2 May 2023 - Security Buyer Magazine

Securex West Africa

Event News, Industry Sectors, News Desk, Technology / Editor

On the 9th May 2023 Securex West Africa will welcome back the security, fire, safety and facilities management industry to the Landmark Centre, Lagos. The exhibition will provide a meeting point for more than 3000 industry stakeholders to come together, view products and solutions from over 100 industry leading brands, including Acronis, Dahua, G4S, Halogen Security, Net Global Systems, Powerec Global Systems, Virdi Nigeria and ZK Teco, and find the missing solution to secure your business. The three days will also host more than 70 industry thought leaders across two stages. With sessions looking into securing critical national infrastructure, Aviation safety, kidnap protocols, cloud and cyber security. Also taking place will be sessions run in collaboration with industry partners that include an afternoon of presentations and panel sessions put together by Bulwark Intelligence focusing on “Building a Resilient Security Program, Best Practices for Managing Security Risks in Time of Uncertainty” and “Emerging National Security Threats in West Africa: Strategies for Anticipating and Responding to New Challenges” taking place on the main stage on the afternoon of day one. Speakers on these sessions include top security executives from Coca Cola, Nestle, VIISAUS, Transworld Security Systems, FAAN, NCAA, Heirsholding Oil & Gas Ltd, Zoracom and many others. Alongside these sessions for security, the OSHA Association Nigeria Region will once again be delivering a packed day of presentations and panels focusing on achieving fire safety through best practice, training and understanding that will culminate in this years Fire Safety Merit Awards. Speakers coming to the stage include the Director General of the Lagos State Safety Commission and executives from Satel, and Port Harcourt Refinery Company. On Wednesday the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (IWFM) Nigeria Chapter will be presenting a full day bringing the facilities management industry to the forefront of the audiences attention with sessions covering energy in residential communities, changing the narrative for the female professional in FM, governance in the sector and raising cleaning standards across Nigeria. With senior executives from Wembod Estates, VENCO, UPDC Facilities Management Ltd, IFS Group and Oracle among others all taking to the stage its certainly one not to be missed. Among many other presentations, exhibitor demonstrations and the OSPAs Awards, find out the full agenda and further detail here – https://www.securexwestafrica.com/whats-on-in-2023/conference-programme Speaking with the organisers, George Pearson, Regional Director for Afrocet Montgomery said, “With the exhibition holding next week, we’re really excited with how its all come together and want to thank our various partners who have supported in putting together the conference programme and identifying key trends and speakers that our community want to hear from. We’re also really pleased with the response from the exhibitors in what is a difficult period for all in the sector. And I want to extend my personal invitation to all those in the security, fire, safety and facilities industries and I look forward to seeing them next week”. Securex West Africa will be taking place from the 9th – 11th May 2023 at the Landmark Centre, Water Corporation Road, Oniru Estate, Lagos. Read the rest of this exclusive interview in our latest issue here. Never miss a story… Follow us on: Security Buyer @SecurityBuyer @Secbuyer Media Contact Rebecca Morpeth Spayne, Editor, Security Portfolio Tel: +44 (0) 1622 823 922 Email: editor@securitybuyer.com

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Into the Cloud – Dragos

Middle East Exclusives / Rebecca Morpeth-Spayne

Security Buyer gets to know Omar Al Barghouthi, Regional Director, Middle East, at Dragos in our latest Into the Cloud interview What does ‘security’ mean to you? Cybersecurity is an endurance sport where there is no end or a place where you can say “I did enough to stay ahead of the adversaries”. What made you want to work in the industry? Since I was a kid, I was passionate about helping others and making a difference in my community. I believe being in the cybersecurity field affords me the opportunity to help our clients, partners, and community combat adversaries and safeguard civilisation. If you could talk to your younger self, what would you say? Stay humble and focused. Describe a funny thing that happened to you recently? I have a 2-year-old girl and she has recently started telling me what to do and what not do and I dare not say ‘No’ to her! What three traits define you? Patience, Adventurous, Positive What’s the most important trend you see today? According to findings from the Dragos 2022 Year In Review report, in 2022, breakthrough evolution in the development of malware targeting industrial control systems (ICS), specifically PIPEDREAM; scaled ransomware attacks against manufacturing. If you didn’t work in the security industry, what would you be doing? When I finished high school, my ambition was to become a neurosurgeon and I changed my mind a few months before going to medical school. I decided to go with my heart over my head (no pun intended) and given my passion for computers, I joined the engineering school. That all being said, if I had to change my career, not sure I would want to be a neurosurgeon any longer but maybe a dentist! What’s the most interesting thing about you that we wouldn’t learn from your CV? Oh there are plenty of things not mentioned on my CV I am a certified body work therapist and a Master Scuba Diving instructor. I also have a passion for fine culinary arts, and I love a good meal. What is one thing you would make compulsory in the office and one thing you would ban? My recommendations would be at the intersection of my interest in physical health and my passion for food. So I would make eating healthy food the “compulsory” and definitely “ban” sugar and junk food. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? My wish would be to hang up my corporate boots and own and operate a small restaurant by the sea. However, I am equally excited about my career at Dragos, and have two kids that I have to put through college, so it is more likely that I am still at Dragos having broader responsibilities, contributing to the phenomenal growth of the company and most importantly, making tangible contributions to the safety and security of our society. Read the rest of this exclusive interview in our latest issue here. Never miss a story… Follow us on: Security Buyer @SecurityBuyer @Secbuyer Media Contact Rebecca Morpeth Spayne, Editor, Security Portfolio Tel: +44 (0) 1622 823 922 Email: editor@securitybuyer.com

