Section 889 Alert: Prohibited Telecom for the Federal Government and Their Contractors

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By David Strickland, Vice President of Kenton Brothers

Federal agencies and companies that do business with them:
NDAA Section 889 B is now in effect.

The Federal Government alone experiences hundreds of thousands of digital assaults every day. Malicious actors are persistent, usually well-funded and constantly changing their tactics. They often exploit technologies from the identified Chinese companies to do so. The Administration shares Congress’ strong commitment to addressing insidious threats to the Nation’s national security and intellectual property.

In an effort to protect the nations systems and data, The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was enacted in July 2019 with two distinct phases:

Part A – The Government Cannot Obtain Prohibited Telecom

Part A became effective on August 13, 2019. Part A prohibits the government from obtaining (through a contract or other instrument) certain telecommunications equipment (including video surveillance equipment) or services produced by the following covered entities and their subsidiaries and affiliates:

  • Huawei Technologies Company
  • ZTE Corporation
  • Hytera Communications Corporation
  • Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Company
  • Dahua Technology Company

Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Company and Dahua Technology Company are two  of the largest Commercial Video surveillance manufacturers in the world. They operate and distribute through OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) over a 100 brands around the globe.

For a complete and updated list, check out IVPM here. IVPM is a great resource for ongoing list changes.

What may shock companies and agencies throughout the Midwest and beyond are a few of the names on those lists including:

  • BOSCH
  • ADT
  • FLIR – Specific Models
  • HONEYWELL
  • DMP
  • PANASONIC
  • TOSHIBA
  • INTERLOGIX

Section 889: HIKVISION OEMs

Section 889: Dahua OEMs

The Department of Defense has the authority to add additional companies to this list at any time. Part B outlines that these items need to be removed by August 13, 2020 or a waiver needs to be submitted allowing for more time.

This order applies to all companies that do business with the Federal government. In any capacity, and at any level.

Part B – Government Contractors Cannot Use Prohibited Telecom Part B is effective August 13, 2020.

Part B prohibits the government from contracting with any entity that uses certain telecommunications equipment (including video surveillance equipment) or services produced by the entities listed in the statute.

  • The Government cannot contract with an entity that uses covered telecommunications equipment or services as a substantial or essential component of any system or as critical technology as part of any system.
  • Prohibition applies regardless of whether or not that usage is in performance of work under a Federal contract.
  • The prohibition applies to every sector and every dollar amount. Your ability to enter into contracts with the Government will be impacted by Part B.
  • After conducting a reasonable inquiry, entities will represent whether they do or do not use prohibited telecommunications equipment or services.

Part B has been added to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) at FAR subpart 4.21.

RECOMMENDED CONTRACTOR COMPLIANCE ACTIONS

  1. Regulatory Familiarization. Read and understand the rule and necessary actions for compliance.
  2. Corporate Enterprise Tracking. Determine through reasonable inquiry whether you use “covered telecommunications” equipment or services.
  3. Education. Educate your purchasing/procurement, and materials management professionals to ensure they are familiar with the entity’s compliance plan.
  4. Cost of Removal. Implement procedures if the entity decides to replace existing covered telecommunications equipment or services and ensure new equipment and services acquired for use by the entity are compliant.
  5. Representation. Provide representation re use and alert Government if use is discovered during contract performance.
  6. Phase-out Plan and Submit Waiver Information. Develop a phase-out plan and provide waiver information to the Government along with the complete laydown of the presence of the covered telecommunications equipment or services.

RESOURCES

Please let Kenton Brothers know if you have questions on navigating Rule 889.

COVID-19 Technology Update: Kenton Brother’s Thermal Imaging All-in-One Mobile Cart

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To help you meet the increasing demand for thermal-sensing technology, Kenton Brothers is proud to introduce the Thermal Imaging All-in-One Mobile Cart Kit.

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Body Cameras – Not just for the police anymore.

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By David Strickland, Vice President of Kenton Brothers

In the news lately, there is a lot of talk about body cameras for police. There are a lot of positive reasons people are having these discussions.

  • 90% reduction in complaints against officers
  • 50% higher conviction rate when used in arrests
  • Higher evidence capture rate at crime and accident scenes
  • Passive documentation of real time events

These are very powerful reasons why body cameras work. Have you ever thought about how they can be used effectively in other types of businesses and security scenarios?

