Podcast with Security Squared!

Here's a shameless plug here to check out my recent podcast with Steven Titch of Security Squared.

I spoke with Steve for about ten minutes yesterday as a follow-up to our brief meeting at ASIS last month. The podcast addresses the significance of combining NVR, searchable surveillance and cross-platform connectivity, as well as the concept of structured vs. unstructured video.

Steve is an editor and executive producer at Security Squared, a blog that focuses on the convergence of the security industry around access control, IP video and storage, and is an seasoned expert in the industry. Check out the full podcast here.

Security Bloggers Must Disclose Payments & Freebies

In a 4-0 decision, the FTC announced new rules today that will require all bloggers to disclose any freebies or payments they receive for reviewing or endorsing products.

This decision will be especially important to the security industry with its relatively few analysts and commentators. There is a desperate need for quality, yet unbiased, writing and research in this space -- one where good information can quite literally be the difference between life and death.

The FTC said that violators of the new policy, that goes into effect December 1 of this year, will be subject to fines of up to $11,000...per violation.

However, the commissions did not address how bloggers should disclose such 'conflicts of interest.' To meet the new guidelines, I'd suggest that my security blogging compatriots simply list out the names of any companies or individuals that they have received payments or "freebies" from in the previous 12 months.

----

Steve's paychecks come from 3VR and everyone should know that he is hopeless biased in that area.

Sitting Down with Rajiv Shah

It has been a busy past few months, but I recently had the opportunity to chat with Rajiv Shah, an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the author of the Smart Cameras blog. Below are some of my answers to his questions around privacy, vendor comparisons, industry connections to academia and the future of the smart camera market.

Again, very excited to share them with the growing IHF readership. Feel free to make comments on any of the responses or questions, and I will be sure to address them.

Also, check out Rajiv's Smart Cameras blog -- it focuses on developments in Chicago's use of video surveillance, as well as other "smart cameras" that utilize additional sensors and/or computer processing techniques. Cool read and a staple on my blogroll.

1. Privacy: What should the industry approach be towards privacy? Should they incorporate features that protect privacy? Should they have default settings that protect privacy or delete information? Or should we not worry about this? Is there a need for an industry-wide approach to this issue?

Conventional wisdom presents ‘privacy vs. security’ as a zero-sum game, one in which gains in one arena necessitate sacrifices in the other. And while there is certainly much truth in this, it is also equally true that in a modern society neither principle can exist without the other. There can be no security without privacy, and no privacy without security.

Today, any meaningful national security failure could create a response that curtails our civil liberties quite broadly. And conversely, next-generation security technologies deployed without adequate privacy and civil liberties protections likely face the crippling backlash of a concerned public. As a result, the security industry needs to take issues of privacy VERY seriously.

For me, an approach to privacy in the context of surveillance starts with a few key principles designed (1) to narrowly tailor a system’s use and (2) to ensure that system access is adequately controlled and audited. Today, conventional “dumb” surveillance systems offer none of these benefits. A large video wall in a security room or command center does nothing to distinguish between security threats and the average person; these systems cast an unnecessarily wide net, relying on human expertise and interest to filter down to focus in on actual security threats.

The issue of what to delete or keep in terms of surveillance becomes much less important on systems where this kind of ‘all-or-nothing’ approach to data access doesn’t exist. For instance, on a 3VR, an investigator might search through many months worth of video information looking for matches or clues relating to the kidnapping of a little girl. However, because this query is done algorithmically using facial recognition, and because the search request is logged and audited, there is ultimately much less concern about the overall retention of video data. The public generally has very little problem with legitimate surveillance investigation that doesn’t subject them to what they feel is needless voyeurism.

Retention of video also becomes less of a concern in the context of new blurring and encryption algorithms designed to protect individual privacy. These new technologies prevent generally tracking and identification of the pubic using surveillance, while preserving the ability of law enforcement and security officials to detect and investigate crime. To better understand what I mean by this, you should take a look at the recent article in New Scientist on some of what we are working on in 3VR labs right now.

In any case, issues of data retention, encryption, access control and the like are often more policy issues than industry issues. Instead, our focus should be enabling decision and policy makers to make, monitor and enforce these choices themselves. Our solutions should present options to do all of this...and more. Today, most security solutions don’t include any privacy protections whatsoever. That needs to change; asking someone to chose between security and privacy isn’t much choice at all.

2. Comparing Vendor Solutions: What can be done to make it simpler for end users to compare and contrast different solutions? It's very confusing now for end users to sort through claims by tens of companies on effectiveness, costs, technology, etc.

Normally, I would say that the answer to this question solely involves the emergence of various standards groups, independent testing and analysis organizations -- that is because the best response to confusion is nearly always more good information. And, I do think there is some good news on the horizon in both of those areas with new security analysts, bloggers and agencies entering the marketplace of ideas every day.

However, because many new solutions’ claims today are so specific and require real-world deployment for actual evaluation, the only way for end-users to fully educate themselves may be through pilot and testing projects that they conduct themselves. New technologies being offered today represent a quantum leap over previous generations of security and surveillance solutions, and end users will ultimately need to make a very significant investment in time and money to educate themselves on their benefits.

