Intelligent Video Surveillance Thwarts ID Theft

Dagan Sadeh
January 22, 2008 | COMMENTS

A teller walks away from his desk briefly, leaving a short queue of customers to wait. One customer from the queue steps forward quickly, grabbing a handful of new credit cards ready to be mailed to customers with activation information from a box on the teller's desk. The customer, undetected by his fellow bank patrons, slips the stolen cards into a bag and steps back into line as though nothing has happened.

In just a matter of moments, highly-sensitive customer data has been compromised and the threat of identity (ID) theft rears its ugly head. Recent research has shown that, in the U.S. alone, approximately 15 million people were victims of an ID-theft related event during 2005 and 2006.

And there can be far graver consequences. A recent example of ID theft resulted in a tragic death when an elderly woman was robbed and assaulted by a man who then attempted to use her bank card to withdraw cash from an ATM. While this story can't have a happy conclusion, justice was served in the end with the help of intelligent video surveillance technology.

The quality and effectiveness of video surveillance technology as a deterrent to crime or as evidence in solving crimes is often called into question. For many financial institutions, however, the use of video surveillance technology has had an enormously beneficial effect, particularly with respect to the provision of conclusive evidence.

Without the presence of high-quality video footage, the crimes discussed above likely would have gone unsolved, leaving breaches of sensitive customer data, ID theft, and murder in their wake, and the perpetrators free to act again.

Ultimately, the effectiveness of a video surveillance system boils down to the manner in which collected information is addressed and disseminated. Information collected by the disparate elements of the security system—video surveillance, burglar alarm, panic buttons, ATM cameras, etc.—must be filtered throughout the system in such a way that it can be easily shared with the appropriate members of internal security and members of law enforcement.

A converged security system delivered over an Internet protocol (IP) network can unite the various security subsystems under one comprehensive management system, placing all necessary information at the fingertips of security personnel. The ability of security personnel to share information with police quickly and easily has greatly enhanced criminal investigation success rates.

A case in point is the unfortunate case of ID theft and murder mentioned earlier. The bank was notified by the victim's son that his mother's wallet, bank card included, had been stolen. The bank immediately put an alert on the ATM card; it would be notified the instant the card was used. Inevitably, the assailant attempted to use the card at an ATM, triggering an alarm activating the video surveillance system to begin recording.

The resultant video images were then synchronized with ATM transaction data, enabling the bank to present a high-quality image to the police. These images figured prominently in the assailant's capture and arrest.

Video security over IP has additional benefits to financial institutions, including the ability to manage all branch and ATM cameras from one central location. This serves not only to cut down on the required amount of security personnel, but simplifies the entire security management process for greater efficiency.

High-quality video surveillance is an effective tool in the prevention and investigation of ID fraud. Intelligent integration with other systems, including access control, burglar alarms, ERP, and ATMs, is quickly becoming a prominent consideration in the development of financial institution security.

As the breadth of integration widens to encompass a greater number of security subsystems, greater information-sharing capabilities and more rapid response to emergency events will be enabled.

Dagan Sadeh is CEO of Visual Defence in Wayne, New Jersey. Contact him at 973-890-7878. This story first appeared at www.creditunionmagazine.com and is reprinted with permission.