22 www.azbankers.org What is the Lifecycle Of Electronic Security Equipment? Financial institutions have a history of installing the latest security equipment for new construction or remodeled administrative facilities or branches. Many lack a strategy for maintaining the equipment or an end-of-life replacement strategy. This approach is not ideal for maintaining consistent quality or performance over time. The lifecycle of electronic security equipment is typically five years. The need for maintenance increases throughout the life of the equipment and quality decreases over time. Keeping equipment active beyond the end-of-life timeframe significantly decreases the quality of protection afforded by the equipment. A common symptom of equipment beyond end-of-life includes video images not effective at identifying suspects due to decreased image quality. Another common symptom is failure of the equipment at a time of critical need, such as during a bank robbery, or fraudulent transaction. Electronic Security Equipment as Technology Assets Financial institutions have transitioned or are in the process of transitioning from analog to IP-based electronic security equipment. IP-based security equipment is an immense step forward in functionality, integration capability, and quality. IP-based equipment connected to the financial institution’s network must be managed much differently than outdated analog equipment. IP-based security equipment must be patched, firmware updated, and penetration tested to verify cyber hardening is effective to prevent malware or hacking. A major trend is to treat IP-based security equipment as information technology assets and manage them just like servers, desktops, and laptop personal computers. Lifecycle replacement of security equipment is needed for the same reason lifecycle replacement occurs with laptops and smartphones. Technology assets at some point are no longer functional. Can you imagine trying to complete daily work on a ten-year-old smartphone or laptop? Equipment beyond end-of-life presents the following challenges: • Are the devices capable of encryption? • Can you patch the operating systems and is the firmware still supported by the manufacturer? • Does the storage capability of video system allow for 90 days of stored images? • Can the video, access control, and alarm systems be integrated versus just operating independently? • Are the systems capable of incorporating artificial intelligence and camera analytics? Banking Video Surveillance Provides Retail Analytics, Falls Under IT Most IT departments are now heavily involved with vendor evaluations and lifecycle management of security equipment. Join us to learn more about how this mindset is changing and vendor due diligence is more important than ever. By: Steve Ryker, CPP, VP of Risk & Compliance, Cook Solutions Group
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