Video analytics has revolutionised how businesses and organisations approach security, writes Martin Viljoen, IT manager at Canon South Africa.
The global market is expected to grow exponentially over the next decade as new technological developments allow for real-time observation, detection and reporting of actions within a monitored area.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has also spurred this revolution, enabling businesses to derive actionable insights from data gathered in the form of video.
However, while there is a lot to be excited about when it comes to the newfound capabilities of video technology, especially as more and more enterprises work to integrate AI-enabled solutions into their networks, enterprises must not lose sight of the implications of these integrations and the added value they are working to unlock.
It starts with understanding what these capabilities are and how they enable businesses to take their security infrastructure to the next level.
Doing more on the edge
The last two decades have seen technology vendors make significant strides in the computational capabilities of their hardware. Advancements in chip architecture, which have led to multi-core processors and specialised graphics processing units (GPUs) mean that processors can handle large amounts of data and execute more sophisticated algorithms.
These innovations trickle down and have an impact on all industries, including network security and surveillance. Edge computing enables video camera solutions to process and store data as close to the source as possible rather than having to send it to a centralised hub.
What this also means is that operators do not need to make significant investments in centralised infrastructure. Instead, they can optimise existing infrastructure with solutions that gather, process and store video data all at the same location, all while reducing network latency and bandwidth requirements.
In the end, as hardware costs continue to decrease, edge computing and AI-enabled devices for security applications can prove to be more cost-effective to businesses.
A is for analytics
Innovations in network cameras and video technology have enabled businesses to much more easily find what they are looking for. Previously, if there were a building intrusion or some sort of incident caught on camera, operators would have to sift through large amounts of raw footage to find the suspect, verify them, and then track their activities across any number of feeds.
AI-enabled analytics, which utilise algorithms to analyse live and recorded video content to generate descriptions of what’s happening in a scene, enable camera operators to immediately identify objects, humans and vehicles.
It also accelerates forensic investigations by letting operators pinpoint specific video points, as well as giving them the insights to improve building and overall business efficiency.
For instance, operators can identify areas that experience high levels of foot and vehicle traffic, and subsequent congestion. They can then take steps to transform the space and its layout, thus ensuring that people and vehicles can move freely and in an optimised manner.
Being secure when transforming security
There is not one corner of the security industry that the trend of AI is not impacting. As more and more security systems make use of AI-powered analytics and algorithms, organisations need to evaluate the new and existing risks.
They need to understand the complex interplay between AI components and existing infrastructure and catalogue all potential weak points, including those that threat actors and unauthorised users can exploit.
The concerns surrounding how threat actors are leveraging AI to carry out attacks are also applicable to video and security systems and their operators. In the same way that a company’s employees may be targeted by phishing attempts and ransomware, so too can employees and network access points be targeted.
Video analytics will continue to benefit from the AI revolution, but it is up to enterprises to take a wholesale approach to the trend and integrate new technologies in a secure and diligent way. In doing so, they can unlock the full benefits while making their systems and infrastructure as resilient as possible.