As South Africans we come at things from a fairly sceptical space. This part of our make and model, has served us well over the years, because when it comes to ‘new’ things we tend to circle them a bit. Prod them. Poke them. Interrogate them. Give them the side-eye and consider our options. This innate pragmatism keeps us safe.
So, we expect nothing less of us as a country, when it comes to the current dirtiest word of them all. AI.
AI has a bad rap and not just for the water-sucking, job-stealing, world-ending talking points that are in the mainstream right now. Since everyone is now focused on it, we’re all starting to realize just how pervasively integrated it already is in our lives. Hello to the doom-scroll of carefully curated content that your algorithm has provided you, keeping you locked in and watching cat videos at 1am (look at you, so wholesome).
Truth is though (and here we are now rapidly getting to the point), with the surge of generative AI tools out there, safety and security has been impacted. Dramatically. The voices of loved ones are spoofed. The numbers of trusted places are cloned and the spams and scams have increased, targeting information, money and more. Heck-tech.
Of course, with the rise in tech scams, so to comes a rise in tech solutions. Your security company of choice should be fully equipped with an arsenal of counter measures and/or tips to keep you safe. And we are.
Did you know that at Marshall Security, we have been piloting AI driven tech since before it became cool, then uncool, now hyperbolically world-ending, maybe?
Some history. Back in the day, we were the first South African security firm to onboard ANPR cameras. Common place data recognition facility now, but back then it was edgy and advanced. For those that want the crib notes, it’s the use of artificial intelligence to monitor, flag and report discrepancies in vehicle number plates faster than the human eye can do it, and with more accuracy. BUT (here’s the pivotal bit) there is still a human manning those screens and working with the flags, interrogating, escalating or standing down.
That was just the beginning. Today we have an excellent bouquet of AI supported security measures available to you, that help to layer your premises security. These too, don’t replace humans, they simply provide better intelligence to assist us in protecting our communities, infrastructure, homes and businesses.
Somebody’s Watching Me. It’s My Anxiety Marshall Security.
The below list details just some of our core AI-supported features.
Image and Video Verification – Allows us to view motion activations and assess whether they are a threat before an alarm is even triggered.
Video Identification (Including Facial Recognition and Biometrics) – Access control and camera surveillance security features to confirm identity or flag a known threat, running suspicious persons through databases.
Virtual Line Crossing – Camera set up to trigger an alarm when a virtually drawn line is crossed. Like someone loitering too close to your fence or walking through your parking lot at night. (This is more than motion detection).
The result? Proactive security, because now we are on our way to challenge the criminal element while they’re still only thinking about it.
Can’t Hack It. Stay Safe with These Tips.
We may have your safety and security covered in your home or business, but while you are out in the wild, things can get intense. Save and share these tips – they could help, as far as general cyber security goes.
- Never act on urgent requests. The more urgency injected by someone, the more distance you should apply. Hang up the phone. Call back if you want, but go via a number you know and trust – this goes some way in countering cloned numbers.
- The safe word is… well, that’s up to you and your family. But have one, and share it amongst yourselves. Then if you receive an anxious phone call from your kid, asking for a quick transfer to pay for something that seems important, you can verify it is them quickly and easily. We can’t trust what we hear any more and scammers only need 3 seconds of audio to clone a voice. Makes us rethink that digital footprint, doesn’t it?
- We can’t trust what we see any more either. Interrogate platforms and profiles. Entire fake personalities are created – looking like people, charities or investment opportunities. It’s a sad day, when you can’t trust those cat videos asking for a small donation to a vet bill.
- Passwords are no longer enough. Even the 3 of you that have a different one for each app or account and change it monthly (who are you even?). Two factor authentication is a necessity.
- Don’t share your images online. Easier said than done in this influencer economy. But you are giving potential scammers easy access to your person to create deep fakes. Just something to think about.
- In short – Stop. Check. Verify. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
In summary, AI is a useful tool, and a scary weapon.
When it comes to us, and how we use it though, you don’t have to trust it. Trust us. At Marshall Security we care about people – families, neighbours, friends and we will never cede that care to a machine. This is why when you call our In Case of Anything number, you don’t get hit with a chat-bot or AI agent. You get to speak to a human. We have a great number of them manning our 24-hour control room. Trained. Responsive. Watching screens. Taking calls. Reacting appropriately. In Case of Anything.
