These days security systems are being designed to run on IP networks, so differences have arisen with IT administrators. To talk about it, VENTAS DE SEGURIDAD interviewed two of them.
By Julián Arcila
As we have stated on multiple occasions in this medium, the development of the Internet led to a virtual hunger in which all technological sectors wanted to take a little of the benefits offered by new knowledge. However, the use of this showed that certain rules had to be complied with and that the communication channels were somehow not infinite or 100% private. In other words, to make any application mount to the virtual train there were two options: to mount on a private network, which was and is expensive, or to use a shared network.
Usually, to run applications such as data transmission, CCTV, audio, communication, plus other entertainment, most users chose to mix all these services within the same network, with an aggravating factor. It turns out that this channel had as a fundamental purpose to serve the computational purposes of companies such as sending information for business, and with all this number of applications running on the same network, with bandwidths not always high, the confusion began, performance issues and network security flaws, among other issues.
Network administrators began to take some distance from the applications that intended to mount on the essence of their work, because they congested them, made them vulnerable and ultimately this ended up affecting their work performance or they were accused of "crimes they had not committed".
Sound familiar? Well, this is what is happening with electronic security and other technological sectors that in their eagerness to modernize have developed applications to work in a network; Unfortunately, installers and integrators of CCTV, alarms and access, among others, have not always had adequate respect for rules and protocols, and this in turn has led to an almost common cry from network administrators: "do not touch my network".
For all the above, VENTAS DE SEGURIDAD decided to interview two network administrators of Colombian companies, who made known the opinion of this guild in the face of the increasing penetration of IP applications in their resources, but also gave recommendations on how to modernize without affecting the other areas of a company.
The origin of the conflict
The beginning of the difficulties to implement electronic security systems on IP networks arose with the consumption of bandwidth that these applications had, but apparently this situation began to improve with the appearance of better compression protocols, but also with the emergence of network administrator applications, to control the bandwidth consumed by each service.
"That's what bandwidth managers were developed for. To say something you have a capacity of two megabytes then divide it and assign one mega to the IP camera, 500 K to the addressing of other applications and so on. Security systems consume bandwidth and what happens is that installing these systems when you do not have administrators, but also do not have the knowledge on the part of the technicians and the manager himself, generates many problems, "explained engineer Carlos Mosquera, regional director of Links, Colombian company dedicated to the integration of networks and telecommunications, among other services.
According to the above, when more than the allowed bandwidth is consumed, applications such as email and other applications such as accounting and commercial become very slow, which generates multiple complaints from users, which is complicated in critical times or closure when the processes required for the corporate business cannot be executed.
But for Andrés Cardona, technological director of Sima Tecnología, a Colombian company recognized in the segment of network assembly, installation of servers and data recovery, among others, the conflict starts from the same ignorance that security companies have on the subject of networks, fundamentally those that were traditionally dedicated to physical security with vigilante bodies and that today are implementing their electronics divisions.
"The drawback usually appears when the administrators of such networks see that the people who are going to implement the security systems do not have enough knowledge; this generates distrust since it is noticeable that the information they have is very superficial. One of the cases occurs when a security company arrives to mount systems on a network and ends up eating the bandwidth of a dedicated channel between two cities, since in many cases they are not even clear about how much these applications consume, "he said, although he added that to begin to solve this problem you must acquire equipment that transmits with a good level of compression, like those working with MPEG-4.
In reality, the impact that security systems can have on IP in corporate networks is quite high and grows with the same way in which said system is going to be used, because if IP cameras are installed and put to transmit images you can "knock down" the databases or slow down the system, especially in those applications in which network digital recorders do not have a very efficient compression system.
The vision on convergence
However, it is important to clarify that in the opinion of the professionals consulted, electronic security on networks is quite important as long as it complies with the directives and regulations that are in place for the management of the resources they use. In this sense, Mosquera said, who assured that the mechanism for electronic security and IT to coexist consists of making an exhaustive analysis of what is going to be implemented, because in this way it is guaranteed that the security regulations of the company that is implementing other tools for its same protection are not violated.
Similarly, Cardona said, noting that video surveillance solutions over IP as such are very positive, but reiterated that the fundamental thing is knowledge about how to apply the technology correctly; in this way he considered it very useful that camera systems are mounted on networks, more at a time when agility is required; however, he invited to investigate and study a little more so that trauma is not generated due to a bad installation.
In itself, convergence is not only not a negative element, but it is also necessary and is the trend of the present, but what professionals invite is to know the requirements of a medium (networks) to be able to use it.
"Everything we're seeing is positive; improving networks, making them more secure and optimizing them for work, all this is positive. The negative thing is that what you implement new brings changes with it and therefore a new infrastructure; companies have to start making investments in this field and even if you have the best equipment you have to be aware that all these elements that are getting into the network are going to make it slower or congest it, "added Mosquera.
The million-dollar question: who will handle business security?
Since security systems began to mix with computing, all kinds of speculations began to arise about what the future of security management would be (understood as a whole that includes both physical and electronic). The new security systems, which were prepared to work in conjunction with the latest in computer technology, suggested that the scheme of the former head of security, made up of a professional in physical protection, was coming to an end to give way to an environment led by systems engineers.
But how true could this approach be? Everything seems that it will not be so feasible that the traditional security directors disappear, but they will have to change their roles and increase their skills to understand the new computer environments in which they will have to move, but there is one thing clear: the security managers are the experts in their field of work and they must continue to lead it but from now on in team with the engineers of networks. The professionals consulted corroborated the above.
Andrés Cardona commented that the optimal thing would be that the management of the security systems on IP fell on the head of information technology, after training in security, but that this in no reason would imply that these professionals fully assumed the work of the head of security. "I don't think the security chiefs will be replaced as such, I don't see it as viable. It is good that computer scientists manage security, that they know how to manage it, that they solve conflicts and make changes and implementations; but if the idea is that the head of systems replaces the security one this is not applicable, because the latter has a knowledge in this matter that a system director will not have. I see it then as a team, as a complement," he said.
And it seems that this is the invitation made by the representatives of the computer to their peers of electronic security, in what they call to improve communication in relation to those who are going to be implemented and to make an analysis of the pros and cons of said project. "What is the traditional view of networking people? I have this resource and how much will what you are going to implement consume me? Between both parties they must begin to share information so that at the time of implementation neither one nor the other is harmed, knowing how far you can go with the resources of a company, "said Mosquera.
Cardona pointed out making an invitation: "I have always handled this concept and it is not to improvise or handle what is not known; in the company we tell this not to improvise neither with the client nor with their resources, which many firms do today when a new equipment or camera comes out and they do not study it or test it enough in a laboratory for a certain time, and without knowing how to handle it 100% they go and install it hot where their clients; this should not continue to be done."
The most important thing of all is to understand that not working as a team, respecting the security rules of the networks, and following the indications of those who control them is having a harmful effect on the very development of the electronic security industry; the industry is advancing and evolving and this is exactly what needs to happen with practices such as installation and integration so that end users can enjoy the cutting-edge technology that manufacturers are offering, always generating development to make it work at its best.
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