NEC Teams with Network Security Specialist

Biometrics News – Facial Recognition

NEC Asia Pacific has teamed up with a US-based network security firm to help shore up the defenses of its smart city platform. The company has signed on as a reseller of BlackRidge’s cybersecurity solutions, with a focus on the latter’s TAC Identity Device.

TAC-ID is a two-port, in-line network device that is designed to authenticate network connections. Essentially, it acts as an interface between a given connected IoT device and a given network, concealing sensitive network data from connecting devices while allowing authenticated devices to access the network as normal.

That offers a compelling security solution for surveillance systems based on NEC’s NeoFace facial recognition system. In demoing their technologies at the GovWare 2019 conference in Singapore this week, NEC and BlackRidge are showcasing how the latter’s TAC-ID system can secure connections between IP video cameras and the NeoFace application, ensuring that malefactors can’t hack into the system through a vulnerable camera.

“BlackRidge Technology’s approach to ‘zero-trust’ through enforcement of identity across network boundaries is ideally suited for various Smart City applications, including the protection of critical infrastructure such as CCTV networks equipped with advanced video analytics,” explained NEC Asia Pacific VP Vivian Tay in a statement announcing the partnership.

For BlackRidge, meanwhile, the partnership demonstrates the company’s efforts toward “global market expansion and the move into a broader range of security applications including Smart Cities,” commented BlackRidge business development VP Rolf Lumpe.

GovWare 2019 kicked off today at the Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre and is slated to run until October 3rd, with NEC showcasing its BlackRidge integration from its booth on the show floor.

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October 1, 2019 – by Alex Perala