SIW year in review: The biggest security stories of 2022

Attacks by perpetrators against schools, utility facilities and workplaces – along with crushing challenges with supply chains across the globe -- made it a very trying year for security professionals, manufacturers and integrators alike.

As the COVID-19 pandemic waned and life got back to normal, mass shootings and brazen attacks on infrastructure seemed to escalate in 2022. Electrical substations in several states were deliberately damaged by high-powered gunfire, which has led to FBI investigations. The bloodbath from the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, seemed to spark a more serious-than-ever discussion among school officials on how best to protect children beyond what’s already being done and meet the expectations of parents.

Here’s a look back at the 15 most impactful stories of 2022:

1)   Other shoe drops in the U.S. government’s scrutiny of Hikvision

The U.S. government made good on its threat to act against security industry giant Hikvision for its alleged role in enabling human rights abuses by the Chinese government. The FCC ruled that no new Dahua, Hikvision or Hytera gear could be approved unless they assure the FCC that their gear won’t be used for public safety, security of government facilities and other national security purposes. In November, the UK government banned the use of Hikvision’s camera systems at “sensitive” sites. Actions taken by the countries in both cases were vehemently protested by Hikvision.

2)    Google to cough up $100 million in biometrics lawsuit

Illinois residents who have appeared in a photograph on the Google Photos app within the last seven years may be eligible for a cut of a $100 million class-action privacy settlement reached by Google this month. The lawsuit alleges Google’s face grouping tool, which sorts faces in the Google Photos app by similarity, runs afoul of Illinois’ biometric privacy law. The law requires companies to get user consent for the use of such technologies. Google did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement, which resolved a group of lawsuits filed by five named plaintiffs. Even before the settlement was reached, the lawsuit drew the attention of many facial recognition and video surveillance providers. You can read more here and here.

3)   ADT-Google partnership begins to bear fruit

In the summer of 2020, ADT stunned the industry when it announced that tech giant Google had invested $450 million and acquired a 6.6% stake in the home security stalwart. During an investor press conference this year Michael Drory, vice president of strategic initiatives at ADT, said that ADT and Google were committed to the co-development of solutions that leverage the strengths of both brands and that the partnership extends well beyond financial investment.   As predicted many residential integrators – including ADT – are now seeing DIY smart home products, particularly one-off purchases, as a larger gateway into more homes. Thus, a collaboration between these two industry behemoths has begun to bear real fruit.      

4) Utility substations become targets of attackers, security flaws revealed

Public confidence that utility companies can keep the nation’s power grid safe took a big hit when a suspect with a high-powered rifle shot into two substations in North Carolina, leaving tens of thousands without power. It was later revealed that several substations in the western U.S. were also deliberately damaged earlier in the year. Three Duke Energy executives were called on the carpet before the North Carolina Utilities Commission to answer questions about the substation attacks. The commission, which regulates public utilities in the state, inquired about the attacks’ cost, substation security, and whether the perpetrators had intimate knowledge of power grid operations.   5) Robb Elementary School shooting puts school security in the spotlight – again

Robb Elementary in the Texas city of Uvalde joined a growing list of school massacres after an 18-year-old gunman walked into the school and opened fire, killing 21 people, including 19 children. Those who eat, sleep and breathe school security scoffed at the notion that increased gun control or armed teachers and staff would solve the problem.

Patrick Fiel, Founder of PVF Security Consulting and the former Executive Director of Security for the Washington, D.C. Public School System, laid the blame for year of the previous inaction on school boards and administrators, saying it’s a lack of knowledge and a lack of empathy where they don’t care.” However, several U.S. school districts did make the news after working with security companies to weapon detection equipment and software to keep students safe.

6) High-profile conviction of a former Uber CSO raises eyebrows for CSOs

The conviction of Joseph Sullivan, the former Chief Security Officer (CSO) of Uber, sent shockwaves throughout the security industry – for companies’ cybersecurity postures, as well as for the general career path of the average CSO. Sullivan was convicted in federal court for his attempted cover-up of a 2016 hack of private consumer information.

Cybersecurity consultant Chuck Brooks, who also serves as a cybersecurity professor at Georgetown University, said the case “sets a legal precedent and highlights the importance of disclosure and information sharing in fighting cybercrime.”

7) Stanley Black & Decker completes its exit from the security industry

 Just months after divesting its security integration arm in a deal with Securitas valued at more than $3 billion, Stanley Black & Decker announced it was selling its Access Technologies business to Allegion for $900 million. Tony Byerly, Global President of Securitas Technology, explained that the addition of Stanley added nearly 8,000 security professionals to his team, including more than 3,000 field technicians. Stanley also brought more than 500,000 clients. Allegion said that its acquisition would, in addition to expanding its breadth of access control solutions, would provide them with greater exposure to high-growth segments across a large installed base while also giving the company the scale and coverage to better serve existing commercial and institutional customers with automatic entrance solutions and access technologies.

8) Inaugural Readers’ Choice Awards honors ‘best of the best’ in security products

The first-ever Readers’ Choice Awards, sponsored by SecurityInfoWatch.com, successfully kicked off in 2022 as the program recognized the most impactful products introduced over the past year in 13 different categories. More than 100 security industry manufacturers and software developers submitted products introduced in the physical security industry over the 12-month span of June 2021 through June 2022 for voting. Once the vendor submission period ended, voting was open through the full month of September to any SecurityInfoWatch reader (one vote per IP address) in 13 different product categories, where more than 1,650 unique votes were received.

