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Nominations are now open for the Women’s Security Council's 2013 Women of the Year Awards.

This is a great program that honors the top female professionals in the industry in a variety of categories.

In selecting winners, WSC is looking for women who have exhibited leadership in the industry and at their companies, and women who have given back to the business community by mentoring or supporting other women in the security market.

Nominate yourself or a colleague by clicking this link. and filling out the form.

The winners will be formally announced at WSC’s 2013 Awards Reception at ISC West, profiled in the special April eWSC awards newsletter and announced in an official WSC press release to be distributed at ISC West.

All nominees, SIA members and WSC supporters are invited to attend the Awards Reception.

At ISC West last year, WSC honored the following leaders:  Erica Wood, CSO, American Fire & Security; Patricia Schmitt, President and CEO, Aegis Protective Services; Carole Dougan, Vice President Strategic Accounts, Arecont Vision; Debby Maffei, National Account Manager, ScanSource Security; Michele Freadman, Deputy Director of Aviation Security Operations, Boston Logan International Airport; Amy Kothari, President and CEO, Alarm Capital Alliance; and Renee Mallonee, Dealer Marketing Manager, Monitronics International.
 

Happy 2013! I’m back in the office after an extra long vacation, which involved no work and a lot of food, exercise and fun with my kiddos, husband and extended family. I hope you all had some time off as well.

Going through emails and pre-holiday to-dos, I came across some notes from the Imperial Capital Security Investor Conference from a panel discussion that took place at the very end of the conference about BYOD—that’s bring your own device. The panel featured government professionals talking about how they deal with the proliferation of mobile devices, where they’re useful and where they’re exceedingly dangerous.

One speaker said BYOD should stand for “Bring your own disaster.”

They discussed whether you secure at the device level or the app level? (The consensus was app.)

Another speaker said the only reasonable policy is “HYOD” which stands for employers saying, “here’s your own device.”

I’m looking forward to further discussions on this topic at TechSec 2013 (Feb. 5-6 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) One TechSec educational session, “To BYOD or not to BYOD,” will address this topic specifically.

Moderated by Brivo’s Charles Wheeler and featuring cybersecurity specialists, this session will examine the effect on the physical security industry, what should be included in a BYOD policy, how can BYOD comply with data protection and privacy requirements and particularly how it relates to security systems integrators and end users.

One more reason for you to come to TechSec 2013. Check out the program at http://www.techsecsol.com.

The outrage and debate in the wake of the Newtown massacre will inevitably bring change. It might not involve the federal action that many have demanded—a ban on assault weapons tops the list—but it is certain to include local initiatives that strengthen school security: improved access control, additional guard services, expanded video surveillance or a combination of the three.

Unfortunately, school shootings are a problem that security alone can’t address, involving complex issues that go well beyond simply installing metal detectors or better entry controls. A determined, well-armed assailant will still be able to kill despite the best intentions of public officials—that was proven in Newtown. Progress can be made to limit the scope of such tragedies, but to think we can eliminate them is naïve.

That being said, and with the horror of the Connecticut shootings still painfully fresh, it might come as a surprise to learn that the number of school homicides in the United States has dropped since the early 1990s. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there were two years during that decade—1992 and 1997—when the school homicide toll among students ages 5-18 rose to 34. By 2010, that number had fallen to 17. The decline hasn’t been constant and one slain student is one too many, but it’s a decline nonetheless.

For many schools, the tipping point for action was the Columbine High massacre in 1999, which led to the widespread adoption of lockdown procedures and other safety protocols. That sense of urgency has faded, however, according to school security consultant Kenneth Trump, who told The Washington Post this week that “the conversation and the training that we have today [are] not at the same level of consistency and intensity.”

Physical security assets at the nation’s schools also have lagged. Michael Dorn, executive director of the nonprofit group Safe Havens International, told the Post that fewer than 10 percent of U.S. schools have strong access control with locked entryways, buzzers, protective glass and camera or intercom systems. That’s likely to change after Newtown, he said, as school districts feel pressure to upgrade security.

“There’s a shift from concern to panic, if you will, and you have parents doing something to improve safety,” Dorn said.

That presents an opportunity for security companies not only to benefit financially—the unspoken result whenever such tragedies occur—but also to strengthen the protection of children across the nation. Regardless of what happens at the federal level, local school districts are sure to come knocking.

It was a very full day at the Imperial Capital Security Investor Conference on December 13. Starting before 8 a.m. with John Mack’s “State of Security Finance/M&A Markets” and wrapping up at 5:30 with a very cool panel discussion on BYOD—a great discussion topic, which should be a cause for concern for integrators, manufacturers, and end users alike. We’ll have more on this topic at TechSec in Florida, Feb. 5&6, 2013. Check out this link.  

During the course of the day I heard some cybersecurity experts prognosticating about some frightening stuff and also  listened to presentations from 13 companies (there were 60 presenting throughout the day.) The sessions I saw ranging from systems integrators like Dakota Security to manufacturers like alarm.com and interesting start-ups like Quylar and Applied DNA Sciences.

The format is efficient. Session are 20 minutes and because the presentations are designed for investors, they are refreshingly free of long diatribes about how much more maniacly obsessed XYZ company is with customer service than ABC company.

Early in the day, at the Devcon presentation, Devcon’s chairman of the board, Christopher Munday, spoke frankly about the company’s challenges in the past couple of years—including an ill-fated branch expansion.

He confirmed that the company is actively seeking a buyer and has hired Imperial Capital to "review strategic alternatives." Munday shared several operating and financial metrics to support his assertion that the company is on strong footing.

In 2010 and 2011, Devcon hired many former Brink’s Home Security dealers and quickly opened up 50 branch offices around the country.

That move was a mistake, Munday said. “In 2010 and 2011 we tried to fast-track the company. That did not work,” he said.

Today, Devcon has gone back to its “core business.” Munday said it has spent the past eight months realigning costs and reassessing its regional structure.

Based in Hollywood, Fla., the company now has 11 branches, eight of which are in Florida. It has 136,000 customer sites, 547 employees and $4.3 million in RMR.

While Devcon and Utah-based Pinnacle Security are both owned by Golden Gate Capital, the two are “separate companies with separate debt facilities,” he said.

Devcon’s business mix is 46 percent residential, 35 percent commercial and 19 percent homeowner associations. Its attrition rate varies by division, but is 11 percent across the business.

While Pinnacle does door-to-door sales, Devcon’s residential sales require an average of “1.7 to 2.3 visits—it’s a slower, controlled sale,” Munday said. Those residential accounts typically have a $200 to $225 upfront investment from the customer.

Devcon has two central stations, one in Staten Island, N.Y., and one in Hollywood, Fla. While its branch offices do some commercial work, the bulk of its commercial business comes from two New York City-based businesses: Mutual Central Alarm Services, which does large commercial deals and has many high-end retail customers, and Stat-Land, which services mostly commercial customers in and around Staten Island.

Recent changes have not affected Devcon consumers, Munday said.

The past few years have included investments in “enhanced business intelligence systems.” Those technology investments and software systems could “support tremendous growth nationwide, should [a new owner] choose to do that,” he said.

“After the uncertainty, there is positive momentum at Devcon,” Munday said.