Security trends to watch for in 2023
Here is a compendium of predictions and security trends to watch out for this year cover biometrics, physical security, video surveillance, third-party risk management and residential security.
With waves of security threats and attacks on infrastructure and data, and constant technology shifts and evolution churning up the seas even more, security officers in field have a lot to figure out this year. And security executives in the marketplace had plenty to say about how they see 2023 shaping up.
Here is a compendium of predictions and security trends to watch out for this year cover biometrics, physical security, video surveillance, third-party risk management and residential security.
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PHYSICAL SECURITY
Surveillance and public safety security solutions company i-PRO Co. shared a number of predictions for the physical security industry in 2023.
Trend 1: AI-based analytics become standard at the edge
2023 will see significant adoption of AI-based analytics in cameras and video management systems (VMS) as more manufacturers provide this feature within their standard camera lines. There are simply too many camera streams for humans to monitor effectively, so AI-based analytics will be a catalyst that enables security departments to do more with less.
“This evolution will drive a significant shift in stance for physical security by enabling organizations to become more proactive in response to real-time events instead of reacting to past events,” the company said. “Focus will shift from capturing video to gathering data. The challenge will be in how effectively organizations are able to utilize this data not only for security, but also for cross-departmental operations to increase efficiencies and revenue. Processing at the edge will become more of the norm as the edge itself continues to get more powerful, i-PRO adds.
New ways of harnessing distributed IoT power via containerization technologies will continue to gain traction. Container technology, like Docker and Kubernetes, and the concept of shared resources across multiple devices will increase the speed of processing, improve analytic plug-in integration, and increase the speed of firmware updates and the deployment of new analytics.
Trend 2: Open AI platforms provide maximum flexibility
As artificial intelligence (AI)-based technologies continue to advance, the industry will continue to see specialized tools being created by expert developers with a focus on solving unique challenges, the company says.
Open platforms provide best-in-class developers with access to large markets. Much like today’s successful app-based economy for computers and smartphones, this proven model will continue to take shape and offer integrators and end users the level of customization they’ve come to expect from technology.
“The future of the industry will be led by those who embrace open strategy as a best-in-class business practice,” i-PRO says. “Creating flexible infrastructures for AI analytics developers to easily plug-into will further aid the democratization of AI in several industries outside of security as well.
Trend 3: Privacy Protection Key Issue with Renewed Momentum
With GDPR setting the example in Europe, concern over personal privacy continues to grow with varying degrees of compliance required by industry. 2023 may see the U.S. enact a GDPR-like data privacy law at the federal level.
Although there are already laws in some states that have adopted GDPR language and practices, there appears to be strong bipartisan support for the proposed “American Data Privacy and Protection Act”.
According to the United Nations, more than 70% of countries worldwide have enacted data protection and privacy legislation. As governments try to appease citizens’ pleas for more rights over their data, these laws continue to evolve. Having the ability to obscure faces while maintaining a secondary protected data stream for evidentiary purposes will be a sought-after feature in the near future.
As always,” i-PRO says, “the industry must focus on making it easy for our customers and end users to comply with any new laws as well as GDPR. Prudent manufacturers are already acting to build data privacy into their processes as a best practice.”
Trend 4: Cybersecurity Awareness, Zero Trust
While security professionals are highly aware of the geo-political risks posed by untrustworthy state-owned manufacturers, the continued push to secure networks by IT professionals and network vendors will create even more cybersecurity awareness in 2023, i-PRO predicts.
“We expect to more European governments to follow the USA NDAA example in 2023 that prevents authorities from installing Chinese state-owned surveillance systems in sensitive sites,” the company says. “Through a recent executive order, the White House has mandated federal compliance with zero-trust architecture and design by 2024. This will result in a huge federal shift in US policy for 2023 with ripple effects to any businesses doing business in the US.
“We anticipate continued adoption of zero trust practices which validate every transaction between devices and people. Cybersecurity as a pillar of corporate responsibility will become an emerging trend as businesses seek to safeguard business continuity for their customers.”
Trend 5: Supply Chain Issues Persist
While supply chain issues for technology will persist into 2023, the hard-fought lessons are driving mandates to prevent the kinds of collapse that we’ve seen from occurring in the same way again, i-PRO said.
However, most proposed solutions are early in deployment and may not come online in the next 12 months. Manufacturers and integrators will need to carefully orchestrate and manage expectations in the channel. Look for manufacturers with trusted supply chains and a level of transparency on product availability and lead times for the best chance to fulfill contracts.
“2023 promises to be an impactful and transitional year for security professionals as businesses seek stability while also having less resources to work with,” said Norio Hitsuishi, global head of product management for i-PRO Co. “The physical security industry has the potential to step up and help companies do more with less by providing a wealth of data and insights not only to help protect people and assets, but also to help the bottom line.”
Third Party Risk Assessment
Alastair Parr, senior vice president of global products and delivery, and Brad Hibbert, chief operating officer and chief security officer at Prevalent, shared 3 predictions to guide organizations in their 2023 TPRM strategies.
Trend 1: ‘Annual and Manual’ Approach Will Become an Exception
Given the continual onslaught of third-party vendor and supplier-originated security incidents (for example, the ransomware attack at Kojima Industries that stopped production at Toyota), organizations are trying to better predict disruptions and mitigate them when they do happen.
As if this wasn’t challenging enough, increasing regulatory pressures in the areas of data protection and supplier due diligence are requiring these same organizations to more regularly assess the business resilience of their vendors and suppliers, Parr and Hibbert said.
This means organizations must be more proactive, continuous and agile in assessing their third-party vendor and supplier resilience, ditching manual methods once and for all.
“Threats, regulatory requirements and legislation won’t allow the bare minimum third-party vendor and supplier due diligence reviews anymore,” the authors say. “Simply put, TPRM can’t be an annual, manual check-the-box exercise.”
To accommodate this shift, they expect TPRM offerings to deliver better machine learning (ML)-based automations and analytics and stronger correlation against prior assessment findings. This evolution will help organizations more easily spot and respond to incidents and more efficiently gauge vendor and supplier resilience on an ongoing basis.”
Trend 2: TPRM Will Evolve Into Third-Party Lifecycle Management
It’s all about supplier resilience now, and that means looking at risks from the beginning to the end of the vendor relationship, the authors say.
Looking at risks at a single point in the supplier relationship, for example only at the time of onboarding, is the wrong approach. Risks continually present themselves throughout a supplier relationship long after the contract is signed.
Yet, according to a recent TPRM trends report, fewer than half of companies are tracking third-party risks as the relationship progresses through maturity.
In 2023, the authors believe that organizations will begin to look at third-party risks as a lifecycle with uniquely tracked and managed risks during sourcing and selection, onboarding and contracting, ongoing management, and offboarding.
This evolution will be driven by the need for better program oversight as professionals seek to capture information from colleagues adjacent to them in areas such as procurement, legal, compliance, audit, and risk. To facilitate this, data must become more accessible across teams and processes consolidated around a consistent set of workflows.
Trend 3: Geographic, Political Insights Will Become Increasingly Accessible in TPRM Solutions
“If there was anything that the Russian invasion of Ukraine taught us, it’s the need to consider geo-political concerns in making supplier decisions. This is inherently a non-IT risk,” the authors say.
“It is notoriously difficult to identify the regional sites of a third-party supplier that may be impacted by a geographic event such as adverse weather or geo-political issues. While the head office is commonly identified during the contracting phase, the regional sites such as manufacturing plants are often not readily available.”
Considering the ramifications of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in 2023 organizations will seek to capture more geographic information so they can report immediately to executives once a major event hits the media, identify potential challenges in the supply chain quickly and efficiently, and adjust accordingly.
Supplier risk management solutions will help facilitate the collection and analysis of this information through passive scanning and the creation of a comprehensive supplier profile.
VIDEO SURVEILLANCE
In 2023 Trends in Video Surveillance, Eagle Eye Networks experts predict what will impact the video surveillance industry in the coming year and suggest ways business leaders can take advantage of these industry shifts to improve their operations.
Trend 1: Businesses Budgeting for AI-Ready, Future-Proof Video Surveillance Platforms
Successful businesses are preparing their operations for the future and want a video surveillance system that is AI capable and has the flexibility to run advanced analytics. Dynamic shifts over the past few years in the way the world does business forced companies to use technology in new ways. Video surveillance systems, once only used for security, are now a tool to help optimize business operations. Businesses want an AI-ready video surveillance system that will generate useful insights from gathered data.
Over 50% of businesses are using AI in some way, with more than 25% reporting widespread AI adoption within their company, according to a 2022 AI business survey by PriceWaterhouseCoopers. The survey shows that businesses that are not already using AI know that new, modern technologies will automate their systems and processes in the future and are budgeting for the infrastructure now.
Video surveillance systems capable of running AI help businesses scale their ability to analyze and act on data. Advanced uses include systems that can automatically detect and send real-time alerts of security threats and gather data to provide useful information like peak foot traffic or customer wait times.
Trend 2: Businesses Want Solutions That Reduce Operating Costs
The cost of doing business continues to rise and many companies are taking a hard look at their finances as profit margins narrow. Inflation is at a 40-year high, industries are still grappling with global supply chain issues, ongoing semiconductor chip shortages, and a tight labor market.
Companies are taking steps to prepare for an uncertain economic future and want options to reduce operational costs, including their video surveillance systems. Operational technology costs, many of which are not in plain sight, can significantly raise the cost of technology ownership. However, cloud-based technology offers businesses substantial economies of scale.
