HID Global Announced the 2022 State of Access Control Report

HID GLOBAL ANNOUNCED THE 2022 STATE OF ACCESS CONTROL REPORT

Convenience Being a Major Theme, 42% of Respondents Worldwide Indicate Plans to Upgrade to Mobile-Ready Systems

HID Global announced the 2022 State of Access Control Report, providing insightful perspectives of the market’s current state and trends. Produced by IFSEC Global in partnership with HID Global, the report surveyed just over 1,000 respondents from across North America (56%), EMEA (29%) and Asia Pacific (15%) to detail trends in the procurement, installation, specification, and operation of physical access control solutions. The report describes the current state of the market, the technology being used, and trends that security and IT professionals are witnessing and foreseeing in the years to come, including:

CONVENIENCE:

Ease of use is the most crucial reason to upgrade to a new access control system, according to 60% of the respondents. This means that in addition to securing premises, a new system must provide a smooth and straightforward process for both users (employees, residents, or visitors) and administrators (security, facilities, and IT teams).

MOBILE ACCESS AND TOUCHLESS CAPABILITIES:

It is no surprise then, that demand for mobile access is showing an uptick, with 42% of respondents planning to upgrade to mobileready systems. While security system administrators benefit from increased operational efficiency, employees and visitors may find mobile access more convenient and secure since they are more likely to have their mobile devices at hand than their access cards. The pandemic also played a role in the demand for touchless physical access control. About 32% of respondents cited they would upgrade systems to introduce touchless solutions in response to the pandemic, with contactless biometrics also being considered among them.

SYSTEM INTEROPERABILITY:

Future-proof support is also a growing concern as users are pushing for long-term convenience while achieving cost savings. In fact, almost half of the respondents (49%) selected the ability to support new tech in the future as one of the top three features in a new access control solution, and 33% included integration with existing security platforms as being important. As a result, consultants and integrators are moving away from proprietary models and embracing open standards-based technology, where software upgrades can be securely managed through the cloud. One in five respondents added that interoperability and open standards will be one of the top trends set to shape the industry soon. Sustainability: Organizations across all regions are making a clear effort to understand how new purchases and upgrades in access control technology can have an impact on sustainable practices, with about 28% of respondents having consulted their sustainability departments about their buying decisions. Access control readers that have Environmental Product Declarations and intelligent power management, for example, support green building ratings such as LEED. Additionally, deploying mobile access and virtual credentials removes the need for plastic cards and so spares the carbon footprint associated with their lifecycle. When integrated with a building management platform, it is possible to maintain continuous adjustment of building resources based on occupancy.

BARRACUDA RESEARCH REVEALS TOP 5 INDUSTRIES TARGETED BY RANSOMWARE AS DETECTED THREATS SPIKE TO 1.2MILLION PER MONTH

After identifying and analysing 106 highly publicized ransomware attacks over the past 12 months, Barracuda researchers have found that the education (15%), municipality (12%), healthcare (12%), infrastructure (8%), and financial (6%) sectors are the five most targeted by adversaries. The analysis reveals that ransomware attacks on educational institutions more than doubled compared to the previous year, while attacks on the healthcare and financial verticals tripled, and infrastructure-related attacks quadrupled. The researchers noted a rise in the number of service providers – companies that provide IT services or other business services – impacted by ransomware during the last year. However, the public data suggests that fewer victims paid the ransom, likely due to better defences, especially in critical infrastructure. Barracuda’s own detections reveal that the volume of ransomware threats spiked at 1.2 million per month between January and June 2022. The company points out that most ransomware attacks don’t make headlines as many victims choose not to disclose when they get hit and the attacks are often sophisticated and extremely hard to handle for small businesses. “As ransomware and other cyberthreats continue to evolve, the need for adequate security solutions has never been greater,” said Fleming Shi, CTO at Barracuda. “Many cybercriminals target small businesses to gain access to larger organizations. As a result, it is essential for security providers to create products that are easy to use and implement, regardless of a company's size. Additionally, sophisticated security technologies should be available as services, so that businesses of all sizes can protect themselves against these ever-changing threats. By making security solutions more accessible and user-friendly, the entire industry can help to better defend against ransomware and other cyberattacks.”