What Happens Here, Stays Here

Jun 1, 2007 12:00 PM, STEPHANIE SILK

           

WHEN YOU HOLD MEETINGS, presentations and get-togethers in conference rooms, you are susceptible to data theft. In a business where the data that sees the inside of a conference room is classified, it's important that the area be secured using a system such as the one supplied by Electro Standards Laboratories, Cranston, R.I.

The 5150 Keylock Video Conference Room Secure Switching System is a rack-mounted system that can either connect or disconnect a set of copper and fiber media voice and data lines that pass through the connection from a set of equipment to a building network. It can either allow data to transfer out of a conference room or it can isolate the equipment to ensure security. The system works in two modes, secure and non-secure, which are displayed clearly on the switch, and can be read across a conference room by all parties in the room.

Such a switch can prove useful for a government agency, for example, says Electro Standards founder, president and CEO Ray Sepe Sr. “Government networks use our service the most. In a conference room, there are modes of communication. They bring in outside data and put it up on screens and into computers. They need to secure things that are inside,” he says.

Mostly known for switches and communication interfaces, Sepe has found that most of Electro Standards' ideas for products come from requests and complaints from customer — including this one. “There are things each business needs to look out for when dealing with classified information. Companies that use a central room or rooms to converse and share information — like military agencies, financial institutions and hospitals — should watch their data security, voiceline security, and firewall breakthrough. Our product will isolate all of this,” Sepe says.

Sepe points to the example of a Congressman or an athlete who has confidential medical information, such as a disease diagnosis, that shouldn't be leaked. “That data will flow over lines as it's passed from one doctor to another. It has to be in total security. Military information does too: Strategies, private conversation and classified information have to be in secure networks.”

The reason that so many companies are at risk for this kind of security breach, says Sepe, is that the conference room is a hub of communication. Today, with so many ways to access accounts, a conference room can be a danger zone. “Business nowadays is done ‘outside the four walls’ of the office, whether it be through e-mail, or working from home. In a conference room, after a private meeting was just held, computers are still logged in and in position. Large companies overlook this — and unfortunately, they might only notice after their network has had a loss of security,” Sepe says.

Electro Standards can modify each system to meet a customer's applications, installing the software and custom-fabricating fiber-optic cable assemblies to connect each switch to its network. The system comes with a Fiber Optic SC Data Pass/Off-Line Switch, a 16-Channel Ethernet Data Pass/Off-Line Switch, a 16-Channel Telco Data Pass/Off-Line Switch and a 6-Channel ISDN Data Pass/Off-Line Switch. The switches are activated using a front panel keylock actuator. For more information, visit electrostandards.com.

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