printer friendly version

Bits 'n bytes

Securex has come and gone, and what a show it was - by all accounts bigger and better than any Securex show before it. Exhibitors seemed happy with the visitors the show drew, and also went out of their way to show off their products on some pretty state-of-the-art stands - all very geared to attracting the attention of the visitors and I hope that those who exhibited get all the return on investment that they deserve, and then some!

From Securex to SecuTech, which is where I am off to as soon as I have finished penning this editorial. I will be on the lookout for innovative moves and products to report back on in next month's issue. And then on to Ifsec, which is the traditional launchpad for many a new product in the security industry. So much to protect and secure and so many new ways in which to do that.

But innovation and improvement clearly breeds cleverer criminals. With all the car-watch people in and around the streets and shopping centre parking lots as well as the availability of a range of vehicle tracking devices to suit almost every pocket, we can (sort of) safely assume our cars are safe. Then along comes yet another convergence of physical and logical security - a new virus that targets on-board car computers.

According to a report in the Tribune on 6 February ( http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?art_id=vn20050206103 416386C152071&set _id=1&click_id =31&sf=) owners of such vehicles could be in for an onslaught of infections by such viruses following reports from the United States that the on-board computers of certain Lexus models in that country had been infected via cellphones. Figures quoted put the number of infected vehicles at around 150 000!

Glancing through this issue you will notice that we feature a fair amount of feedback from Securex, but we also have our usual dose of opinion pieces, news items and features.

The ever-insightful Dr Craig Donald looks at 'Deciding on the extent of surveillance coverage' and Will Klopper of Sony argues the business case for networked video monitoring. For this and a whole lot more, read on.

Till next month,

Lynne Larsen

Share this article:

Further reading: