On October 20th, 2018 Apple announced Group FaceTime for its iOS devices. Three weeks later, on Mon., Jan. 28th, Apple announced a major flaw in this new feature. If someone initiated a FaceTime call, and then added themselves to it, the phone of the original person would start transmitting their audio before they picked up. […]

My readers will know that I tend to focus on topics related to collaboration, user-interaction, and generally building products that help us work together. You may be surprised to learn that a significant amount of my time is spent thinking about security. As devices become increasingly attached to our enterprise networks – those same devices must be […]

R&S SpycerNode uses what Rohde & Schwarz calls High Performance Computing (HPC) file system for its media server. HPC employs redundancy using software-based “RAID” technologies called erasure coding in combination with declustering to increase overall performance and reduce rebuild times. R&S SpycerNode features Rohde & Schwarz‘s device manager web application which makes it much easier […]

Everyone, everywhere is talking about the so-called Internet of Things (IoT). And, every tech company is trying to find a way to claim their products are part of IoT, too. And, most of it is hype. Pure hype. But, some of the companies that do have IoT things are being stupid. Why? Security. The Internet […]

There are quite a few conferences that focus on AV equipment. On the consumer side, there is CES, on the broadcast side there is NAB, then for residential AV there is CEDIA Expo and for commercial AV, we have InfoComm. The latest conference to focus on AV equipment, however, happened Friday, August 10th. The conference? DEFCON. […]

By Viktor Petersson Screenly Over the last few years, we have seen many cases of digital signage players being hacked for fun, profit and even propaganda. Hardcore porn shown on hacked billboard in Malmö Cyberattack claims multiple airports in Vietnam Hacked digital signage displays porn in Union Station Hijacking the Outdoor Digital Billboard – By […]

Audiovisual systems are becoming increasingly central to global operations as they offer expanded remote management capabilities. This upward trend of AV systems operating over enterprise networks can pose a serious risk for security breaches, therefore it’s critical for AV professionals to understand and mitigate these risks. AVIXA’s new Recommended Practices for Security in Networked AV […]

A quick survey: How many IoT devices do you currently think you own? Chances are you are way off on the actual number. A main reason is that no one actually knows how many devices are currently connected to the Internet of Things and that number is even harder to predict moving forward as more […]

As the world moves further and further into a technology-enabled and -dependent world, serious questions arise about personal and institutional privacy. Recently, news headlines have revealed that a seemingly innocuous bit of data could have far reaching and deadly side effects. Over the past several years, the U.S. Army has issued fitness trackers to its […]

I’ve written time and again about the rise of software as opposed to dedicated hardware. About AV as a Service (AVaaS). About how all of those black and grey boxes we’ve come to know and love will soon disappear, to be replaced by services running on virtual machines. It isn’t just a rule about audiovisual, […]

As I’m sure many of you are aware, there were quite a few instances of digital signage hacking this year. One of the most recent incidents, the hacking at Union Station, has stirred up some concern regarding safety for digital signage. Not to worry! Our team has put together four safety check steps to ensure […]

In the original movie Ghostbusters, Rick Moranis (in his immortal role as Vince Tully, CPA) is taken over by an evil spirit from another dimension and transformed into the Keymaster, the minion who will enable Gozer the Gozerian to enter our plane of existence and destroy the world. First, if you don’t understand that reference, […]

InfoComm is rapidly approaching and I am sure that there will be many gizmos and gadgets that are IoT ready as offerings in both consumer and commercial technology continue to explode in the market. The Internet of Things (IoT) play space has been promising, and delivering, on new and exciting ways to engage with customers, […]

This story has been updated to include advice from security expert and X2Go project lead Stefan Baur. Last week, a group of hackers released a nasty piece of ransomware that quickly spread across the world, touching anything and everything connected to a network. Deemed WannaCrypt (or WannaCry), the ransomware infected thousands (approximately 200,000, according to […]

CEDIA and InfoComm are combining forces at ISE 2017 to produce a joint conference designed to tackle the hot topic of cybersecurity. The conference is designed for integrators, consultants and end users who are keen to learn how best to protect networked AV systems against growing threats. “With AV systems now forming part of the […]

The Z-Wave Alliance has adding a security requirement to its long-standing interoperability certification. This addition to its certification program will require manufacturers to adopt the strongest levels of IoT security in the industry. The Alliance Board of Directors has voted to make the implementation of the new Security 2 (S2) framework mandatory for all products […]