Moving the computing and video storage infrastructure to the cloud results in a lower total cost of ownership compared to a typical onsite system. The lifetime savings generally range between 20-50% compared to costs for hosting the VMS (video management system) applications in a corporate data center.
Some VSaaS (video surveillance as a service) providers now offer discounts and protection from future inflationary price increases for years to come with multiyear subscriptions. Customers are incentivized to sign up for a yearly or multiyear subscription to take advantage of today’s prices that won’t increase for the duration of the subscription.
While some customers rely on the flexibility of a monthly bill, more businesses prefer paying once a year for subscription services that have already been budgeted. Discounted service agreements and flexible billing will continue to be a sticking point for businesses until the economy stabilizes.
Lastly, businesses are buying higher resolution cameras as they become more affordable. There has been a three-fold increase in high resolution IP security cameras over the past 5 years, according to the 2022 Eagle Eye Networks Cloud Video Surveillance Camera Worldwide Statistics report. As the resolution increases, the ability to implement video analytics solutions also increases, ultimately making systems more effective.
Trend 3: Parking is Being Universally Automated
There is tremendous growth in the automated parking system market. Businesses that manage a parking component – from multifamily housing and business parks to commercial buildings and medical complexes – want a convenient solution. The automated parking system market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15.1% through 2030 according to a 2022 report from Emergen Research.
The market value is predicted to grow by $3 billion in that time. A continuous increase in vehicles on the road plus land scarcity and consumer convenience is contributing to market growth. In an Eagle Eye Networks poll of security integrators, 50% of respondents said that their prospective customers inquired about improving security and operations for their parking areas.
Meanwhile, 27% of prospective customers asked about security for their parking areas, while 23% of prospective customers did not specifically ask about parking.
Many automated parking systems are expensive to implement, so adapting existing video surveillance systems to include automated parking is a marketable solution. Businesses are looking to their video surveillance system to improve and automate their parking. Ideally, video surveillance systems integrated with parking applications can use camera infrastructure to monitor traffic flow and guide drivers to available parking spaces.
In general, data gathered from video analytics can be used by business owners and operators to make informed decisions about parking areas – when to limit entry, raise prices, or ready staff. The right video surveillance system should provide a viable solution for parking automation.
Trend 4: Schools Are Experimenting with Security Technologies to Enhance Safety
Improving school campus safety continues to be a priority, particularly in the U.S. As a result, a variety of security technologies are being adopted.
School districts continue to experiment with security systems to make schools safer using designated funding from bonds or government initiatives. While no single solution has proven to solve all school safety and security issues, compatible systems are best positioned to serve the needs of school campuses.
In the summer of 2022, U.S. lawmakers passed $1 billion in funding for schools to “create safe and healthy learning environments for all students” with an additional $300 million for training and equipment for school threat deterrence.
What schools want are solutions to improve incident deterrence, detection, and response. Video surveillance for education must integrate easily with other security applications to extend the power of the system. The ability to combine access control applications with video surveillance will distinguish systems in the education market.
School administrators and IT teams require a system that is easy to use and reduces the amount of onsite equipment and maintenance. Cloud video surveillance provides an ideal platform, allowing for centralized management of all facilities from one single dashboard.
School districts are also looking for advanced options such as video analytics that can send automatic alerts when people enter campus properties like parking lots or fields during off-hours.
Districts also want a convenient way to access and share video surveillance with first responder agencies during critical incidents. Some video surveillance systems allow administrators to pre-assign access to first responders so that live video can be immediately accessed in an emergency.
Trend 5: Convenient and continuous customer support saves time and manpower
More businesses are realizing the value of customer support and training services as part of their purchasing decision. Customers expect immediate and convenient 24/7 customer service and this is becoming a differentiator among security solutions.
More than 9 in 10 businesses are currently using cloud technology in some way, including email, phone, backup, applications, and increasingly, video surveillance.
As businesses shift to SaaS (software as a service) models, they consider the corresponding support and training as part of their investment. IT leaders are making more SaaS purchasing decisions and customer service solutions can impact staffing needs. With cloud-based systems where technical support can access a system and remotely solve a problem, businesses do not need to have their own experts on staff and can save on operational overhead.
Cloud video surveillance, and generally SaaS products, have a higher customer retention rate than traditional surveillance systems. Convenient and effective technical support becomes key to keeping customers content and loyal beyond the length of a subscription.
Negative reactions to phone trees, outsourced call centers, and ineffective customer support can damage a service provider’s reputation. Conversely, convenient access to support through in-app chats and SMS support will enhance reputation and customer appreciation. In addition to support, customers today expect robust training services and easy onboarding for new employees.