3. Connections to Academia: Explain if anything needs to be done to expand the connection between industry and academia. After all, much of the engineering talent has come directly from universities. Are there any suggestions you have for universities and their research?

The disconnect between commercial markets and academia is a classic problem seen across many industries, but I have noticed is a particular problem in the security industry. And as a partial result, there has been comparatively little innovation at the core of this market in recent decades. The surveillance methods used to catch criminals hasn't changed drastically with investigators still found staring at video walls or fast-forwarding through video stores looking for needles in haystacks. Plus, the innovations responsible for rapid productivity gains in knowledge workers in other industry segments seems to have largely passed this industry by. Who are security’s Googles, Microsofts, and Oracles?

To begin to address this issue, I think that most importantly security needs to become the province of innovative and interesting companies again. Only by tackling big, tough and important problems can the security industry hope to lure academia’s best and brightest, or focus them on its problems.

As for universities and their research, there is one problem faced by the security industry today greater than all others…and that is a crisis of our own making. It’s “information overload.” There are quite simply too many cameras and sensors today generating way too much information today, and the resulting torrent of data threatens to overrun our entire industry. Identify ways to process and sort and make meaningful this flood, and you will have done us all a great service…and there is probably a job waiting for you at 3VR, as well.

4. Future Growth of Smart Cameras: Have cameras hit a period of steady growth or do you foresee a potential boom ahead? If so, what are the crucial factors that you see that are limiting growth of that will cause growth to increase? Do we need to improve technology, better end-user experience, etc.

Cameras have seen explosive growth already -- sales worldwide are booming. Not only that, but the general sense of a 'camera' is evolving dramatically; dumb cameras, smart cameras, cameras that record at 200 frames per second, cameras integrated with iPods – they're popping up all over the place and exploding in ways that people could not have anticipated. Not only are the types of cameras available growing exponentially, but the data being collected by cameras has increased by a geometric factor far beyond that. New cameras have higher resolution, higher frame rates. More of just about everything!

As a result, we're stuck drinking from the firehose for the time being. We're inundated with data and have no idea what to do with it due to the sheer volume we're faced with. It's coming in too quickly to comprehend, and as a result, we've discovered that it's not the volume of data you collect, but what you can do with that video (and how quickly) that matters.

The modality of staring at a wall of video screens broadcasting camera streams broke down a long time ago – and we're better off for it. However, as camera volume, quality and speed explodes, we need to figure out how to comprehend and process this volume of data. If we're going to manage the growth of cameras, they don't need to be smarter – we're already capturing more data than we need – but rather more searchable and enable efficient retrieval of vital information.

3VR Featured in New Scientist!

This just in! Check out 3VR's image-scrambling technology in the most recent issue of New Scientist out this week.

I spoke with Paul Marks, New Scientist's chief technology correspondent, a little while back around our new method of scrambling CCTV images to preserve the privacy of innocent persons, and he discusses this technology in the issue out this week. Just another example of how we're bringing structure to the world of surveillance to eliminate the 'all-or-nothing' nature of such data collection.

Check out a longer post about the piece on 3VR's blog here.

IHF Roundup: Retail Crime Rates Continue to Climb, Robotic Animals End Poaching Dreams & Other Top Headlines This Week

At their conference in Orlando earlier this week, RILA announced the continuing trend of crime in retail institutions at least partially blamed on the dismal economic conditions we've been experiencing. The survey included some of America's largest retailers in all market segments and inquired about measured or perceived changes in retail crimes over the last four months (on the heels of the December 2008 Crime Trends Survey). Here's a quick rundown of the statistics. Looks like we've still got a ways to go to turn this ship around:

• 61% of retailers surveyed report having experienced an increase in amateur/opportunistic shoplifting in the last 4 months.
• 55% have experienced an increase in financial fraud.
• 72% of respondents report that they continue to see an increase in organized retail crime (ORC).
• No retailers reported a decrease at all in amateur/opportunistic shoplifting since last surveyed.
  

Not exactly encouraging numbers, but they definitely show room for improvement and a growing market for surveillance deployments in the retail sector.

While some are resorting to stealing merchandise to make ends meet, others are betting on Lady Luck for a few extra bucks in this recession. Many casinos have seen increased gambling tendencies -- that is, of already-problematic gamblers -- in the past few months. Should security systems be preventing such detrimental habits? A Toronto Sun writer seems to think so.

With an estimated one-third of gambling revenue coming from problem gamblers in casinos, she puts forth the valid argument as to why they aren't stopped before hitting the tables. As she notes in the article, "In Holland, for instance, all casino visitors have to show their national ID card or a passport and are entered into a computer database that tracks their gambling behavior."

So, why aren't other countries monitoring such negative behavior? Should there be some sort of biometric database in gambling facilities? Good question. Although, if you think about it, isn't that almost like employing biometrics at a fast-food joint and prohibiting those with high blood pressure from ordering certain fatty foods? Definitely something to be considered.

Biometrics (or the lack thereof) aren't only in hot water in casinos -- that's hardly the case.

In England, the Home Office announced plans for organizations (including the Post Office and National Pharmacy Association) to collect and transmit biometric information for ID card enrollment. That would mean fingerprints and facial photographs would be stored on ID cards and in a central database.

