Banking on better security
Video analytics and the latest mega-pixel cameras are just some of the technological innovations that are helping financial institutions in the region tackle crime, writes Salim Idris
One area that continues to test security technology to its very limits is the requirement to provide effective protection for banks and their associated infrastructure – such as cash machines (ATMs) – particularly as financial institutions are increasingly in the sights of ever more audacious criminal gangs.
The extreme lengths to which the criminal fraternity is prepared to go was underlined recently by an incident, related to me by my UK colleagues, where workmen discovered a large 40 foot tunnel under a street in Manchester, England – including electric lighting – which was going to be used to target a cash machine nearby, with the plan being to steal the whole unit by taking it away out of sight through the tunnel before retrieving the cash.
Unfortunately attacks on bank branches and ATMs bring with them the very real danger of physical assault on workers and customers who, unwittingly, find themselves caught up in an event. Sadly in a number of incidents members of the public, using ATMs, have spotted and removed card skimming devices only to find themselves being assaulted by the criminals responsible for the offending items who had been hiding nearby waiting to retrieve the valuable card information.
Effective ATM surveillance
So given the above, what security measures are being taken to address the financial and physical threat and catch suspicious activity before it can impact on banking operations or public safety?
The good news is that banks in the Middle East are leading the way in terms of the technology being applied. When it comes to securing cash withdrawal facilities at ATMs, combating card fraud and, critically, ensuring the safety of those using these facilities, this is now being addressed by the installation of compact networked Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) in ATMs and associated CCTV cameras. Crucially, these are able to deliver images of suspicious activity to a control centre where operators can readily monitor ATMs across a number of locations and take appropriate action. Associated with this is the ability to display views of ATMs on spot monitors inside branches so acting as a powerful visible deterrent to the criminals and providing much needed reassurance to customers.
An extension of this approach to ATM protection is the potential to apply intelligent video analytics methods to the CCTV images, such as object left, where the analytics capabilities are able to identify the insertion of a skimming device into the card slot of a specific machine and send an alert to a remote monitoring station who can then notify the bank and the authorities.
Suspect identification
Another technological advance, which is likely to increase the capability of security solutions for financial institutions, is the introduction of mega pixel cameras. The key advantage here is that they can provide the image resolution and quality necessary to identify suspects – a key requirement – while allowing banks to replace their traditional, standalone, 35mm wet film-based cameras with a much more cost effective, flexible network capable alternative, which can be readily combined with a bank’s security infrastructure. The latest mega pixel IP cameras are now able to offer, seamless, deep integration with CCTV recording products so ensuring that any image from any part of the CCTV system is available through a single user interface.
The advent of such cameras also means that it is imperative to consider whether a bank’s CCTV system is actually capable of recording from high resolution IP cameras and, crucially, whether this is an integrated capability.
A connected approach
In the end the message to the criminal gangs and opportunist thieves, who seek to target banks, is that the security industry is determined to provide the financial sector with ever more capable networked CCTV systems to combat attacks and, crucially, allow them to obtain the evidence required to assist the authorities to prosecute the individuals involved.
 Salim Idris is general manager ( Middle East) of Dedicated Micros. For more information on Dedicated Micros please Tel: +971 4 390 1015/6/7, GSM: +971 50 4500 149. Email: SIdris@dmicros.com or visit the website www.dedicatedmicros.com
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