|
Views & Comments>
Chip and PIN – how fantastic is your plastic?
6 Feb 2005
Dr. Mark Wherrett, General Manager for Video Control at Access Security Specialist, Bewator, discusses the pros and cons of Chip and PIN technology .
Chip and PIN technology has gained tremendous support and momentum in the UK since its launch at the beginning of 2003. Stores, banks and consumers alike seem to have welcomed the retail revelation, which is being heralded as the biggest change to the way Britain shops since decimalisation.
With its roll-out due to be completed in 2005, it is likely that most people have already experienced chip and PIN first hand, maybe when buying Christmas presents, for example.
It is estimated that Chip and PIN will touch more than 42 million people in total in the UK, including 850,000 retailer terminals, 120 million cards, 40,000 cash machines and 2.7 million retail staff.
The familiar rectangular piece of plastic power has consequently become even more valuable as the magic number enables users to gain fast, easy access to funds and retail delights.
But the rise of the Personal Identification Number (PIN) has brought with it some security and privacy concerns. The very fact that you now need to key your PIN number into machines in a multitude of leisure, retail and banking premises means that your code is potentially open to a greater number of surveillance opportunities from criminals and also security cameras.
A key concern for the public is that CCTV cameras that have been installed to protect people and property from theft and vandalism, could potentially be used as a tool to facilitate fraud. In larger retail stores, for example, there are often several cameras used to cover the majority of the premises. It is likely that one or more of the cameras will cover the till area, and could therefore potentially capture customers’ PIN details as they are tapped in.
The fear is that criminals who have obtained PIN numbers either by ‘Shoulder Surfing’ or by accessing the CCTV security footage could engineer for a card to be stolen and then use the card at any retail store or cash machine.
From January 2005 Chip and PIN has also heralded a change in the relationship between retailers and the credit and debit card issuers in the UK. Prior to then, the card issuers bore the liability for all card transactions, however, now the financial liability has shifted to the retailer unless they have adopted Chip and PIN, or unless they can demonstrate that they have taken adequate precautions to prevent fraud. This increases the value to the retailer of good CCTV recordings.
There are ways of overcoming these issues. Firstly, it is sometimes possible to position the cameras so that they face away from the area where people input their number. This may, or may not, be viable depending upon the layout of the store and its security requirements. ATM machines are often over-looked by external CCTV cameras that are immovable.
The most effective way to address these issues where movable cameras are concerned, however, is to use advanced video control technology that obscures sensitive information, such as the area where PIN codes are entered.
Advanced dome cameras, such as Bewator’s SOLARIS dome camera, for example, have the capacity to set up privacy masks so that any sensitive area within the range of the camera can be obscured. This means that security staff are able to monitor activity, whilst also protecting customer / members of the public’s privacy.
The SOLARIS Dome not only has twenty-four privacy masks that can be programmed via the On-Screen Display (OSD), but these masks are automatically and dynamically repositioned and resized in order to compensate for the camera being moved and zoomed.
The other advantage of using a camera like SOLARIS is that it can be used internally or externally. The external version has automatic day/night switching with manual override, which ensures optimal picture quality at all times, which is particularly useful when monitoring activity outside ATM machines on the high street.
The risk of criminals or retail staff collaborating with criminals gaining access to the security recordings in an attempt to obtain PINs or to delete incriminating footage will result in even more emphasis being placed on the security of the CCTV recordings.
Again, along with good security operating procedures and physical security, modern technology provides a solution in the form of Digital Video Management Systems (DVMS), that record, monitor and log the images captured by CCTV cameras. Bewator’s DVMS, Eventys, for example, is an advanced digital video and audio recorder / server that replaces analogue VCR, multiplexer, motion detector, and video transmission systems used in traditional analogue systems.
Access to the Eventys is password protected and an electronic audit trail of who did what can be kept. Eventys' intelligent search tools are able to retrieve images quickly and easily. Simultaneously supporting both analogue and IP cameras, along with remote data storage, Eventys is well suited for demanding sites such as banks, and retail outlets, as well as general corporate surveillance. Eventys eliminates restrictions of physical distance by being accessible from virtually anywhere in the world over TCP/IP networks.
Importantly, the Eventys system can be set up to automatically delete images after a pre-determined amount of time. For example, security managers can programme the system to delete images from a retail store after 30 days, or a bank ATM machine after six months – thus ensuring automatic compliance with data protection laws and, hopefully, a happy and safe public.
Bewator
|
