RealNetworks provides Real Solutions for Safer Schools across America

RealNetworks, a Seattle based company, specializing in digital software, is optimistic in working to find solutions to the U.S. school shooting epidemic, by offering to schools in North America, a free version of its facial recognition system.

The intention of the system is to check the face of each student attending their educational institutions. The database of such schools, contains information related to problematic students, expelled students, sex offenders, plus even disgruntled employees, and is able to identify individuals according to their profile.

Numerous school shootings in the U.S. have undoubtedly generated great concern for faculty, parents, and students alike, and adopting an eye facial recognition system such as this provides hope of better security and safer spaces.

RealNetworks can be complimented for providing SAFA Facial Recognition solution, with NO COST, to every K-12 school in the U.S. and Canada. In a statement on July 17, from Seattle, the company released the following:

“a leader in digital media software and services, today announced the free and immediate availability of SAFR™ for K-12, an AI and machine learning based facial recognition solution to help enhance safety in over 100,000 K-12 schools in the United States and Canada. At no cost, and for the first time, K-12 schools can now confidently apply state-of-the-art facial recognition technology to better protect the school environment. “

Experts are confident that had such equipment been installed throughout the buildings of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Florida, an Expelled student, Nicolas Cruz (the perpetrator), would have quickly been identified and contained by security personnel, thus preventing an uncontrollable mass attack.

RealNetworks, are demonstrating intentions of being part of the solution to preventing painful school shooting incidents that can possibly be prevented with the correct equipment to assist with intervention.

“School safety has become one of the top national issues in the United States in 2018,” said Rob Glaser, chairman and CEO of RealNetworks. “We are proud to give our leading-edge SAFR for K-12 technology solution to every elementary, middle, and high school in America and Canada. We hope this will help make schools safer.”

HIKVISON USA – A COMPETITIVE WINNER FOR IP CAMERAS

The Thermal Bi-Spectrum Camera System was selected among a pool of applicants at the 2018 ESX Award Winner, in the video surveillance category.

“The ESX Innovation Awards is an industry competition that recognizes the most impactful and groundbreaking technologies for the electronic security and life safety industry. This includes emerging technologies, as well as those that have been field-tested”.

Described as the DS-2TD2615-7/10 Thermal Bi-Spectrum IP Camera, a distinct attribute is the thermal imager feature. It bears a lens in 7 or 10 mm, and contains “matched field of view” with the MP CMOS DarkFighter visible camera.

The winning innovation is known to be extremely reliable, with groundbreaking technology that allows among other things image switching, high picture quality, and full frame with low light color imaging.

Hikvision boasts that the DS-2TD2615-7/10 Thermal Spectrum IP Camera is reported as “being used in some of the most demanding market segments”. The objective of Hikvision, according to published statements is that their newly recognized product will help “combat crime and terrorism, and safeguard North American Communities”.

DISCOVER ESX ELECTRONIC SECURITY EXPO

Starting today June 19th, until Friday 22, in Nashville Tennessee, is ESX – Electronic Security Expo. This year’s 2018 event, according to their program, as revealed to the public online, aims to feature “insights from tech experts, a heartfelt panel on school security, and more”.

The ESX Expo is a “nation-wide event, open exclusively to the electronic security and life safety industry”. It is designed to allow interaction of professionals and those alike in the safety and security community.

Divided into topics of education, events & experiences, Expo and Non-for Pofit, the week’s activities promises to energize its attendees to re-think the future. Key-note speakers are invited to voice their opinions and experiences on security integration subject matters; some of these sessions are also interactive so the community may participate in discussions and brainstorming.

Alongside the business and networking opportunities are anything from breakfasts to cocktail receptions as well as various forms of entertainment; one such highlight includes a performance set to take place in the exhibit hall on June 20, by Kristen Merlin, a finalist on NBC;’s “ The Voice”.

The ESX Expo website also boasts of an upcoming Shark Tank style contest called TechVision Challenge, where contestants enter their creative concepts and are judged by a panel of impressive industry leaders.

It is an Expo that offers expert advice on its showcased products, and services. With a keen intent to help the gathering security integration enthusiasts learn more about installation training, merchandising, marketing and sales, exhibitors are on display throughout.

As stated publically, “ESX is owned by the industry’s leading professional associations. All profits made from the show are reinvested into programs and activities that help grow the industry”.

For more information: http://www.esxweb.com/Schedule/Full-Schedule

HONEYWELL SAFE KIDS AT HOME

Honeywell is globally known for “inventing technologies that address some of the world’s toughest challenges in safety and security”. Their mission is “building a world that’s safer and more secure”. This is indeed proven as Honeywell focuses its attention to SAFE KIDS AT HOME PROGRAM RESEARCH.

In countries where household burns are prevalent, Honeywell’s Safe Kids at Home Program, is working with communities in creating preventative methods to help find positive solutions. Since 2015, Honeywell first introduced the program in Pune, India to inspire a “safety culture”. Together with civic agencies, it is growing in reach.

In compliance with the Indian government’s 100 Smart cities vision, the Safe Kids at Home Program consists of interactive educational training for children under the age of 14, in schools, alongside homework assignments, videos, games, songs and play. Through knowledge, training and awareness it has been developed to help prevent child injuries due to fires and burns.

Mr. Vikas Chadha, President, Honeywell India, recognized in 2017, “ Globally Honeywell understands the space of safety very well”. He proudly commented in an online portrayal of the program, “Honeywell can supply adequate products such as fire alarms, personal protection equipment which are aligned with the safety of a particular individual”

Safe Kids at Home aims to reach out to 25,000 students and 50,000 by mid 2018. This will happen via classroom sessions involving parents as well as caregivers and events with the communities at large. It is a positive initiative offering simple safety suggestions such as “Remember to blow out candles and turn off oil lamps before going to sleep”. In addition, the program includes distributing the correct contact information for first responders in case of an emergency.

Dr. Cinthia Pinto, Program Director, Safe Kids Foundation, stated in one of her previous appearances that the Safe Kids at Home Program was one of the “first of its kind in India, on child injury prevention”.

The Honeywell partnered program works in close collaboration with hospitals, fire departments, police departments, burn units, schools and communities. As it stands today, the Safe Kids at Home Program has become a model for “fire safe schools and fire safe communities”.

Honeywell and Safe Kids Worldwide are dedicated to working with partners to protect children from preventable injuries, and are already implemented and established with their programs in India, China and the United States.

Safe Kids at Home Supported by Honeywell – the power of connected

TWITTER RECOMMENDS CHANGING PASSWORDS

Recent media reports state that Twitter Inc, is urging its users to change their passwords due to an internal data glitch in the system.

Media has released information that a “bug” has affected the internal system of Twitter Inc, prompting the social media company to sound the alarm for an alteration on passwords.

In a blog post Parag Agrawal, Twitter’s chief technologist apologized. Normally passwords are protected by a technology that disguises the user passwords, not even allowing Twitter staff the ability to see them in form. Unfortunately, the bug caused the veil to be lifted and the passwords were unmasked, exposing personal codes.

Cryptographic techniques allow passwords to be stored on Twitter’s servers for the purpose of authenticating login. The codes are converted into a strand of characters known as a “hash”. The “bug” did not allow the “hash” process to fulfill its mission. Hacker’s could have had the opportunity to steal personal information, due to such exposure. There is no reports on precisely how many accounts were affected by this incident.

Seemingly, more than thirty three millions people use Twitter, and have been advised to change to a password that is unique and doesn’t match other services, as well as to create one that is heavily formulated with numerals, letters and symbols. It is best to avoid common passwords that include names, addresses or pet names.

To stay securely ahead, change passwords often and use paraphrases that can easily be remembered on all related devices.

“major breach of trust” Facebook Security Scandal

Over fifty million users have had their data harvested through social media platform Facebook. Following the crisis of Cambridge Analytica, CEO Mark Zuckerberg admits the data scandal was a “major breach of trust”, and has publicly apologized. He has agreed to testify in front of U.S. Congress, and states in a public interview that Facebook has “a basic responsibility to protect people’s data”. He promises a full forensic audit to investigate who is improperly using private data of Facebook users.

Although Zuckerberg, has pledged to restrict access to app developers moving forward, there is still  concern regarding Android users and how data has been collected by Facebook from their mobile devices, without given permission. Fears of privacy invasion on Facebook is at its greatest, although Facebook highlights that two of the Android apps have opt-in/out features with prompts.

Apple iOS mobile devices do not allow access into the users’ calls and texts data unless a certain protocol is followed, therefore iPhones and iPads, are slightly more protected. The architecture of Android is different and not so secure.

There is a growing concern in some circles, that social media platforms could face strong government regulations in the aftermath of these incidents. There may even be a decline in activity since users are also likely to become skeptical, due to privacy protection concerns. This will in turn affect advertisers.

Facebook’s most valuable asset is the user, and the ability to follow the user track. the company monitors pages clicked on, as well as posts tagged and liked. By sharing this information, Facebook makes over 90% of profits on advertising, which according to research is in the realm of close to 40 million dollars.

Zuckerberg, has spoken of a commitment to 20,000 employees, working on security and content review, by the end of the year. In a recent public interview the Facebook guru states, “security isn’t a problem that you ever fully solve; you can get to a level where you are better than your adversaries and then continue evolving”.

Stocks and shares have already plummeted, with a loss estimated around $80 billion in market value. Consumers are now being extra cautious. After-all, no-one wants a “peeping Tom” in their phone.

To read a full report visit Ars Technica.

 

 

VERIZON’s ADVANCED NETWORK SECURELY TRACKS PRODUCTS

VERIZON is partnering with visionaries from different industries, using data and technology to turn innovative ideas into reality, in their operation HUMANABIITY. Their slogan, “ We don’t wait for the future. We build it”, has engaged them in projects that reduce C02, save lives and keep food safe.