However, the big question remains the security of the data itself. With such a massive high-street database, there must be a maximum security standard for the implementation to be viable. Additionally, who would be liable for a breach in the system?

That's an awfully high level of risk with the value this type of highly-sensitive information presents to identity thieves and the like. Still lots of kinks to be worked out here. Plus, really not sure how I'd feel about needing to give a set of prints to receive my prescription either.

Biometrics scans are popping up all over -- even in journalism. Fingerprints and retina scans are now required for all journalists covering the war in Afghanistan before being accredited to travel with NATO units or visit military bases. It's drawing some red flags from legal experts who have called the new produced "strange and offensive" and I'm not surprised. According to the article, "The data, including fingerprints and a retina scan, are used to verify identity and are apparently checked against an archive of known terrorists." I've heard journalists called bad things, but being checked against terrorist images -- not quite. At least yet.

Wrote about this quickly earlier in the week -- robotics out to save Mother Nature. Well, something like that. Researchers have designed robotic animals to catch animal poachers. Turkeys, swimming moose, white-tailed deer, black bears -- you name it, there's a robot that resembles it. These robots are saving species one at a time -- literally. With prices ranging from $500 for turkey to $5,500 for a grizzly bear, these decoys do not come cheap and with special reflective eyes glow at night, I'm not sure I'd want to be out in the wild with either species.

Also, don't forget to check out John Honovich's post about our 3VR Korea study on IPVideoMarket.info (along with the commentary from our CEO Al Shipp and myself) here. Gets into the nitty-gritty of the what the study results really mean. Definitely an interesting read.

3VR CEO Al Shipp Interviewed in Security Products Podcast!

A new podcast was posted on Security Products this week featuring 3VR CEO Al Shipp!

Al spoke with Ralph Jensen, the editor-in-chief of Security Products, for the "On the Move" section of the magazine's May issue. Check it out!

Ralph asks Al about the similarities between his experience at Apple and his role at 3VR, 3VR's recent partnerships and integrations and how they fit in with our strategy down the road, as well as our recent S-Series announcement.

IHF Roundup: Airports Ponder Universal Access Control, Researchers Design 'Wearable' Robots & Other Top Headlines This Week

Here's a quick rundown of the headlines that caught my eye this week (click on the links to check out the articles in full):

Airport credentials: What's going to happen?
SecureIDNews
Zack Martin

• How airports identify employees has been a concern since 9/11 and other incidents have shown that there are potential security vulnerabilities. The Transportation Security Administration is working on a specification for airport access control systems that would use biometrics and smart cards. The specification calls for an interoperable credential that could be read at airports throughout the country.
• The incident pointed to most often when it comes to better securing credentials at airports is an incident at O’Hare International Airport in 2007. In that case, 23 employees from a staff-outsourcing firm were using ID cards from employees who had quit.
  
• There are already a number of different projects running -- The TSA has the Airport Credential Interoperability Specification (ACIS) and the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) created the Biometric Airport Security Identification Consortium (BASIC). The AAAE is working with the TSA on its efforts. Too many acronyms if you ask me.

Wearable bot said to make you stronger
CNET (Crave Blog)
Leslie Katz

• Through a sensor attached to the skin, "HAL" (Hybrid Assistive Limb) captures faint biosignals on the skin's surface that result from messages sent from the brain to muscles when a person attempts to move. A computer analyzes how much power the wearer intends to generate, then calculates the amount of torque needed to put limbs into action.
• Especially noteworthy here is that the suit responds to intended motion, rather than actual motion.
• "HAL" is currently being used by people in Japan with weakened muscles and disabilities related to strokes and/or spinal cord injuries. It's also expected to report for heavy-labor duty support at factories, as well as rescue support at disaster sites.
• Do they come in different colors and/or patterns?

Noise from our ears a basis for biometrics
ZDNet
Chris Jablonski

• The concept is based on otoacoustic emissions (OAE), which are sounds emitted by the mammalian inner ear in response to an audio stimulation.
• According to the researchers, OAEs offer some unique opportunities when applied as a biometric system. For one, it can be embodied as a telephone handset or headphones, which is something everyone is familiar with. And secondly, it can be employed in a challenge-response dialogue.
• However, watch out for waxy build-up and BAC level after a night out on the town -- with both, emissions are deadened. Also, different drugs alter the amplitude of OAEs.
  

How Kiva Robots Help Zappos and Walgreens
BusinessWeek
Jessie Scanlon

• Robots have been around a long time, but what's interesting about Kiva, which has four patents, with another 14 pending, is the way in which Kiva Founder and CEO Mick Mountz's team has integrated three technologies: WiFi, digital cameras, and low-cost servers capable of parallel processing.
  
• The servers work in real-time, receiving orders, immediately dispatching robots to bring the required pods to the worker fulfilling the order, and then returning the pods to their storage locations. The robots receive their orders wirelessly, while using cameras to read navigational barcode stickers on the warehouse floor.
• Roughly 20% of the 8,000 commercial U.S. warehouses are automated, including Walgreens and Zappos, meaning that after workers pull goods off of the shelves, they are put on conveyer belts, carousels, and/or other automatic sorting systems that move the products through the warehouse more efficiently.

