Bits 'n Bytes

Find companies, products and services (SSBD)

March/April 2004 News & Events

Securex 2004 has come and gone, and the year is now well and truly on its way. So, what were my impressions of Securex 2004?

Securex 2004 continues to be, unquestionably, the premier security exhibition in South Africa. Any end-user of security technology wishing to get the broadest picture of the security landscape would be hard pressed to do better than attend Securex. Yes it is smaller than in previous years, yes there have been grumblings in the industry about the usefulness of an annual security exhibition, as well as the timing of Securex, coming as it does before IFSEC, when many would prefer it to come after IFSEC (simply because of the significant number of international product launches which take place every year at IFSEC).

But these are not terminal problems, and reflect dynamics which affect each and every business in the industry differently.

Visitor numbers at Securex have been consistent in recent years, running between 4250 and 4750 over the last three years ... and as an industry player in a number of sectors, we have seen many exhibition presences flounder in recent times. Securex is not one of them.

Exhibitor numbers are down from Securex' peak, as consolidation in the global and local market has swallowed players, and certainly some key local businesses have opted out of exhibiting anywhere, as marketing budgets have come under pressure with the continued downward pressure on product prices and margins. Distributors are having to sell more products simply to maintain profit expectations. It is a tough business to be in.

That said, I think Securex 2004 was a great success, and a good snapshot of the South African security landscape. The show was accessible (rather than overwhelming), visitor quality was high, technology trends mirrored global trends and the mix of solutions had something for everyone: the digital surveillance world, biometrics, access control, perimeter security, alarms and intrusion solutions, glass lamination protection, specialist consulting services, fibre-optic solutions, wireless and other connectivity options ...

On that note, I trust that you got what you hoped to out of Securex 2004, and if not, make it a plan to visit in 2005.

Snippets from around the globe

On that note, I thought I would highlight some of the interesting news items that have cropped up in recent weeks which serve to highlight the ingenuity and silliness that comes with having to secure ourselves in this complex world.

As Bruce Schneier, of Counterpane Internet Security, writes in his latest CryptoGram ezine, "Here is an obvious twist on the 'bad guys smuggle a bomb on an airplane' story. The bad guys smuggle the bomb on in parts, one at a time, through security, and then assemble the device on board. I am reminded of the MIT group that managed to win millions at casinos by counting cards in blackjack. The casinos knew how to spot card counters, but the group divided the tasks up among several people, such that none of them individually was suspicious. This tactic of distributing an attack works in several different security domains, and can be very difficult to prevent."

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1143524,00.html

Honeypots in wireless networks

www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1761

Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream has launched 'The Computer Ate My Vote' campaign, to lobby for increased security in electronic voting machines.

www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,62294,00.html

The German police are using SMS to distribute information on missing persons and fugitives. Presumably the next step will be pictures.

www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/7965775.htm

There are now automated tools for Bluetooth hacking. This means that it will increasingly be done by people with less skill, and fewer ethics.

www.silicon.com/networks/mobile/0,39024665,39118440,00.htm

Low-tech credit card scam. Restaurant workers steal credit card numbers from patrons, and then pass them to others who manufacture fake credit cards.

www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/7988627.htm

More evidence that technology has made photographs unreliable as evidence of truth. Someone doctored a photo of John Kerry at an anti-war rally to add Jane Fonda.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/02/20/MNG4S54RGO1.DTL

More cyber-terrorism fear mongering

www.latimes.com/technology/la-na-cyber24feb25,1,7457295.story

Risks of using hotel networks:

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TRAVEL/02/25/biz.trav.security

Freeware password recovery utilities for Windows:

http://freehost14.websamba.com/nirsoft/utils/index.html

Another commentary on the open-source vs. closed-source security debate.

www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/36029.html

Some companies are trying to limit their liability in the event that your personal information gets stolen.

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31874-2004Mar4.html?referrer%3Demail

How anonymous cell phones used by terrorists were tracked by police: