While employment screening is standard operating procedure for many companies today, some organizations haven’t revisited their policies in some time. Meanwhile, regulatory requirements and best practices have changed. As a result, many organizations unknowingly make common mistakes in employment background screening that can result in undue risks and security gaps.

The rate at which many technologies are evolving is astounding. Just think what today’s smartphone can do, how email and the Internet have changed our work lives, or how the fax machine — though useful — is now considered outdated. This rapid evolution brings us many new opportunities; it also raises the challenge of what to do with systems, technology and equipment that are still functional, but no longer as effective. Security and surveillance markets in particular are affected by these exponential advancements.

When all is said and done, there are three variables in providing the type of recordings that the courts want.

The Arab spring along with the Japan crisis, and most recently, the floods in Thailand, have brought the topic of tracking travelers to the forefront for many security professionals but, even more importantly, so have the challenges in doing so. Here are three main challenges that continue to exist with tracking travelers globally today.

Most everyone understands keeping military bases, embassies, courts, nuclear plants and other hard targets safe from terrorists. However, today, we must also keep retail shoppers safe, shield structures from accidental or intentional automobile crashes, protect hotel patrons from suicide car bombers, and keep employees and visitors from vehicle-based harm. From pedestrian-filled farmers markets and universities to new and used car lots, a wide variety of organizations find peace of mind through the use of barriers, bollards, barricades and crash gates for vehicle-based physical access control at the perimeter. For those areas where a vehicle will never enter, fixed bollards and barriers are the norm. However, at entrances, barriers that go up and down are needed to let authorized vehicles through.

Achieving effective security over perimeters and outdoor areas often comes down to detection accuracy and solution cost. While there are a number of options available for perimeter security, thermal video analytic cameras have become a strong contender for best-of-breed in this arena.

The biggest threat to a company's intellectual property doesn't come from the outside; it comes from within. According to a recent study, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates that 75% of employees steal from the workplace.

Sure, most parts of the U.S. may be headed for a long winter, but spring will eventually come! And with it comes an opportunity to fight crime.

An emerging methodology with technological roots – flash mobs – enables individuals using social networking sites (e.g., Facebook.com, Twitter.com, or Meetup.com), instant messaging and email to gather at a particular location, date and time and carry out legal or criminal activities (e.g., sabotage, robberies, and beatings).

A discussion with Keith Jentoft, President, RSI Video Technologies, Inc.