Alaska introduces bill protecting citizens’ biometric data
ThirdFactor

• Alaskan state senator, Bill Wielechowski, has introduced a bill to the state congress that intends to protect Alaskan citizens from having their biometric information collected or used without their knowing and consent.
• The congressman’s hope is that the bill will assuage fears over the misuse of biometric information such as potential employers using DNA samples to determine one’s tendency towards certain ailments or the tracking of citizens via facial recognition and video surveillance.

Cameras, sensors spark government surveillance debate
Democrat & Chronicle
Brian Sharp

• The Rochester (NY) Police Department's reliance on data-crunching computers and license-plate reading scanners triggered a backlash this week from a citizens group called Activists Against Racism Movement.
• In a statement to the media, the group labeled the targeted enforcement a "dragnet" and "absolutely racist in nature," predicting that it will predominately snare minorities for minor offenses.
• Doubt remains about whether the technology actually prevents crime, or just relocates it. People do tend to feel safer, experts say. Witnesses are more likely to cooperate with police if they think a camera also caught the action, and so property crime declines, but research has yet to document a corresponding drop in violent crime.

Plus, don't forget to scroll down and check out 3VR's anouncement around our technology's performance in recent South Korea NPA/SK Networks facial recognition technology testing. More details coming soon.

South Korean Study Delivers a Face Rec First (90%+ Accuracy Using Surveillance Video)

Those following the South Korean government’s most recent biometric initiative know it to be one of the most ambitious facial recognition testing and deployment projects ever conceived. The project, in its various phases, has been featured quite extensively on Korean television here and here.

Under the project, the Korean National Police (NPA) sought to deploy facial recognition technology against Seoul’s plentiful video surveillance cameras, both to generate alerts to the presence of targeted individuals, as well as provide a mechanism to quickly search city surveillance archives for persons identified after the fact.

Though the NPA has been quite public on its facial recognition project in general, details regarding the specific technologies and testing results have been closely guarded. However, today after much anticipation, the NPA has finally made its initial findings public. According to the NPA and SK Networks spokesmen, 3VR's facial recognition platform demonstrated the highest percentage of accuracy of any of the eight tested technologies in trials run by the NPA and its testing partner, South Korea's IT giant SK Networks.

Indeed the results, at around 90% accuracy, would seem far better than those achieved in any previous public video facial recognition study. After a grueling multi-year testing process, in 3VR SmartRecorders and SmartCams provided between 85 percent and 92 percent accuracy in recognizing and matching faces in a few crowded, highly-trafficked public train stations in Seoul. In each case, the images analyzed were of fast-moving groups of commuters entering or exiting various transit areas en masse.

Said Sung-Ho Kong of SK Networks:

“In 2008, we performed a live, uncontrolled test of 3VR's facial recognition technology in Seoul subway stations, where the solution was an impressive 85-92 percent accurate, depending on conditions. No other solution approached this level of accuracy, vastly improving our ability to track, find and thwart crime in subways and other highly populated areas, which had previously proven extremely difficult to monitor.”

To better appreciate just how impressive the NPA’s results are, we need to compare them to the best previous facial recognition study. In 2006-2007, a similar facial recognition-use case was evaluated by the German Federal Police. After months of testing in a German subway with lighting and traffic much more controlled than in South Korea, a mediocre 60 percent accuracy rating was achieved.

The improvements in accuracy afforded by 3VR are the result of a unique approach to video facial recognition. While most face rec vendors offer technologies optimized for the comparison of flat, normally lit, passport-style photos, only 3VR's software was built from the ground up to address many of the unique challenges presented by real-time surveillance video.

According to Tim Frederick, director of engineering at 3VR:

“This study demonstrates the breakthrough power of 3VR’s patented facial surveillance technology. Unlike other attempts at high-volume face surveillance, which re-purposed still-image face recognition algorithms, the South Korean study benefited from 3VR’s end-to-end video analysis system, specifically designed for this type of demanding video application.”

Expect more details from 3VR and the NPA shortly, but in the meantime, please check out SDN's Rhianna Daniels' feature story on the announcement, as well as a quick diagram of how the technology works and even some up-close and personal screen grabs of the UI.

UPDATE June 22, 2009:

Here is a translation of the South Korean National Police's Phase 1 testing results:

TimeSight VLM vs. 3VR SmartStorage™

People were ‘buzzing’ over TimeSight Systems’ Networked Video Recorder at ISC West this year. And who wouldn’t buzz hearing claims like “Mega Pixels without Mega Storage,” a “90% reduction in storage requirements” and more? It all sounds too good to be true. So what’s the truth? In this post, I’ll take a look under the hood at TimeSight and compare it to another storage optimization technology that I know very well, 3VR’s SmartStorage™.

First, let’s look at TimeSight’s technology:

TimeSight touts two approaches to squeeze more video into less storage. The first, which they call Motion Optimized Recording (MORe), is pretty straightforward. Motion and non-motion video are simply recorded at different qualities and frame rates based on how the user configures the system. According to TimeSight, this is superior to more basic on/off motion-based recording because non-motion video is still recorded, albeit at a lower frame rate, instead of just disregarded.

