Open systems and architecture are strategies that allow access control, video and other security solutions that weren’t built together to interface for full functionality. When systems can talk to each other, the possibilities for security, safety, building management and other key functions become aligned and optimized.

Mercury Security, Cypress, Calif., an HID company, announced an intelligent controller designed to accelerate projects and legacy upgrades—with enhanced cybersecurity. Mercury Security manufactures OEM controllers with more than 5 million installed around the world and built on an open architecture focusing on a feature-rich application programming interface.

The controllers combine access technologies and more into a centralized infrastructure. This provides the freedom to choose the right solution and a backward and forward compatible pathway for upgrades, said Steve Lucas, Mercury Security’s vice president of sales and marketing.

“Mercury’s initial focus, historically, was to create a general open controller for host applications that gave customers the freedom to choose best-of-breed manufacturers,” he said. “Along the way, we began receiving many inquiries from manufacturers of complementary devices that naturally integrate within the access control infrastructure to create a better, more intelligent system. These devices include wireless locks, elevator solutions and intrusion detection, among others.”

Lucas said an access control system, once installed, may remain in place for 10 years or more. 

“However, their cybersecurity protections have generally not been addressed,” he said. “People worry that an open API is less secure because so many people can work with it. Manufacturers that aren’t in the open space will use the ‘security through obscurity’ argument: since something is proprietary, it is therefore more secure. 

“Open and proprietary solutions both have challenges and opportunities from a data and information security standpoint. If you’re looking at an open system, focus on partners who are designing, building and integrating products from the ground up with a cybersecurity perspective” Lucas said.

The wide-open picture

Lucas said that the Security Industry Association’s Open Supervised Device Protocol (OSDP) standard for device connectivity “was originally authored and developed as a collaboration between HID and Mercury Security. The goal was to solve the challenge of integrating many different intelligent reader-like devices into our controller environment in a standardized way. Previously, each manufacturer had its own proprietary SDK. This essentially required a new integration for each new device that entered the market. OSDP brought true interoperability through plug-and-play capability between device manufacturers, giving customers and installers seamless integration.”

Open systems based on standards offer ease of configuration and installation, along with the freedom to select components from chosen vendors, said Leo Levit, chairman of the ONVIF Steering Committee and director of system integration for Axis Communications, Chelmsford, Mass. “This also means that the life cycle of your system is not dependent on a particular vendor, as components can be interchangeable as they approach the end of their usability,” he said.

“From the ONVIF perspective, it’s an ongoing success story. We see more and more end users demanding increased flexibility and freedom of choice in their security systems. The premise of the founding of ONVIF 15 years ago was for the industry to come together and create open standards to enable open systems. This is still relevant today, thanks to the foundations of open standards, which are evolving alongside rapidly advancing technologies such as cloud and A.I.,” Levit said.

Expanding system reach

According to Levit, the biggest benefit is creating a broader technology ecosystem based on common standards. A closed system does not mean a secure one, and vice versa.

“As security systems get better at collecting and analyzing data about a building and its occupants, the solutions can satisfy a growing host of uses within an organization outside of security,” he said.

“One major benefit to open systems is that different vendors will have implementations based on cyber best practices. These best practices will evolve over the life cycle of a system versus being dependent on a single vendor who may not place a high priority on cybersecurity. This broader set of contributions from multiple vendors on cybersecurity as well as technology and features only increases the success of open systems in the future,” Levit said.

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