INDUSTRY NEWS
Survey finds CCTV images are too low quality to identify criminals
Although businesses typically install CCTV to track intruders , a new survey has found that around a third of them are worried that the images aren ’ t good enough to identify perpetrators – making the systems both unfit for purpose and breaching the Data Protection Act .
The Data Protection Act ( DPA ), states that data recorded with the purpose of identifying individuals performing criminal activities must be of sufficient quality to do so , otherwise its capture is unjustified .
A survey on the use of Video in UK Social Housing , which was commissioned by cloud based video surveillance company Cloudview , looked at why companies invest in CCTV and their main concerns about its performance .
This sector was chosen because housing associations rely heavily on CCTV systems to protect their residents and assets . Image quality is clearly a major concern , as an even higher percentage of housing associations that do not have a CCTV system in place had decided against installing it due to poor image quality . Eighty-three per cent of survey respondents rated the quality of CCTV images as very important .
Although not as integral as image quality , other concerns surrounding CCTV included : Data security and compliance , time stamping of images and secure access .
According to James Wickes , cofounder and CEO of Cloudview , all of the concerns expressed in the survey can be addressed by integration with the Internet of Things ( IoT ).
Implementing Cloudview via the IoT enables organisations to record and store high definition , evidence quality images and video footage in the cloud . All data is fully encrypted and time stamped , then stored securely in a cloud based environment accessed via any authorised web enabled device . This will help to ensure that even older analogue systems comply with the DPA .
Poor quality images Compliance with data protection legislation
I ’ m worried about the security of data We have to be on site to download images
The system often breaks down The system is difficult to use
We have difficulty sharing the images The system is temperamental
Time stamping can be inaccurate Security – we can ’ t update the firmware
We have difficulties scaling up and adding more cameras
Concerns about CCTV
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 Frequency of response (%)
Existing system Potential system
UK ’ s SMEs told ‘ Adapt to digital economy or pay the price ’
The government has unveiled a £ 1.9 billion programme to protect the UK from cybercriminals until 2020 . Cybercrime is growing , with almost 6 million instances of online fraud estimated last year .
Cryptowall and CEO fraud are two of the most common , and dangerous , types of cyber attack , both with potentially devastating effects on even the smallest of businesses . Consequently , SMEs need to become more aware of the dangers of cybercrime and the options that they have available to them .
HMRC is in the process of ‘ Making Tax Digital ’, by 2020 all businesses , self-employed people and landlords earning over £ 10,000 per annum will manage their tax affairs through an online account , and will be required to update HMRC at least quarterly .
Tony Richardson , a veteran of the IT industry , sees this as an opportunity to tighten cyber security measures . He believes that cloud computing will improve security for SMEs due to the fact cyber security will become the responsibility of the software provider .
However , with many commentators focusing on high profile cyber attacks , it remains to be seen how this latest investment will affect the UK ’ s SME community .
British businesses fear they will face digital disruption by 2018
Half of all UK business leaders fear that their industries face significant digital disruption within the next two years , according to new research published by Microsoft .
The financial services sector , which employs 2.2 million people and contributes £ 66bn in taxes to the UK economy , is demonstrating the highest level of anxiety , with 65 per cent of respondents fearing the impact of disruption on their markets over the course of the next 24 months .
The biggest disruption is feared to come from new challengers , many of whom are digitally savvy startups , disrupting established markets by deploying new technologies quickly , and luring expectant customers away from established competitors . For many larger organisations , the challenge is how to react to this market disruption in a considered way and how they maintain competitiveness in a rapidly shifting landscape .
This will prove particularly challenging for the public sector , which has been the slowest to apply digital technologies to business challenges , with only 35 per cent saying they have a formal strategy in place and 26 per cent actively stating that no such strategy exists at all .
Across the board , 33 per cent think that older generations of workers will get left behind in some ways , pointing to cultural change as a potential barrier . Yet UK business leaders remain cautious of the long term societal impact of rapid digital transformation .
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