Amongthe rapidly spreading key terms in todays the security market and surveillance industry in general is convergence of technology. This term has been floating around for a couple of years now and it basically revolves around the union of physical access as well as logical access technologies which have existed in parallel and separate atmospheres for an extensive amount of time. The corporate security department has traditionally administered the physical access technologies, such as the worker's access cards as well as building security interfaces. The main domain of the IT department has been firewalls and interface passwords. The technology routs, networks, and consumer applications have remained isolated.

This separated form of operation was widely accepted in the past decades, and nobody argued against it. Due to the fact that the demand for physical access security predated the corporate utilization of data technology, corporate security sectors entirely focused on securing and guarding physical assets through the utilization of surveillance and alarm systems, padlocks, operated mostly by individuals with backgrounds in law enforcement and crime deterrence, without really utilizing technology in any way. Without a doubt, logical access surveillance has been an important component of data technology almost since its inauguration and has always remained under the sponsorship of the IT department. The convergence of physical and logical security technologies was neither an option nor a priority for the vast majority of these two unrelated entities.
However, that reality is currently changing on a very rapid scale. As physical and logical security concerns get bigger, relentless topics, such as inadequate security policy and enforcement continue to emerge. An increasing number of organizations are repeatedly inquiring about why physical and logical security systems are not working together and sharing information that can potentially reinforce them from all sorts of aspects. Due to the fact that the security technology is now catching up with the demand of the market, it is becoming feasible for companies to effectively converge the two technologically and culturally independent worlds of building access and network access without enormous expenses.
Through the integration of both physical and logical security technologies, corporations now have new potentials to:

The reason behind convergence and integration
Obviously, all organizations need to look after their corporate resources – this can range from deterring the theft of office supplies, to supplying a safe and secure atmosphere for workers and their assets or hindering terrorists, industrial saboteurs and hackers from causing mayhem on networks, information records and applications. For the reason that physical and logical security conventionally have been carried out by separate technologies and organizations, few companies recognize the advantage of convergence and integration.
As a convenient definition of the word, converged security refers to the integration of physical access technologies, such as magnetic cards and scanners, with identity control and patron verification technologies such as proximity cards and tokens. The convergence gives the organization the ability to establish and handle a solitary, consolidated repository for all verification credentials and to have a common means of setting access credentials for both logical and physical assets.
A technological convergence or integration that is Identity-based makes it feasible for organizations to have one system for controlling physical and logical privates, a combined network policy for network and remote access that drastically improves location data from physical access interfaces, communal trading of events and alarms amongst physical and logical access systems, an identity-based reporting system for utilization in forensic examinations and a smooth workflow for adding, removing user identities as well as modifying them.

The right time
The concept of integrating logical and physical access security is not a modern notion. It has been around for quite some time now, nevertheless historically, the main dilemma was how to carry out and make it a reality. Due to the fact that physical and logical security interfaces have had little in common in regards to technology, converging them was a rather expensive and multifaceted procedure. The deficiency of communication amongst the physical security specialists and data technology suppliers also has delayed integration.
Nonetheless, a golden chance now exists for the worlds of physical and logical access security to finally join hands and combine their efforts due to the following reasons.

Extensive endorsement of IP Technology. It is clearly noticed that IP interfaces has become the standard for corporate IT networking in the past ten years. Possessing a standard protocol minimizes wiring needs, deployment time as well as fees, and enables convenient administration and management via Web applications. These benefits have led more physical security appliance suppliers to make products compatible with IP technologies. In the present day, many physical access devices are capable of operating with IP technology, as well as cameras, card scanners and access managers.

Integrating trouble-free interfaces. Further physical access security suppliers are responding to requests of the customers and seeing the value in aiding integration. Many more are also promoting common programming applications for convergence with IT-based interfaces. Integrated solutions are established around identity provide more comprehensive security protection and related advantages such as regulatory conformity as well as enhanced management when responding to crises or surveillance hazards.

Door locks and firewalls are not enough to protect assets. As reviewing for regulatory conformity becomes more extensive, more examiners are seeing the cracks in corporate security and notifying clients to address the issue.

Standards of security. Standards, such as the Physical Security Bridge to IT Security, a supplier-neutral approach for enabling cooperation between physical and IT security to sustain overall enterprise risk administration needs established by the Open Security Exchange, a cross-industry discussion service established to address the lack of convergence between an assortment of components of the surveillance infrastructure, are being defined to allow simpler logical/physical access security convergence.

Additional affordable card token interfaces. Suppliers have recently put forth a new generation of more inexpensive smart cards of access. These cared were constructed based on a contactless smart card electronic chip. These extensively deployed cards provide a more secure token than the conventional 125 KHz Prox technology utilized with most systems of access management, which makes these cards extremely appropriate for utilization in IT surveillance.