By creating a device with a sensor the size of an American nickel (10 cents), environmental conditions can be tracked through an advanced network system that protects food shipments from the risk of contamination.

According to data provided by VERIZON, 4 billion pounds of seafood, was consumed in America during 2009. Their studies also show that 47.8 million Americans get sick from food borne diseases each year, 128,000 people are hospitalized by food poisoning annually, and 3,000 Americans actually die each year from food borne diseases.

Advertisements created by the VERIZON team, proudly demonstrate the effectiveness and necessity of this safety sensor. Tom Villa, VERIZON Global Asset Management, speaks fluently on the product, “ We took our world class network and developed devices to track environmental conditions. This device allows people to understand what’s happening not only with the location of that asset, but also if it is too hot or too cold”. He describes the senor as “completely unique”, Chris Harrison, Shipping Manager, explains how products such as “Fish, beef, poultry, vaccines and insulin”, are protected and monitored by the device during shipping.

Trawler fisherman, Captain Dennis Woloshuck, Ocean Venture, in the VERIZON advertisement confidently states, “ I catch all this beautiful fish, but once its out of my hands I have no control over it. If you have a sensor that can keep track of your product, it can keep everyone honest that way”.

With trillions of transactions a year, a good competent network is vitally important and not many companies on the world have the capacity to handle such volume. There is nothing fishy about VERIZON, they have proven to have a grip on it with their little tiny sensor that is “keeping the food chain safe”.

SECURITY CONFERENCES 2018 NEW YORK

1. Crypto Currency for the Layman – NAC3: The North American Crypto Currency Conference.

NAC3 – the only Bitcoin and Blockchain conference designed for the “average person”.

Topics: “A Beginner’s Guide to Trading Crypto Currency”, “Investing in Today’s Crypto Market”, “Wallets and Security”, “Tax Implications”, “Legal Regulations”.

New York City

February 24-25, 2018

Eden on the Hudson (more…)

2017 Global Conference on Cyber Space (GCCS) – November – New Delhi, India

On 23rd and 24th November 2017, India will be proud to host the world’s largest conference on Cyber Space in New Delhi.

Inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this prestigious 2-day conference is predicted to attract over 2000 delegates from different countries around the world. The theme for GCCS 2017 is, “Cyber4All: An Inclusive Sustainable Developmental, Safe and Secure Cyberspace”. Key notes include: Cyber4Inclusive Growth, Cyber4DigitalInclusion, Cyber4Security and Cyber4Diplomacy.

Under the spotlight, at the GCCS, will be the program, “Digital India“, a campaign launched by the Government of India, with an objective of connecting rural areas with high-speed Internet networks and improving digital literacy. It’s motto “Power to Empower, speaks for itself. Speakers will address growth opportunities and development challenges.

At a recent press meeting, the Honorable Union Minister for Electronics and Technology information, and Law & Justice, Shri Ravi Shanker Prasad, spoke while promoting the prestigious conference, ”it will help provide vision of inclusive digital society for inclusive growth, education, healthcare, especially for the developing world”.

This will be the first time the conference shall take place outside the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development nations (OECD), and it will be the fifth edition. Audiences will include industry leaders, senior government officials and civil servants. There will also be seminars, sessions, exhibitions and other activities and events.

 

 

 

The Vatican, Rome: Protecting the Dignity of Children on the Internet

How many parents feel safe leaving their children to their own devices when it comes to the Internet? Access to inappropriate websites is extremely easy for children nowadays. In a very busy world, where most youngsters are given the latest technology gadgets to keep themselves occupied, we are learning that this oftentimes, has a tremendous downside; too much time alone and unmonitored, children are susceptible to Internet predators.

Last week, in an effort to assist in protecting children from onine violence and exploitation, Pope Francis spoke about this disturbing subject at the Child Dignity in the Digital World congress, organized by Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, and the WeProtect Global Alliance. The Pontiff, appealed to stakeholder organizations, politicians and religious leaders to collectively promote digital online safety. The focus was toward social media platforms such as Facebook and Microsoft, and the risks of pornography, paedophilia, trafficking, as well as online bullying

Co-sponsored by the London School of Economics and by an international research project Global Kids Online (GKO), facts were presented by UNICEF innocenti, based on data collected from 10 countries around the world.

Although there is specifically designed software on the market that assists in monitoring Internet activity for children, not all parents are clued in, or up to date on such applications and technologies. In addition, most teenagers demand a certain amount of privacy. Whether in the USA, India or any other country, this issues is a huge topic and one that needs constant attention.

This is a subject of serious magnitude and as Baroness Shields, OBE, UK Minister for Internet Safety and Security emphasized, according to reports, “ Our increasingly connected society greatly empowers children, but also exposes them to risks that compromise their safety and wellbeing. To address these escalating global threats we need a broad coalition of government, faith leaders, academia, and industry, all committed to protecting the dignity of children in this digital age”.