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Bits 'n bytes

Are crooks becoming cleverer, or are we generally becoming more complacent? We had an incident at the Technews offices over the weekend, during which two of the floors of the building were cleaned out, then 'they' got to the first floor where we are based, gained access to the office of one of the other companies on the first floor and then got into one of our offices. Fortunately for us (and those who had not yet been broken into) we have an alarm system installed, which promptly alerted ADT and the criminals left the building - with a lot less than they would have got away with had the alarm not gone off.

While I am on the subject, special mention must be made of the ADT staff who acted so promptly in getting to the premises, getting the situation under control and making arrangements for improved security at the building while it was so open and vulnerable - a job well done.

In this day and age, with so much awareness about crime, I have to wonder why we were the only company in the building with an alarm system installed. It always amazes me that so many people do so little about things like security until it is too late. Grudge purchase? Perhaps, and perhaps even more so in the case of IT security, but either way, one cannot put a price on the inconvenience, let alone a life, which sadly is the case in all too many cases.

Last month saw some horrible and unexpected events take place in London. When I was in London in May and again in June, I spent a great deal of time travelling on the underground. I often thought about what would happen in the event of a fire on the tubes and the thought scared me, so I put it as far out of my mind as I could while travelling at relatively high speed in a really confined space adorned with huge lengths of various cables. But terrorism... that thought never once crossed my mind, after all, I was not in the Far East! In 'Terror in the city' Maurice McDowell asks if such attacks can be prevented, and if they could happen in South Africa.

Also in this issue, we bring you our first IP-CCTV Handbook, I hope you enjoy the variety of issues we have covered this month and that you get to put at least some of the information to good use.

Be safe,

Lynne

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