated more than $250,000 in scholarship funds to students whose parents are police and fire officials.

"The men and women that serve this country each and every day as police officers or firefighters are heroes and national treasures," said NBFAA President George Gunning. "The work they do in protecting our communities can never be appreciated enough. This scholarship is one of the ways we can thank our deserving public safety partners."

Eligible students must be between 15 and 20 years old, a graduating high school senior and have been accepted for admission to an accredited college or university. Each eligible student must have a father, mother or natural guardian who is a full-time police officer or fire fighter. Students will be required to write an essay entitled, "What it means to me to have my parent or guardian involved in securing our community."

Students residing in a state with a participating NBFAA chartered state association must enter through their state-level scholarship program to be considered for the national awards. The winners from each state are automatically considered for the national scholarship. Students who reside in a state without an NBFAA chapter or in a non-participating state should submit their applications directly to NBFAA.

About the author

Karina Sanchez
Karina Sanchez is the former managing editor for Security Products magazine. She now freelances for Web publishers, trade magazines and corporations.