Single sign-ons and their effect. With more corporations installing SSO, which enables users to login from anywhere to all interfaces using a solitary, intricate password, it is pushing demand for strong user verification and more inclusive security protocols for remote access and network. As an example, a worker is not able to access the VPN if they have already logged into the main office area.

Modern gateway interfaces. A modern age of gateway technologies is aiming at (as well as repairing) frequent integration obstacles. These gateway devices close the gap between the physical and logical systems to supply bi-directional trade of identity data and real-time occurrences.
As a consequence of these aspects, converged physical/logical access security interfaces will no longer be too expensive or difficult to install.

Advantages of Physical/Logical integration
The operation of logical and physical access security elements as a single team enables organizations to utilize the applications to support and complement one another. A protocol can be deployed that enables a user logical access to applications only if that user had previously swiped their worker access card that day when accessing a property or confidential vicinity. The electronic synchronization process does not only lead to better, more integrated surveillance, but also to a more enhanced overall surveillance, as convergence allows organizations to administer all forms of security under a solitary umbrella for utmost management.
Integration also supplies companies with reasonably priced, two-factor verification, which is suggested by experts as the best defense against illegal access to applications. In addition to that integration also allows magnetic employee badges to be utilized as the second component, saving organizations the price of extra smart cards, tokens or biometric scanning applications while at the same time making IT surveillance a lot stronger and more efficient.
Integrating logical and physical surveillance offers organizations the ability to manage responses to problems and/or urgent circumstances. For instance, when workers leave the job for any reason, regardless of whether it is a resignation or a termination there is usually a lag time of a couple of days or even weeks between when their physical access privileges and logical access credentials are finally concluded. This circumstance frequently results in displeased former workers logging in from a location far from the actual property, and thieving private information. Integration stops this dilemma from taking place by allowing organizations to conclude physical and logical access credentials at the same instant.
An additional security worry that is solved with technology integration is tailgating; a common dilemma in which a person without an ID badge attains access to a property by following closely behind an employee who has just swiped their ID badge or access card. Through utilizing integration technology, logical access surveillance can be deployed to warn and notify corporate security when workers who have not presented their access cards try to log onto PCs or to avert a user from accessing to their computer until they log in or swipe their cards, supplying a means to better obligate badge-swiping conformity.
In addition to that, integration gives organizations the ability to be compliant with rising rules and legislation. About 4 years ago, the White House presented the HSPD-12, which obligates a common identification standard for contractors, federal workers and other service providers. Additional governments and industry regulatory entities are demanding similar protocols. Integrated logical/physical access interfaces supply two-factor confirmation that ensures conformity with the guidelines.
All of these advantages in addition to the better defense, financial savings, minimization of risk and increased compliance related with them, renders integrated logical/physical security a valuable objective for any security-minded association.

Results of a Converged interface adoption
How will the corporate security react when the industries of passwords and padlocks unify at last? A good quantity of converged physical/logical access security interfaces are predicted to come to security market within the coming year or so. The departments that install the solutions will be amongst the first to gain advantage from the improved features provided.
To begin with, associations will gain a bigger amount return on investment (ROI) from their interface that is already deployed. Through hooking up the two access security interfaces, companies can obtain more value from the proximity cards and badges already deployed and fully enhance the installed infrastructure of scanners and doors managed by physical access management interfaces. Adding on to that, through integrating data available on user location, time of badge in and badge status within the organization's network/remote access policy, corporations are able to improve the security of their property. In view of the fact that the verification of badge status is required before access is finally given to a network, whether remotely or locally, the occurrence of security risks, such as tailgating, is immensely minimized.
An added advantage is enhanced user management, which allows the procedures for adding and removing users from physical and logical security systems to be smooth and provides enhanced uniformity of user demographics across all interfaces.
Adding on, with the physical and logical interfaces fully incorporated, real-time correspondence to network alerts is now feasible, and corporations have a more precise and correct emergency roster record. This, alongside with the consolidated logging of entry and access records by true user identity, enables corporations to experience overall enhanced risk administration. An integrated solution allows organizations to comply with various protocols, including FIPS 201, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, HSPD-12, Sarbanes-Oxley as well as HIPAA.

A link to a Future of enhanced security
it is really not too early for companies to start thinking about how the organization can attain advantage from the improved security and compliance the solutions will provide, this is especially true since the momentum is already building behind the formation and establishment of incorporated physical/logical access security interfaces. In fact, if truth be told, the best approach is for companies to start creating convergence solution plans now in order to guarantee a sensible, inexpensive, streamline and gradual execution.
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