TimeSight’s other featured technology is called Video Lifecycle Management (VLM). It’s also pretty simple to understand. As video gets older, it is reduced in quality in order to save storage space. You heard it…the way that TimeSight keeps megapixel imagery longer is to turn it into something that’s NOT OF MEGAPIXEL QUALITY!

Well, I guess low quality is better than no quality, but somehow that feels like a pretty weak value proposition to me, and it doesn't quite live up the claim of “Mega Pixels without Mega Storage.”

How does this compare to 3VR’s SmartStorage™?

3VR’s storage optimization technology, SmartStorage™, has gone through several cycles of innovation since the company founding. The latest round of development culminated in a series of news articles, videos and technical write-ups you can read here, here and here. As with TimeSight, the 3VR technology includes features like motion optimization and the ability to adjust what is stored overtime. This should sound pretty similar to TimeSight’s technology, so far.

However, 3VR's SmartStorage™ also does something unique and incredibly powerful that TimeSight's technology cannot. SmartStorage™ can optimize what’s stored based on the content of the video itself! That means that faces, license plates and other valuable imagery doesn’t have to be compressed away along with less important video content as time flies by. In some cases, multiple years might pass before important full megapixel quality, high value content might need to be purged from storage archives to make room for new video.

Here is what I said about SmartStorage™ in 2007:

Since the introduction of video surveillance, security professional have been forced to compromise both budget and video evidence quality in order to meet long-term storage requirements. 3VR SmartStorage is a pivotal breakthrough that makes it possible to store higher-quality video evidence for much longer periods of time while at the same time dramatically reducing storage requirements and costs. It's a win for investigators, security professionals and the IT departments that support them.

So who is the winner in this matchup? Yes, both technologies provide for motion-optimized recording. Both technologies modify the quality of content stored over time, and both technologies claim to provide about a 10x improvement in storage efficiency over time. But at the end of the day, after each technology has squeezed everything it can out of every sector of disk space available, only 3VR still retains content of the absolute highest quality. Valuable images of criminals saved with 3VR's SmartStorage™ will stand up in court, and humans will actually be able to read pictures of license plates years later.

The winner is 3VR’s SmartStorage™…by a megapixel.

Cash for Coverage Accusations Rock Industry (Update)

In what's sure to be a controversial move, John Honovich of IPVideoMarket.info took aim today at rival and well-known security research firm, Frost & Sullivan, and accused them of trading their industry leadership awards for cash. Though no details or specific examples were provided in his stinging critique, John did claim that through "interviews" and the review of "public records," he unearthed several serious problems with the firm’s industry awards.

John Honovich:

The consistent theme I hear from award recipients is that awards are granted at
no cost but the manufacturers cannot publicly announce awards without paying
thousands of dollars to Frost & Sullivan.

As for my own firsthand information on Frost & Sullivan, I can only really comment on the award we received at 3VR a couple of years back (in relation to our searchable surveillance system). In that case, I can assure you no money changed hands before the award was given or since. [BIG correction: My head of marketing from back then just called me to let me know that despite my previous righteous denials, we did indeed end up paying Frost a small amount sometime after receiving the award to "promote and market" it. My former VP wasn’t clear what the consequences might have been if we had simply announced the award on our own without paying Frost for their active involvement, however. Someone from Frost should really weigh in to publicly clarify this point for the sake of all its award recipients.] Regardless, I think that research firms, and the companies they cover, would be well served through clear disclosure any financial ties when they do exist. Without this modest transparency, the influence of these kinds of awards will inevitably diminish.

John Honovich seems to conclude something similar:

Awards are important and trust is crucial. If we are going to have awards that
claim to judge and identify the best companies or products in the industry, we
need to be confident that the judges are doing so fairly and with the interest
of the community. Frost & Sullivan and the award recipients should be
clear about their financial relationship and the process of selection so that
industry professionals can assess these awards appropriately.

Bravo!

But, big research isn’t the only one out there with conflicts of interest. Of greater concern to me today is the emerging trend of some manufacturers to directly compensate individual security analysts and other perceived independent voices in our industry. In some cases, bloggers even provide regular coverage of these companies while kept under monthly retainer…without providing any disclosure of the financial relationship. Kept secret, this kind of ongoing direct remuneration of content creators can’t help but engender the worst kinds of bias and conflict of interest.

So, whether John Honovich accusations are proven true or not, let's hope that they spur a movement to greater transparency industrywide. Whether you are a blogger, analyst, author or part-time journalist, if you’re getting a W2 or 1099 from a company you're covering, you should be disclosing it.

How can you claim any credibility on any issue if you don’t at least meet that low bar?

-----------
Stephen Russell gets regular paychecks from 3VR Security and should be considered hopelessly biased when it comes to topics relating to the company.

ISC West: Day 1

Greetings from ISC West!

Wanted to pass along a link to a great aggregation of all ISC-related announcements: "ISC West 2009 Announcement Directory." Lots of camera, video management (3VR's S-Series announcement is listed there), access control and analytics releases. Excellent one-stop-shop to keep tabs on everything that's happening.

Also, check out ISCTweet.com to stay up-to-date on all Tweets from the show floor! @TheSteveRussell already has a few up there.

Introducing the New 3VR S-Series SmartRecorder

It's been a busy past few weeks. With our recent Diebold and Ingersoll Rand integration announcements on top of preparations for ISC West next week, we've certainly had our hands full -- however, we have no plans to slowdown anytime soon.

