Practical Security Tips, News & Advice.
Congress is poised, as of this writing, to pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), the gun and school safety measure carefully negotiated over the last few weeks in response to the mass murders at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, a supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y, last month, and other incidents this year. While there […]
It might seem ironic that a physical security solution designed to protect people and property can provide an entry point for cybercriminals. However, because these systems—video surveillance, access control, alarms, communications, and more—are increasingly connected to networks and IT infrastructure, they can be quite vulnerable. Nearly every day brings the news of another data breach […]
Step into any hospital or healthcare facility and you’ll be surrounded not only by clinical, administrative, and operational staff, but also by patients, visitors, and vendor representatives. With so many people traversing the hospital daily, protecting them can feel quite challenging. Until recently, almost anyone could enter a hospital with relative ease. Today, while many […]
Historically, traditional cameras have only had video functionality, but did not have the capability to contextualize what they saw or recorded. That’s about to change. Computer vision (CV) uses artificial intelligence (AI) to convert video streams into meaningful information. Using technology to rethink a camera as an image sensor, backed by intelligence, is analogous to […]
“What can we do?” This is among the most common questions I get after a major incident of violence. It’s not uncommon for there to be a heightened interest for a while, then things go back to “normal.” However, things feel different this time. As I’m writing this article, the news playing in the background […]
Why would Bobby Louissaint, a busy security leader at a tech giant, feel the need to get personally involved in mentoring others and promoting diversity? “Well, number one, because I’m black,” he said. “People don’t realize how hard it is to be black in the security industry.” In Total Security Advisor‘s latest “Faces of Security” […]
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) have formed a partnership and published a report to help combat organized retail crime, the large-scale theft of retail merchandise with the intent to resell items for financial gain, which has become an increased threat to public safety and economy. In fact, […]
On May 24, an 18-year-old gunman shot and killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Law enforcement, including nearby U.S. Border Patrol agents, ultimately killed the mass shooter. The Uvalde massacre marks the deadliest U.S. school shooting since the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., which claimed the lives […]
In 2021, the FBI designated 61 shootings in the U.S. as active shooter incidents, according to a new report from the federal law enforcement agency. In these incidents, 103 people were killed and 140 wounded, excluding the shooters. For the period 2017-2021, active shooter incident data reveals an upward trend. The number of active shooter […]
Nearly 100 Ohio schools have been awarded a total of $4.8 million in state grants to help them improve the overall safety and security of their buildings. According to an announcement from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, 98 K-12 schools in 27 counties will implement safety upgrades with funding from the state’s K-12 School Safety Grant Program. […]