The newly launched cyber security incubator launched by the Institute for Cyber Security at the University of Texas at San Antonio is the latest demonstration of the University’s efforts to establish itself and the city of San Antonio as one of the top breeding grounds for cyber security research, commercialization, and innovation.
The Institute is run by Dr Ravi Sandhu, widely acknowledged to be one of the top security researchers around, and one of the Institute’s founders was Dr Eugene “Spaff” Spafford of Purdue, whose multi-disciplinary approach to security has set the bar for University programs.
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Commissioners from both the New York State and New York City Departments of Transportation were on hand to bring the Joint Traffic Management Center (JTMC) online today. New York City DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan was eloquent in her vision of technology. She believes that aggregating and analyzing data from the 590 state and city cameras deployed around the city, road sensors, traffic signaling systems, and intelligence from the TransCom transportation communications infrastructure can lead to faster, safer transit through the city and better commuting decisions by New York City residents and visitors. Hear what she had to say in this video.
James Chung, founder and CTO of VidSys, was the architect of many of the systems in the center and was publicly recognized along with VidSys CEO Chuck Teubner at the power-up ceremony. It was obvious that the Commissioners and the NYPD Chief of Transportation, Michael Scagnelli saw the value of the data integration the VidSys system provided. Inspector Patrick McCarthy of the NYPD put it succinctly when he said that the integrated information management in the new center allowed a higher level of collaboration between NYPD, the State DOT, the City DOT and the Federal Highway Administration. “We are all here, under one roof.”
The JTMC is an example of the best principles of PSIM, physical security information management, creating real value for people, businesses and governments in New York City.
Images from traffic cameras and data from road and signaling sensors appear on monitors around the JTMC. The monitoring personnel can spot incidents or verify incidents that have been called in by the public. From there the operators forward real time information to the media and relevant agencies electronically. Operators can also change messages on the 100 variable message signs along roads around the city to warn travelers of the conditions ahead. Click here to see real time traffic coming off the Queensboro bridge at 2nd Ave.
Sensors along the roadway also produce a graphical display of problem areas around the city. This color coded map and many views from DOT cameras are available for public viewing on the DOT website.
Today, about 75 cameras are feeding video to the JTMC, but over the coming year, all of the 218 City DOT cameras along bridges, local streets and FDR drive as well as the 278 State DOT cameras along highways around the city will be connected to the center.
In addition to DOT cameras, the JTMC integrates:
When evaluating a PSIM (physical security information management) software solution, focus on output not input. Garbage in, garbage out. That’s one of the suggestions from Greg Shipley and his Neohapsis colleagues in their November 10 Information Week article. Well, Greg and his team were writing about IT vulnerability management, but the principle applies to physical security and critical infrastructure protection as well. Keys to PSIM success which we can infer from the Neohapsis article?
As the HuntBI team evaluates PSIM solutions this Winter, we will be looking closely at solutions that “feed the machine” with the highest quality security data.