Thursday marked a big day in 3VR history -- the announcement of the S-Series SmartRecorder!

On Thursday, we officially announced the release of our new S-Series SmartRecorder™, the most compact and economical video system ever to be built upon 3VR's unique and powerful searchable surveillance platform. Years in the making, it's an ideal solution for both large and small businesses previously constrained by the cost and complexity of analytic-enabled surveillance, and we're very excited to finally be bringing this revolutionary product to the market.

Check out our new product video on the S-Series featuring yours truly and our Director of Engineering, Tim Frederick.

Also, for all those headed to Vegas next week for ISC West, we'll be demoing the S-Series (along with the rest of our product line) in 3VR's booth (#12081). Stop by and check it out!

3VR Security Announces New Integration with Ingersoll Rand

Exciting news from 3VR Security today -- we announced our new integration with Schlage’s bright blue™ intelligent access management software!

This will allow users of bright blue’s Web-based access control system to search and manage video in a new and simple video interface using 3VR’s searchable surveillance technology. Tailored to small- and medium-sized businesses, the integration features a simple, usable interface, is quick to install and integrates hassle-free with a variety of hardware options, vastly reducing implementation costs.

As our CEO Al Shipp was quoted:

“The simplicity of this integration sets it apart, providing our customers the ability to rapidly and seamlessly manage, analyze and search secure data, significantly improving the basic safety and security of their facilities and businesses.”

Just another example of 3VR and Schlage’s commitment to delivering plug-and-play solutions that support a broad range of common surveillance systems and cameras. We're very excited to announce this integration and look forward to working with Schlage and other trusted brands within the industry to make our best-in-market technology available to an even broader market.

Securing the IT Perimeter

Processor Magazine just did an interesting piece on the abiding importance of physical security... even in a digital world.

Especially exciting to me is the fact that the article mentions 3VR and quotes yours truly:

3VR’s Russell says even though there is never too much security, there is often too much information. For example, he says, unless video footage can be managed, analyzed, and searched, it is not very useful.

Okay, maybe there is such a thing as too much security.

Crimefighting 2.0

New York Times' Brad Stone had a piece today featuring 3VR's CrimeDex service. The article reviews how Police and private organizations are using collaborative Web 2.0 approaches to track and fight crime. What does that mean exactly? Well if 3VR is "Google" for surveillance, then think of CrimeDex as "Facebook" for bad guys. Together the technologies make quite a pair.

From the NY Times:

CrimeDex, now owned by 3VR, a San Francisco company that makes an image recognition system for surveillance cameras, says it is used by more than 1,000 law enforcement agencies and private businesses like banks and retail chains. For a monthly fee, members can submit information, photographs and videos related to possible crimes and make comparisons with data from agencies that may be seeing similar patterns or suspects.

“It’s the digital equivalent of the old-fashioned Western sheriffs nailing a wanted poster to a tree,” Mr. Hudson said.

Some investigators swear by it. Carol Byrum, a vice president and senior investigator at Wells Fargo, said it helped prosecutors build a case against Eduard Kholstinin, a Russian national who was caught in 2007 using fabricated A.T.M. cards to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from the accounts of California Wells Fargo customers.

After he was arrested in Oregon while carrying counterfeit driver’s licenses and credit cards in his car, the surveillance images that Ms. Byrum had posted to CrimeDex helped to link crimes in the two states. Mr. Kholstinin was convicted of money laundering and identity theft and is now serving a sentence in federal prison in Oregon.

3VR will be demonstrating a new and more advanced version of its CrimeDex service at the upcoming International Security Show (ISC) in Las Vegas in early April.

3VR Welcomes New CEO Al Shipp

Big news out of 3VR Security, Inc. today -- this morning, we officially announced that Al Shipp is joining us as the new CEO, effective immediately. I will be continuing on as chairman of the company.

We're very excited to have Al with us as we enter a pivotal stage in 3VR's development. Most recently the vice president of the Enterprise Division at Apple, he is a technology industry veteran and brings deep expertise in executing and managing rapid corporate growth.

Al is also a great friend of mine, and I really look forward to working with him in the next years as we look to take 3VR to the next level in terms of global reach, influence and leadership in the security industry.

For more information, you can read the press release that went out this morning here or watch this short, informal video interview between Al and myself:

Here is a round-up of some the coverage the announcement has received:

SecurityInfoWatch.com: New CEO takes over at 3VR Security
Security Director News: Former Apple VP takes over as 3VR CEO
MacBlogz: Former Apple Enterprise VP Takes Over as 3VR CEO
Dow Jones VentureWire: Shipp Joins 3VR Security As CEO
IPSecurityWatch.com: New CEO takes over at 3VR Security
OhMyGov!: CA Implementing Facial Recognition Software for DMV

What’s Working and What’s Not in Facial Surveillance

Facial recognition technology has certainly been a hot topic in 2008 – and one that will likely only continue to make headlines as more companies and organizations recognize its unique value within their security infrastructures.

