Xavier Oliva
Senior Key Account Manager, Professor at the University Pompeu Fabra of Barcelona
April 10, 2024
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Insights shared by security leaders over the years
Video surveillance systems present both significant advantages and challenges, as conveyed to me by security managers over the years.
Table of contents
1. Resilience
Several years ago, a banking client of ours showed me an image that perfectly illustrated why they favoured our video recording solution over others they were familiar with. They explained that their equipment inventory was split in two: one half consisted of Lanaccess equipment, while the other half comprised devices from another manufacturer, all with similar ages. Spread out on the table before us were the devices that had been removed from branches due to malfunctions in recent weeks. Among the sixteen devices, only one was a Lanaccess recorder, while the rest belonged to the other manufacturer. I still have the photo I took; a ratio of 15/1 was worth immortalising.
On another occasion, a different client in the banking sector shared that they had fallen victim to several robberies at one of their branches. Each time, the criminals managed to locate the recorder and had destroyed the hard drive, leaving the crime scene free of evidence. Eventually, the security director decided to install one of our recorders in the safe. Some colleagues thought he was crazy, warning that a recorder inside would overheat. Yet, years later, the equipment was still functioning smoothly.
Another security director, this time from a telecommunications giant, told me plainly: “In isolated towers in remote locations, I don’t take any chances; I always install Lanaccess video recorders.”
What lies behind these anecdotes? It’s robust technology, dedicated exclusively to video recording, that requires no ventilation and remains weatherproof even in the most extreme conditions.
Our video recorders, designed and manufactured in Europe, are appropriately sized for their functions. They are devoid of unnecessary elements, which means they generate much less heat than equipment from other manufacturers based on PC platforms. Even the small and medium capacity ranges do not require fans, reducing the mechanical components that are more prone to failure.
2. Cybersegurity
Creating resilient technology goes beyond just ensuring stability and robustness; it must also be secure. For an electronic system to be deemed safe, it needs to offer protection against cyberattacks.
A few years ago, a banking client urgently requested the replacement of a large number of their recorders. These were video recorders based on PC technology, operating on the Windows XP operating system. After support for this OS ended, a significant vulnerability was publicly disclosed, and Microsoft ceased creating security patches to address it. The client asked their supplier to update the operating system, but the response was that they needed to replace all the recorders because the new versions of Windows were incompatible with the hardware; the only solution was replacement. Surprisingly, the same client still uses older Lanaccess recorders that are even older than those affected by the security breach.
Recently, another client in the railway sector explained that a video recorder from another manufacturer had fallen victim to ransomware, prompting them to halt operations and remove the equipment for disinfection. On the same IP network, Lanaccess recorders continued functioning without interruption. This ensured that part of the video surveillance system remained operational.
Microsoft Windows is the most commonly used operating system in NVR devices as the system’s base architecture. Its status as the world’s most popular operating system makes it the primary target for malware developers.
Our recorders do not rely on this operating system and, therefore, are immune to the most common and damaging attacks. Moreover, they require fewer security updates.
Lanaccess recorders have undergone multiple intrusion tests by our banking clients, who typically hire specialised companies to search for vulnerabilities.
No system is completely impervious to cyberattacks, but at our company, we strive every day to provide the best possible protection.
3. Innovation
In our over 25-year history, our technology has undergone significant evolution. Back in 1999, we were pioneers in offering digital video recorders to replace VCRs, and were the only ones to do so with dedicated technology. Our clients at the time, including internationally-reaching banks, still appreciate and utilise our technology. They’ve evolved with us through different generations of equipment, benefiting from models tailored to a wide range of needs.
With the advent of IP cameras, we were the first to integrate PoE Ethernet switches into our recorders, simplifying plug & play camera connections. We’ve also made advancements in corporate network camera protection, identity usurpation detection and automatic restart of locked cameras.
A few years ago, one of our railway sector clients expressed interest in a solution with higher camera density than what we had at that time. We adapted our technology accordingly, creating the first recorder capable of managing up to 250 IP cameras in just 4U of rack height. In addition, we developed an automatic switching system that ensured recording continued even during equipment maintenance or errors.
Today, our video recorders capture footage from over 4,500 cameras across various facilities. Station managers view content on small monitors that streamline their work. For facilities without IP cameras, our encoders are utilised. System management occurs through a third-party software platform, with communication facilitated via standard protocols.
Another railway sector client recently requested an estimate of platform occupancy, anticipating a need exacerbated by the emergence of the pandemic. Leveraging our extensive experience with artificial intelligence in video surveillance, we developed neural networks for this specific task. These networks not only provide occupancy estimates but also send alarms and download occupancy statistics.
In healthcare, we’ve updated our firmware to interact with alarm panels, automatically positioning dome cameras towards incident locations. This sends alarms to the control centre, enabling immediate action.
Recent requests from our banking clients include features such as facial detection and behavioural analysis in self-service areas.
Finally, in several prison facilities, perimeter alarms are generated using our intelligent analysis devices.
