We have valued innovation and invested in technology to expand the definition of security: Kastle Systems

Many businesses are unknowingly wide open to attack and should consider the benefits of Security as a Service (SECaaS). Investing in a firewall, anti-virus, physical office security, intruder alarm, and CCTV may not be enough. Alas, in today’s ever changing digital world this is not enough to keep modern cyber criminals at bay.

Malware, ransomware, phishing, virus, denial of service, distributed denial-of-service, man-in-the-middle and brute force attacks. These are only a handful of the different approaches cyber-criminals use to try to compromise your network security.

We introduce you to Kastle Systems who have done a great job when it comes to securing systems, at the time when security was just meant to install a system, Kastle Systems actually knew how advanced security can be and realized that security as a service is the next gen technology.

It was in 1972 that Kastle pioneered managed access for real estate owners; the entire industry saw a transformation. Suddenly, premier property owners could take advantage of the latest technology developments without having to become security experts themselves.

“From the start, we have valued innovation and invested in technology to expand the definition of security. Because for us, security is about more than preventing break-ins; it’s about making spaces safer, more convenient, and more efficient for the people who use them,”said the company.

In conversation with Haniel J Lynn, CEO

How secure enough is Kastle system’s services?

We like to say that we provide government level security for the common business property. As a company founded in Washington DC, we have the honor and privilege of securing many federal government buildings for decades, and as such, we remain steadfast in developing physical security solutions that meet the highest standards in security. 

Our systems have achieved FIPS 201-2 compliance, the standard requirements for a Federal personal identity verification to meet the objectives of Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 [HSPD-12], including identity proofing, registration, and issuance. The Standard also provides detailed specifications that will support technical interoperability among systems of Federal departments and agencies.

We are also compatible with Open Supervised Device Protocol (OSDP) which is an access control communications standard developed by the Security Industry Association (SIA) to improve interoperability among access control and security products. SIA recommends specifying OSDP for any access control installations that require real security and/or will be used in government and other higher-security settings.

Our access control also integrates with identity management systems, so this enables greater control in managing access for individual users in real time, making it easy and fast to activate or disable access rights for an occupant as quickly as you can enroll or dismiss an employee – critically important in the case of protecting a space from actions of someone like a disgruntled employee. 

Cybersecurity is integral for today’s businesses, how do you employ qualified staff to serve the best?

Our physical security heritage combined with our strong background in technology allows us to play a powerful role in an increasingly risky world. Given that we were one of the earliest cloud-based access control providers, we saw early on not only the scalability of being remote, but also the cyber-security benefit this would provide to our clients given that our servers were separated from their company network, making it far more difficult to access a client’s cyber assets from our platform.

We see ourselves as a technology company that happens to provide access control as a service. As such, we are simultaneously striving to leverage the openness of IoT to enable physical access control to be an easier, more open user experience across technologies, cultures and geographies while also using the power of cloud-based computing, robust encryption and data intelligence to make the world more cyber secure – and we recruit great technology expertise to make this happen.

According to you, how important is security as a service for a company?

It’s the reason we exist – we were the original Managed Security provider and it’s all we do. We don’t just sell or install products but rather we partner with our clients for the long term, from design and installation, to ongoing monitoring and maintenance. Security only happens when systems are correctly established, monitored continuously, maintained meticulously and regularly updated to remain relevant and effective against ever changings risks and technology evolution. A business today has to have expertise in the security discipline to maintain a best-in-class security standard throughout the years, and the average organization doesn’t have this – that’s not their business. That’s why having a dedicated security as a service provider is so important.

Detail us about the relevance of KastleSafeSpaces during the pandemic.

In the Covid-19 era, creating safe workplaces that employees can return to confidently is a daunting task. As we’ve battled this pandemic, a variety of screening procedures have been proposed and adopted that can help reduce the risk of individuals bringing the virus into a location such as daily symptom questioning, temperature testing, thermal imaging more.

But how does the average business operationalize this testing to record and physically enforce daily test results to grant or prevent entry into your workplace? What if an infected person, who exhibits no symptoms during tests, is later found to have Covid 19 – how do you know when they were present and who they may have also infected?

We developed KastleSafeSpaces to address this challenge using existing technology but designed in an innovative format to enable a quicker return to work while ensuring virus screening is being enforced.  It employs touchless physical access control, video analytics technology and thermal imaging to integrate with virus-screening and contact tracing processes to enable administrators to confidently rollout a safe return to the office.

KastleSafeSpaces configures Kastle Access Control systems to integrate with the various mainstream coronavirus testing methods so that daily test results, positive or negative, are implemented instantly as physical access rights at the credential level for the individual on that day. If an individual tests positive for potential symptoms, access rights will not be granted to the credential associated with that identity.

Explicate about KastlePresence.

KastlePresence is our breakthrough, touchless access control solution that turns your smartphone into your office or residential access credential. Using an encrypted Bluetooth signal, this app-based function provides not only convenience with hands-free mobile access, but also greater security as it is far more difficult to copy or lose than key cards or fobs. Also, given the always-on-hand nature of a cell phone, it is more “tied” to the individual identity and presence of the authorized user, making access data more accurate and traceable, which can be invaluable in the world of contact tracing for potential inections in an office or building.

Which industries do you serve? And how?

Commercial and MultiFamily Residential Real Estate are our primary industries of focus, providing access control, video surveillance, security monitoring, visitor access management, identity management, fire detection, managed security. We do also have strong presence in video guarding of construction, scrap/recycling and even city surveillance partnering with local law enforcement.

Do you have any plans of expansion? If yes, how?

Geographically, we plan to focus growth within the urban markets we currently serve, or to which recently expanded which include most major U.S. metro areas. Product wise, we are taking advantage of our open standard interface to partner with all kinds of occupancy experience apps and property management platforms to plug our access control service functionality into their broader management platforms.

Howdy!

Haniel J Lynn, CEO joined Kastle systems in 2018 with more than 25 years of global operating and executive management experience growing and scaling enterprises from startup to $1 billion, He has the unique ability to oscillate between high-level vision and tactical execution while inspiring a culture of teamwork.

He spent 16 years at CEB (now Gartner), and served as Group president of its Best Practices & Decision Support business and member of the company’s executive leadership team responsible for product strategy, direction, and operating a $600m business globally.

“From the start, we have valued innovation and invested in technology to expand the definition of security.”