When most people think of facial surveillance, however, what often comes to mind is the technology’s very public failure at the Super Bowl and other large-scale public venues over the past several years. Though the technology has certainly improved, we are still not much closer to being able to spot a bad guy in a crowd than we were then, and this points to the fact that it is facial recognition’s role within the larger security platform that allows the technology to function most effectively, and ultimately most accurately.

Nonetheless, there have been some important facial rec successes over the past year that deserve mentioning – let’s take a look at what’s working, what’s not, and most importantly, why.

Identifying Suspects: Using Facial Rec to Compare Captured Images to Police Database Mugshots

The Sagem Morpho MorphoFace Investigate (MFI) system has scored its first arrest in Pierce County, Washington. The Pierce County Sheriff's Department used the MFI biometric facial recognition application to identify a suspect by comparing an automatic teller machine (ATM) photograph against the department's digital database of 350,000 mug shots.

In the past, the only way police could conduct these types of investigations was to endlessly flip through mugshot books -- this is a major improvement and compelling evidence of the next generation of crimefighting taking place.

Identifying a Suspect Using Commercial Surveillance and Transaction Records

Just the other month I learned about the following incident from a 3VR customer. A man had been followed home from a large African bank and subsequently robbed after making a large withdrawl. While the victim didn't recognize the thief, he was able to point him out in bank surveillance footage leaving the bank after the victim. Normally, this is where the investigation would have become difficult; actually identifying the suspect. However, in this instance, the bank was able to perform a facial search against it's own surveillance archives using its 3VR system. The thief, it turns out, was actually a bank customer. Even though he was not in any police database, they were able to identify him using bank transaction records. You see, this robber's tactic was to spend a lot of time in the bank doing small transactions and other petty business while he watched and waited for his victims to withdraw a large amount of money. But once even a single image was of him was captured, the robber's face led bank officials and law enforcement right back to those trasactions...and the theif's real identity.

Alerting Security When the Bad Guys Arrive

Though an uncontrolled venue such as the Super Bowl may provide too difficult a context to do real-time facial alerting, in more controlled venues like banks and some retail establishments and using relatively targeted top-quality watch lists, it is now possible to use facial alerting successfully.

Only two days after pilot installation of the 3VR platform at another large international bank, a person wanted for check fraud entered the bank accompanied by an accomplice, approached the teller and began a transaction. The 3VR system being utilized in the branch recognized the person and immediately sent an alert to the bank’s security personnel, who compared the image to photos in order to confirm that it was indeed the suspected fraudster.

The bank’s security personnel were able to quickly contact the police, apprehend the woman at the branch and question her. She ultimately admitted to the fraud — case closed.

Looking Ahead

Facial surveillance has developed significantly with new technology and new approaches making up for many past failures. And while still certainly not perfect, modern "facial surveillance" represents a quantum leap forward from they days when all police had to go on were “WANTED” posters, mug shot books, and their own eyes and energy.

Security in 3D: Coming Soon to an Airport Near You?

Security engineers left and right have been attempting to crack the code on technology to match CCTV photos of faces with image archives in order to capture known criminals and thieves. Recent research out of Arizona State and Michigan State show that 3D laser scans could be eventually utilized to alleviate problems with lighting and photos angles in public areas with fast moving crowds.


Using a newly developed program, Dirk Colbry from ASU and his MSU colleague, George Stockman, performed 300 laser scans of 111 different faces using a commercial scanner to store images, while a horizontal plane of laser light passed over the subject's face. These images were then manipulated to create 3D models of each person's face.

The results were superb-- with the new system, different scans of the same face were matched even when lighting was unusual or the angle from which the images were taken was off by as much as 30 degrees. The error rate was a startling one percent.

This research demonstrates a new step in the advancement of surveillance technology, although its implementation will need to overcome the high price, slow scan speed and short-range sensors that may serve as roadblocks. The current scanner price of $50,000 needs to drop to about a tenth of that price to encourage widespread deployment. Additionally, scans currently take 2 to 5 seconds, making the technique obsolete in large crowds and only functional at choke points, such as airport and train station security checkpoints, where passengers are forced to wait in queues and in close range of scanning devices.

Being able to accurately identify someone who has paused, short-range, at a checkpoint and presented thier face, or iris, or fingers, or hands to the confidence levels demonstrated here has been possible for quite some time. But sometimes it's hard for me to get too excited about most of those approaches. That's because what we would all like to get out of any new biometric systems that get deployed at the airport are shorter lines and fewer checkpoints not more!

At 3VR, we're constantly looking for new algorithms to improve our facial recognition analysis features to combat the disparities in expression, lighting and angle. But to date, we have limited ourselves to writing algorithims for use in conjunction with conventional video cameras. That's because CCTV, and even new IP camers, are cheap, prolific, and offer something that laser scanning systems can't, the ability to work at a distance with uncooperative subjects.

Though current facial surveillance approaches fall somewhat short of 99%+ accuracy of 3D laser scanners, I can say that some of the techniques we are pioneering today hold strong promise of closing that gap. By processing streams of facial data from standard CCTV video feeds, it's possible to create an extremely accurate facial model; maybe one that will someday rival 3D scans. When will facial surveillance catch up? I can't say exactly. But, I do know that technologies like what we deploying at 3VR will get there long before a $50,000 laser scanner becomes as cheap as a video camera.

