The role of security has evolved very quickly in the past year—expanding from protecting assets to promoting healthier and safer environments. At Apex Security, we added new services like temperature taking and COVID-19 screening security guards in 2020. Digitalization has also been a major trend in general throughout the pandemic, helping businesses and consumers alike to navigate their way through lockdowns and restrictions and this is no different in the world of security. Touchless and super-integrated technologies are coming to the fore as companies and families look to transition to a new normal in 2021 and beyond. The way our world operates has changed drastically following the global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the residential and office security landscapes continue to transform in response to some of the most far-reaching changes of our lifetime, so have the industry’s biggest trends. Here are the top five trends to watch this year.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the evolution of security as we begin 2021. Experts anticipate a growing reliance on machine learning to power decision making across a broad range of security and digital business use cases. Additionally, AI-driven cybersecurity solutions will continue to drive automation and technology that can evolve with advances in cyberattacks. As cyberattacks continue to grow in intensity and frequency, AI is set to help under-resourced security teams stay ahead of the threats. By analyzing massive amounts of risk data from structured and unstructured resources, AI provides threat intelligence, reducing the time a security team will take to make critical decisions and respond to nullify a threat.
Whether we realize it or not, AI plays a very active role in our daily lives. Every time we like a post on Facebook, ask a question on Google or get a product recommendation from Amazon, AI is somewhere in the background. Whatever else happens in 2021, AI will no doubt continue to change our world in new and unexpected ways.
Biometric Access Control
As the demand for touchless access control solutions increases, facial recognition is quickly growing in popularity. Face ID is already utilized by millions of users on their smartphones and this trend is spreading to other sectors of the security industry as COVID-19 has reinforced the need for touchless technology to eliminate common touch surfaces that can spread disease. Providing a modern, touchless access experience, facial recognition will be widely implemented for both identity verification and access control. Additionally, other technologies that will experience growth include iris, palm, vein, voice and touchless fingerprints. These products will be valuable helping facilities re-open safely, while also setting them up for a faster, more effective response in the future should another public health crisis occur.
Biometrics have existed at the periphery of access control technology for decades, limited by high cost, accuracy issues, privacy concerns and other issues. However, with prices dropping, quality improving and privacy concerns no longer being at the fore, it has become a viable access control technology in the COVID-19 era.
Mobile Access Control
More than 93% of Americans own a smartphone and they can now be used to do just about anything. That’s why mobile credentials will play a leading role in the future of physical access control technologies. Key card access control systems are quickly becoming obsolete as cards are often misplaced and can easily be hacked using relatively inexpensive equipment. Mobile access is now desired more than ever for door openings—both for convenience and as a means of reducing touchpoints. Since people tend to bring their mobile phones with them everywhere, these devices have organically evolved for the access control industry.
Additionally, mobile access control offers remote capabilities. Home security systems need to be armed in order for them to function properly. Smart technology ensures that you can do all this from your smartphone. This will give you the power to receive the best security for your home remotely. Users will be able to see through video surveillance cameras if anyone’s in their home and set up the alarm when there’s no one around. They’ll also be able to send out notifications to local authorities through a text message, phone call or email if they detect any suspicious activity.
Cloud Adoption
Traditional access control systems are expensive, require servers, wiring and annual software licensing. This limited the adoption of access solutions to larger corporations with the bandwidth to implement and manage these on-premise systems. By using the cloud, secure access is available to any operation. Most company systems today run on cloud-based systems as it’s intuitive to use and offers the most flexibility for administrators. You name it and that system runs in the cloud: messaging, email, sales CRMs, marketing tools, productivity tools, IT infrastructure, website hosting, etc. User authorization, access points and data trends are also centralized in a single database that is remotely accessible.
This is an important advancement in the physical security industry as it eliminates the need for an on-site IT professional to manage the system. Other benefits include operational improvements, higher security and easy multi-site management of access to reap the benefits of limitless scalability.
5G Connectivity
While it provoked all kinds of news headlines last year—both real and fake—companies are developing ways to utilize 5G networks with modern business devices. 5G is new and complex and will have a revolutionary impact on telecommunication. For starters, it allows for nearly 20 times the speed of LTE with a fraction of its latency. This means that not only will companies benefit from quicker data transfer but the speed of remote work will also be improved. As a result, there’s an opportunity to receive and respond to security risks at an even faster rate, particularly for remote areas such as construction sites. Experts fully expect to see faster adoption of 5G for remote workforces to grow businesses.
With carriers around the world pushing the deployment of 5G infrastructure, we’ll see the number of connected devices and the volume of data they create and share increase. It’s important to note that operating anything on a wireless network leaves you vulnerable to cyber-attacks. There will be a growing trend in the security industry to find solutions to address this issue and to reduce the chance of families and organizations having their security systems hacked. As cybersecurity trends keep emerging, users must adopt a proactive IT security posture, rather than reactive, and become more nimble, more flexible and more collaborative to keep their assets secure.
Here at Apex Security, we stay on top of the latest trends so we can provide advanced solutions and helpful advice to our valued customers. Even with the latest technology, nothing can replace the human touch and we know that Orlando security guard services will continue to be in high demand. In 2020, we expanded our services to meet the needs of Orlando businesses and we are here for your business in 2021 and beyond to keep your employees and customers safe.