On Fri., Oct. 21, a company in small Manchester, New Hampshire was the focus of a DoS internet attack.  While the city it is located in is small, the company, Dyn, is not. It provides DNS (Domain Name Server) service to a large part of the country. By attacking this company the hackers effectively shut […]

How the “New” industry security discussion really began Back in mid-January of this year, the AV world was rocked by a story that truly caught fire within hours after it was first reported. I watched it filter through the industry – the articles and podcasts – however I waited for the right moment to post […]

As I sit here in Cleveland during the Republican National Convention, I’m thinking about something I did not ever expect to happen in this current political climate — a recent bipartisan bill was introduced into the House of Representatives [Rep. Gene Green (D-TX) and Rep. Paul Cook (R-CA)] that aims to stop the flow of […]

The USB 3.0 Promoter Group today announced the USB Type-C Authentication specification, defining cryptographic-based authentication for USB Type-C chargers and devices. Using this protocol, host systems can confirm the authenticity of a USB device or USB charger, including such product aspects as the descriptors/capabilities and certification status. All of this happens right at the moment […]

Headline: Channel Partners – 3/10/16: Network Security Incidents High Among World’s Largest Companies Story: A new survey of IT and security professionals reveals that 72 percent of organizations have experienced five or more network security incidents in the past 12 months. Regardless of region or technology, IT and security administrators revealed that their networks have significant blind […]

By now you should have heard about Apple’s battle with the federal government over the unlocking of Syed Rizwan Farook’s iPhone for use in the investigation of the San Bernardino shootings. If you have not been paying attention and you work in the ICT industry, you should. In short, the Federal Government has secured an […]

As stated in my previous blog, “Baffling” Backdoor Cyber-Talks, numerous people in the industry through discussion as well as writing got right out and on top of a major story in the industry. Again, my hats off to them and this now leads to my next discussion on the matter of security. With the AMX […]

Recently there have been a few people who would have you believe that “Networked AV is the single biggest threat to cyber security today.”  Are the people who are saying this seriously stating that Networked AV poses a bigger threat to cybersecurity than social engineering or the other countless cyber security issues that end users […]

The AV industry received some unsettling news last week regarding a potential security vulnerability in Harman’s control processors. It was a rare moment when we as a group were all in the news, though not in a good way. For those who’ve not seen it by now, Ars Technica reported that AMX (now Harman) Netlinx […]

Before I begin let me first explain for those who may not yet be aware that the AV industry locked into a story on January 21st involving AMX by Harman and backdoors. Posts began to appear on Twitter, and I will say that prior to these tweets appearing I had already known what had taken […]

I wrote a blog recently So What Should Go Under the Tree This Year? The Drones Discussion Continues and yes while it was mostly targeted to (as it states) drones discussion, there was mention of one of the hottest toys currently on the market. In fact this was the blog’s ending with a link to a […]

Virtual Anatomy 101 Robert Hasel had an idea about how to change the teaching of human anatomy for medical, dental, and health science students which, instead of cutting into a real human corpse, involved wanting his students to get immersed via virtual and augmented reality. Hasel is associate dean for simulation, immersion, and digital learning […]

The Man in the “Iron” Machine Comic-Con returned to New York just this past week, which meant everyone from superheroes to cartoon characters were roaming the streets and subways. The multitude of costumes were awesome (as would be expected at one of the signature costume-based shows of the year), however one person in particular stood out — the one dressed as the Iron […]

Telemedicine and the World’s First Virtual Care Center At first glance, it looks like the inside of any office with cubicles and computer monitors – with one exception – many of the employees are dressed in hospital scrubs. These workers are actually nurses taking care of patients, though there are no hospital beds, no waiting rooms […]

IoT Continues to Open Pandora’s Box According to a PricewaterhouseCooper’s report (from October 2014), more than 20 percent of U.S. adults own at least one wearable, and soon we’ll be using them at home and work for a variety of purposes, with as many as 50 billion new connected devices by 2020. The Internet of Things has of […]

As some may have noticed in the profile description on the webpage, as well as if anyone has checked out my LinkedIn profile, you’ll notice the Convergent Tech Project which I’ve described as one which leverages technologies in audio visual, IT, video conferencing, Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC), cloud-hosted and virtual machine technologies, mobility/BYOD, Internet of […]