9) Justice Department sues to block ASSA ABLOY-Spectrum Brands HHI merger

A pending $4.3 billion deal that would have facilitated the merger of security industry giant ASSA ABLOY and Spectrum Brands’ Hardware and Home Improvement (HHI) division was squashed by the U.S. Justice Department in mid-September citing antitrust concerns related to the deal that was first announced in September of 2021.

In its complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the Justice Department charges that the merger would risk higher prices, lower quality, reduced innovation and poorer service in at least two types of residential door hardware: premium mechanical door hardware and smart locks.

ASSA ABLOY owns the Yale, August Home and Emtek brands. HHI owns the Kwikset and Baldwin brands.

The two companies had announced previously that they would extend their purchase agreement to June 30, 2023.

10) Motorola Solutions acquires Calipsa

Looking to broaden its footprint in the video surveillance marketplace, Motorola Solutions added another video surveillance technology provider to its portfolio as the company acquired Calipsa, a London-based provider of video analytics in April. Calipsa’s cloud-based platform enables businesses to verify alarms with the help of AI-powered analytics and offers a variety of other capabilities, including content-based searches, tampering detection and real-time camera health monitoring.

The purchase is the latest in a string of industry acquisitions that Motorola Solutions has undertaken since acquiring Canada-based Avigilon in 2018. Among these include March 2022 – Ava Security, Envysion, Openpath, Pelco, IndigoVision and WatchGuard.

11) Resideo completes acquisition of Newell Brands' Connected Home & Security business

An April 1 deal brings First Alert fire and life safety products into the Resideo portfolio as Newell Brands announced completed the previously announced sale of its Connected Home & Security business to Resideo Technologies for $593 million.  

Based in Aurora, Ill., the CH&S business manufacturers and distributes smoke and carbon monoxide combo alarms, fire suppressants, fireproof safes and other home safety products under the BRK and First Alert brands.

First Alert employs more than 2,800 workers and its operations footprint includes manufacturing in Juarez, Mexico, and a primary distribution facility in El Paso, Texas. Last year, the company generated approximately $395 million of sales and adjusted EBITDA of approximately $55 million.

12)  Top national systems integrator Tech Systems and solutions provider Securitronics announce merger

Two of the nation’s top systems integrators made news in September when Tech Systems and Securitronics declared they were joining forces to create a robust physical and cybersecurity service provider.

Terry Rivet, CEO/President of Securitronics and long-time friend of Tech Systems CEO Darryl Keeler, had been testing the waters about a future merger by Keeler and Tech Systems. Rivet acknowledged to his friend that he was weighing his potential exit-strategy options, and while Keeler admitted Tech Systems wasn’t looking at acquiring a company now, he asked his colleague to give him the first right of refusal when he firmed up his plans. The two parties pulled the trigger at the close of September. Tech Systems, Inc, one of the largest employee-owned (ESOP) systems integration firms in the security industry, announced its merger with Securitronics.

13) Pye-Barker continues on its acquisition path

Alpharetta, Ga.-based fire and security integrator Pye-Barker Fire & Safety grew at an astounding rate in 2021, and the trend continued in 2022 with another flurry of acquisitions. The company announced in February it acquired Fresno, Calif.-based Matson Alarm. That followed purchases the month before of Odyssey Fire Protection of Wilmington, N.C.; Northwest Fire Suppression of Beaverton, Ore.; Strickland Fire Protection of Forestville, Md.; and Frazier Fire of Oklahoma City. “Pye-Barker has no intentions of slowing its growth,” a press release said early this year. “The company hopes to continue reinforcing its presence in existing territories while expanding into new ones.”

14)   ACRE CEO Joe Grillo announces retirement

One of the pioneers of the modern access control technology industry called it quits in May when ACRE founder and CEO announced his retirement. Grillo has spent four decades leading high-tech brands in the security industry across the globe. He established ACRE in 2012 as Principal and CEO, focused on developing the company's position as a leader in the access control industry with an eye on rapid organic and acquisitive growth. Under his leadership, the company has achieved significant growth with close to $300 million in revenue and over 500 employees worldwide.

Grillo is best known as being one of the founders and long-time president of HID. He led the carveout of the business from Hughes Aircraft in 1995 and the effort to sell the company, which was acquired by Assa Abloy in January of 2001.

Prior to his role at ACRE, Grillo led Assa Abloy's Global Technologies Division as its President and CEO from 2003 to 2008. He was also instrumental in launching the Global Technologies Division while a participating member of Assa Abloy’s Management Board.

15) 2022 Security Vanguard Award winners announced

SecurityInfoWatch.com, Security Business magazine and Security Technology Executive (STE) magazine announced the 2022 winning submissions for the annual Security Vanguard Awards, which honor the industry’s most innovative and collaborative security projects.

The Vanguard Project of the Year was submitted by integrator Sciens Building Solutions and involved a massive, multi-year collaborative security project at the World Equestrian Center (WEC), located in Ocala, Fla. The first Vanguard Award honorable mention was the Harris County (Texas)) project, submitted by Honeywell Building Technologies and featuring the work of Texas-based integration partner ESI Fire & Security Protection. Read the full article here. The second Vanguard Award honorable mention was submitted by security consultant Sentinel Consulting and centers on the security operations for the 2022 Anime Expo in Los Angeles. Read the full article here.