Security Features - February 2010

Data Security Firm’s Report Highlights Consumer Susceptibility to Cyber Attack
Imperva have announced the release of study analyzing 32 million passwords recently exposed in the Rockyou.com breach.  Imperva’s Application Defense Center (ADC) analyzed the strength of the passwords in a report, Consumer Password Worst Practices, that analyzes 32 million passwords to help consumers and website administrators identify the most commonly used passwords they should avoid when using social networking or e-commerce sites.
The report can be downloaded at: http://www.imperva.com/ld/password_report.asp
The report identifies the most commonly used passwords in order:
123456, 12345, 123456789, Password, iloveyou, princess,
rockyou, 1234567, 12345678, abc123
“Everyone needs to understand what the combination of poor passwords means in today’s world of automated cyber attacks: with only minimal effort, a hacker can gain access to one new account every second—or 1000 accounts every 17 minutes,” explained Imperva’s CTO Amichai Shulman.  “The data provides a unique glimpse into the way that users select passwords and an opportunity to evaluate the true strength of passwords as a security mechanism.  Never before has there been such a high volume of real-world passwords to examine.”
Some key findings of the study include:
The shortness and simplicity of passwords means many users select credentials that will make them susceptible to basic forms of cyber attacks known as “brute force attacks.”
Nearly 50% of users used names, slang words, dictionary words or trivial passwords (consecutive digits, adjacent keyboard keys, and so on). The most common password is “123456”.
Recommendations for users and administrators for choosing strong passwords.
For enterprises, password insecurity can have serious consequences.  “Employees using the same passwords on Facebook that they use in the workplace bring the possibility of compromising enterprise systems with insecure passwords, especially if they are using easy to crack passwords like ‘123456’,” said Shulman.
“The problem has changed very little over the past 20 years,” explained Shulman, referring to a 1990 Unix password study that showed a password selection pattern similar to what consumers select today. “It’s time for everyone to take password security seriously; it’s an important first step in data security.

New Year’s Honour For Aberafan Shopping Centre Security Manager
Security manager Chris Morgan was awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours list in recognition of his work reducing crime in and around Aberafan shopping centre and tackling anti-social behaviour in the town centre. Chris has worked for OCS’ security team since 2002, joining the company as a temporary security guard in 2002 and quickly becoming a permanent security guard with promotion to security manager in 2003.
“This is the proudest moment for me professionally. I’m over the moon,” said Chris. Since 2003, he has helped the shopping centre win several national awards, including BSIA Team of The Year for 3 consecutive years, for providing a safe and secure environment for visitors tenants and staff.  Under Chris’ management the Aberafan team is acclaimed locally for its proactive and good humoured approach to dealing with incidents, as well as helping shoppers and shopkeepers with day-to-day problems. Chris also works with the local young offenders team to tackle shoplifting. “I talk to them and explain how their behaviour has a negative impact on the town and how their offices affect the businesses and the people who work there.”
Working with the ambulance service, Chris has also helped recruit and train more than 40 First Responders to deal with medical emergencies in Port Talbot. The OCS security team at Aberafan are also supported by Chris in becoming trained volunteer ambulance responders with the ability to use a defibrillator and the potential to help save lives at the shopping centre.
The Aberafan OCS security team and the Centre management team headed by Steve Redmore were involved in setting up a scheme called the Business Crime Reduction Partnership which had such a positive impact that it is now a national initiative run in conjunction with police, local authorities and the Home Office. This partnership has been used to tackle problems such as anti-social behaviour and has seen a 75% reduction in crime at the Centre. A photo-sharing system was also established so that intelligence and images of potential trouble-makers can be shared and people who have committed a criminal offence in the Centre or in the premises of a retail partner can be positively excluded.
Chris was recently promoted to operations manager for OCS in Wales and, in addition to Aberafan Shopping Centre, is responsible for a number of commercial contracts which include over 40 mobile key holding and alarm response teams and 20 manned guarding contracts. OCS’ regional operations director Malcolm Dacey congratulated Chris saying, “We are extremely proud of Chris and delighted that he has been recognised for his outstanding achievements. He is an inspiration to us all.”
For more information please contact:
Jackie Bennett Shaw, Tel: 01524 595453
Email: jackiebennettshaw@ocs.co.uk
www.ocs.co.uk

BriefCam Video Synopsis product named a “Top 30 Technology Innovation”
BriefCam VS Forensics meets the need to rapidly review the countless hours of video demanded by post-event investigation - without missing a single event
BriefCam, Ltd., developer and provider of Video Synopsis systems for rapid reviewing, analyzing and indexing of surveillance camera content, is kicking off the new year with news that BriefCam VS Forensics has been named one of the Top 30 Technology Innovations for 2009 by Security Sales & Integration (SSI) magazine.
"My first response was, 'Wow!'" wrote SSI's Steve Payne. "The company’s technology is fascinating to see in action, and a little hard to explain. It compresses video down so you can literally see all the events of a 24-hour period in a matter of seconds, all at the same time. They call it 'synopsizing.'” 
BriefCam’s Video Synopsis (VS) technology lets users browse hours in minutes by providing a very short video representation of a long time period while preserving all the essential activities of the original video.
BriefCam VS Forensics is an essential tool for any investigator or investigative unit, meeting the unmet global need to review countless hours of video generated each day by CCTV cameras, research and identify incidents rapidly, and take necessary action. 
 “We are delighted that SSI has recognized VS Forensics as one of the Top 30 Technology Innovations for 2009,” said Gideon Ben-Zvi, President, Chairman and Co-founder of BriefCam. 
“We launched VS Forensics to meet a need expressed by customers of our VS Online product,” said Ben-Zvi. “Over and over again, investigators told us about having to wade through countless hours of surveillance footage searching for evidence. We are therefore extremely excited about being able to bring the power of Video Synopsis technology to post-event investigators and investigative units, who have no time to waste and truly need to ‘browse hours in minutes’. SSI’s endorsement of VS Forensics is an honor and marks another step towards fulfilling BriefCam’s vision of making total video review a basic part of the daily security routine.” 
Synopsizing replaces the current ‘fast forward’ reviewing method, reducing the amount of time and personnel it takes to review video, and resulting in lower storage and manpower costs. 
BriefCam VS Forensics is a stand-alone product that does not require integration with a DVR/NVR, and can summarize up to four (4) AVI files simultaneously. The software is easy to install and can be used out-of-the-box, with no training necessary. VS Forensics imports and processes video from the systems commonly used by law enforcement, government agencies, residential and educational facilities, municipalities and loss prevention organizations.

BSIA welcomes new Chief Executive
The BSIA is pleased to welcome James Kelly to the Association as the new Chief Executive. James joined the BSIA at the beginning of January and brings a wealth of experience in lobbying, legal advice and commercial service delivery.
Until recently James was Chief Operating Officer of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), a role which was both high profile and hugely challenging. He held this position for nine years, during which time he contributed significantly to the growth and influence of the DMA.
With a very successful track record in professional representation James has performed leadership roles on behalf of the legal profession, engineering and marketing services industries.
James comments: “I am delighted to be appointed Chief Executive of the BSIA and look forward to representing what is a hugely important industry over the coming years. I shall be working hard to help members derive a real competitive and reputational advantage from their membership of the BSIA.”
The Chairman of the BSIA, Stuart Lowden, comments: "The appointment follows an extensive recruitment process which included a field of extremely able candidates. The panel concluded that James Kelly has the ideal balance of skill sets and experience to build on the achievements of the Association, and we look forward to working with him in the coming years."