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The Innovator – Brivo

Exclusives, Industry Sectors, Product News, Technology / Rebecca Morpeth-Spayne

Security Buyer Managing Editor Rebecca Spayne caught up with Mary Clark, Chief Marketing Officer at Brivo during her Security Buyer Live presentation to discuss the biggest trends and challenges facing the industry for this issue’s Innovator interview. At Security Buyer Live you spoke about the annual trends in security by Brivo. Why did you choose this topic? I think this is one of the most interesting sets of results we have had in the six years that we have been doing this. It tackles the question, ‘what does it mean to be consumer in today’s security world’, and in particular physical security. One of the most important things that are changing in our entire demographic world, is that by 2025 the world will have nearly 65% of its workforce made up of millennials and Gen Z. This means that we are dealing primarily with digital natives that have used a mobile device or some other digital device as their key means of interacting with the wider world. This is shaping significantly what we found. We ended up having 677 security experts with representation globally that took part in the survey. The trends highlighted several top trends. The user experience and convenience are driving the direction and adoption of new physical security technologies. Cloud based access control with mobile and biometrics is moving mainstream and into more general enterprise environments. Data collection and systems integrations are no longer nice-to-have but business imperatives, particularly the use of data. Cloud adoption and security centralisations are accelerating. We are seeing a significant move globally from on premises to cloud based. Lastly, we saw that security integrators, working on the frontlines, need to stay ahead of technology or they will get left behind. So how is the user experience and convenience dictating the direction of the market? 84% of respondents value access control user experience as significantly important. When we started doing this, it was all about being in the office and having the interaction with eachother and putting ourselves in a position that an idea of badging in was nothing, but now 2 years later post-pandemic we are seeing that we have to have digital solutions, and that we have to be able to adapt to the digital world as that is the expectation. We have this expectation of ‘what is it like to go into a building?’. But it isn’t necessarily an optimal experience for everyone and has in the past felt foreboding. We must look at the way in which we prepare ourselves in the future for access control, whether it be facial recognition or mobile credentials to unlock doors, these are proving to be the most efficient means. Will there be differences across geography based on privacy as it relates to facial recognition? Absolutely, but I think as we go forward it’s the ease of access, the frictionless, seamless ability to enter into any structure that is going to be the driver. So, how is cloud-based access control with mobile and biometrics changing the landscape? 71% said half of their organisations would adopt mobile access in three years. Today at Brivo we have over 2 million mobile credentials being actively used by our end user customers today. This means that they are taking their mobile device and utilising it to enter any structure, or internal office or apartment building, whatever the case may be. This is something that has got to happen and is clear in the survey results. We are going to see this look like the Apple/Android wallets. Mobile access is not just building security. Car keys, boarding passes and tickets are an everyday experience that users enjoy and expect across all aspects of their lives. It is more secure than cards and less expensive than physical credentials. It is not just easier for the users but also for those managing access. Brivo has announced that we are working with Apple for NFC, and this is what we are going to start seeing happen. The days of simply using a fob are behind us. Similarly, biometrics interest is larger than you think, and it’s not just for high security levels. 40% use biometrics at all access points, not just doors into sensitive or high-value locations, and 37% use biometrics as a primary access credential. We know that as opportunities for biometrics become more relevant in today’s physical security and access control environment, there will be choices to make as to how this will be incorporated. Multi factor or two factor authentication components are, I think, going to help drive that ease and operational effectiveness. 60% of respondents in 2023 are considering adding biometrics to their buildings in the next three years. As we consider the challenges associated with managing employee privacy, and managing our residents, tenants, renters and anyone that needs to access a building, biometrics provides a secure component for this. The utillisation of biometrics does provide an easier and more frictionless opportunity to achieve entry with an optimal amount of safety. We need to keep this in mind that it is not just going to be for high security environments anymore. So how does data collection and system integration come into play? We know that there is so much data that is being delivered in purely access control, when you start thinking about all of the solutions that need to be integrated into that same environment, this gets to be a big amount of data. We had a manager from a global security operations centre that said, “In my career I have never delivered more data to an organisation than I do today.” People, things, places, video, events, these are not all being delivered by one system, but by multiple solutions that all need to be integrated into an environment that provides operation, safety, security, cost-effectiveness and so much more. 36% of respondents said that identity and access management (IAM) is the most frequent physical access control integration. How does cloud adoption and security centralisation

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