New Book Open-Sources Surveillance Strategies

3VR alum John Honovich is well on his way to becoming a new J.P. Freeman for the digital age. For the uninitiated, J.P. Freeman is a security consultant who conducts research in the industry and produces extremely expensive reports that everyone in the industry feels compelled to buy. Hondo's approach? Let them use surveillance. His new 132-page "Security Manager's Guide to Video Surveillance" is 100% free and available as a download from his site, IPVideoMarket.info. In addition to information about all the various products available related video surveillance, the book includes easy-to-follow tutorials on everything from megapixel cameras to license plate recognition and network video.

"Quality information on video surveillance for security managers is limited and expensive," Honovich told Security Info Watch. "Making this book free and open is essential to giving back to the security community and allowing anyone to learn without restrictions."

Right on! The book joins several other original reports available for free on the IPVideoMarket site.

Face Rec Just Went Mobile!

Sorry I haven't posted for a few days, we've been busy at 3VR releasing our M-Series Rugged, a.k.a. the 3VR Mini, a portable, compact video management system with built-in advanced face recognition and motion analytics. As you can probably tell, we're really excited about it. It's the first system of its kind to support high-volume facial recogntion AND license plate recognition AND other object-based video analytics in a super-small, super-rugged form factor.

The M-Series is small enough to be deployed at ATMs and on buses and light rail, all three of which are areas where video surveillance is sorely needed. The new anti-shock, anti-vibration and fanless design of the M-Series, as well as its ability to withstand high temperatures (up to 113 degrees Fahrenheit) are design adjustments we made to make it more suitable for transit deployments. Other than making it smaller and tougher, everything else is the same - optimized storage, cross-analytic searching in seconds, case management, watch lists, a link to Crime Dex, it's all there.


Here are some some more pics:




Stay tuned for a live unboxing early next week!

Popular Mechanic’s Panopticon

This month’s Popular Mechanics features a video camera on its cover and asks the question as to whether our “surveillance society” has gone too far.

James Vlahos, writes:

We have arrived at a unique moment in the history of surveillance. The price of both megapixels and gigabytes has plummeted, making it possible to collect a previously unimaginable quantity and quality of data. Advances in processing power and software, meanwhile, are beginning to allow computers to surmount the greatest limitation of traditional surveillance—the ability of eyeballs to effectively observe the activity on dozens of video screens simultaneously. Computers can't do all the work by themselves, but they can expand the capabilities of humans exponentially.

I think Vlahos does a pretty interesting job exploring both the benefits and pitfalls of some of our nation’s security initiatives and new technologies…and I am not just saying that because of his mention of my company, 3VR Security.

Here is what he had to say about us though:

Used by banks, hotels and retail stores, 3VR’s “searchable surveillance” systems automatically create a template of every face that passes in front of security cameras (it caught our author here at a Chicago hotel check-in counter). The system creates a mathematical model based on the geometry of each person’s face that can be compared to a central list of known suspects for instant alerts. The technology can also automatically log events based on an automated object recognition analysis of an entire scene—for example, Frank Jones met with Doris Meeker at 12:45 pm; Meeker arrived in a blue sedan. Because all events are cataloged, several months’ worth of data can be analyzed in minutes.

One point Vlahos doesn’t make in his article, however, relates to the dual-benefit of many of these new surveillance technologies. While traditional security approaches are not particularly effective or conducive to privacy, new more effective technologies don’t necessary bring with them even greater privacy issues. For instance, the use of search engines and video analysis greatly increases the chance of catching bad guys before they strike. But, these same technologies can be used to help audit surveillance monitoring efforts and generally limit their abuse, as well.

The Era of Searchable Surveillance

From my article in Security World Magazine:

At present, security systems are inefficient, lack integration and are not
scalable to meet the needs of large or geographically dispersed
organizations. The challenge is heightened by the rapid convergence of
physical and IT security systems. Existing reactive alarm systems and raw
video review are insufficient for overcoming the wide and diverse range of
threats facing companies and government organizations, leaving them vulnerable
to security breaches.

3VR on Fox News

Tim Ross, EVP and Co-founder of 3VR, was interviewed today on Fox News:

Real Life James Bond

If you are into spy gadgets and other 007 goodness, look no further than the "CIA's Venture Fund" In-Q-Tel. The name is actually derived from the combination of the word "intel" and the character "Q" from the Bond books.

Since In-Q-Tel was founded in 1999, the firm has reviewed more than 6,300
business plans for everything from identity recognition software to nano-sized
electronic circuits. Many proposals come in via its Web site. In-Q-Tel has put
about $200 million into more than 100 companies, beating traditional VC
investors to technologies such as the mapping software that's become Google
Earth.

One of their investments is a particular favorite of mine.

Another part of In-Q-Tel's video strategy is the 3VR investment with Kleiner Perkins. After the London subway bombings on July 7, 2005, about 1,000 British police spent six weeks sifting through video from 6,000 surveillance cameras, says Russell, who founded the company in his basement in 2003....With 3VR, every time someone passes in front of a camera, the software assigns an identification number and establishes a profile based on the geometry of the person's face. When the face is captured from a different angle or in different light, the software creates another mathematical model. The system can be programmed to recognize faces and to issue alerts once a suspect is spotted.

Bad guys beware.