Kenton Brothers: Body Cameras

Improved safety in warehouse and logistic environments

Some companies are requiring Fork lift drivers and stacker drivers to wear cameras. And they have had great success:

  • Reduced accidents
  • Identifying Training opportunities
  • Recognition of safety enhancements needed such as lights or pathways marked on ground
  • Identification of Pallet Construction flaws
  • GEO location of Operators in large spaces

Technician / Electrician apprentice training

Some companies are utilizing body cameras to review technician work in the field to ensure accuracy of work compared to company specs.

This has improved output in the following ways:

  • Reduced call backs on new technicians
  • Increase in Productivity
  • Clearly identifies training opportunities
  • Ensures compliance with lock out tag out procedures

Increased safety and production in Manufacturing facilities

  • Passively captures evidence from the workers perspective of the manufacturing process
  • Identifies hidden areas of safety concern
  • Facilitates training opportunities
  • Identifies inefficiencies in the current processes

At Kenton Brothers Systems for Security, we are proud to offer body worn cameras manufactured by our premier commercial video surveillance manufacturer Axis Communications.

Kenton Brothers: Body CamerasThe Axis camera solution offers several benefits:

  • Easy integration with any VMS, EMS
  • Flexible and scalable
  • Fast reliable video and data offloading
  • Meets the highest government cybersecurity standards
  • End-to-end encryption

 “The same level of thoroughness has been applied throughout the solution, not just the camera unit. We took a holistic view of the customer requirement, from video capture in the field to presentation of evidence in the courtroom. This is where the openness became imperative – customers didn’t want to be forced into a specific VMS and EMS – and also drove key aspects related to security and ensuring the integrity of evidence.”

Axis Body Worn Camera System

The new Axis body worn camera system features three main hardware components: the camera itself; the camera docking station (8-bay or 1-bay); and the system controller.

This camera captures video up to 1080p @30fps and audio through dual microphones for noise suppression capabilities. Wide dynamic range technology is employed to guarantee image quality in even the most challenging light conditions, while Axis Zipstream for body worn reduces the demands for storage. Battery power is designed to cover a ‘full shift’, with 12 hours of normal usage and the capability for charging in-car or from a power bank.

The docking station and the system controller are separate units. The system is scalable for large and cost-efficient body worn systems. The system controller provides a single integration and management point, and allows for fast and reliable video offloading (100Mbit per camera). All data is encrypted both at rest and in transfer using AES256 and TLS. In addition, video data can be fully end-to-end encrypted with specific integrations.

The camera also features built-in:

  • GPS/GNSS receiver for location tracking
  • Bluetooth Low Energy 4.1
  • IEEE 802.11b/g/n
  • 6-axis gyro and accelerometer

The Axis Body Worn Assistant mobile application allows users to review footage and add categories, descriptions and notes. The applications for this technology are endless.

We are very excited to offer this solution to our customers! Would you like to know more about the Axis Body Worn Camera Solution? Give us a call!

Allen County Law Enforcement Center Case Study – Security Solutions for County Jails

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Allen County Law Enforcement Center was securing their facility with 16 year old systems that were no longer supported by the manufacturers. We fixed that.

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Connecting five buildings with line-of-sight radios. Who Needs Wires?

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By Ryan Kaullen, Field Services Manager at Kenton Brothers

At Kenton Brothers, we get many types of requests for different scenarios and applications. We recently received a request from a customer in the Westport area of Kansas City, MO. The wanted to install video cameras at five separate buildings. And they wanted all of those video feeds to go into a video management system at one of the five locations. This can be a fairly challenging technical request. Our solution was to use Ubiquiti line-of-sight radios to communicate between the buildings. That way, we could stream the camera feeds to the centrally located recording server because they would all be on the same network.

The Ubiquiti radios are mounted on the roofs of the buildings and aimed at the main building where the recording service is housed. (All camera systems have to have a network path back to where the video is recorded.) When you’re physically located in a single building, this is a relatively easy task. In situations where there are two buildings, fiber is often in place between the buildings making a single network possible.

Kenton Brothers: Who Needs Wires? Connecting Buildings with Line of Sight Ubiquiti Radios

Fiber connections weren’t an option between all five buildings, so wireless became the solution.

 

The picture above shows one of the Ubiquiti radios. As you can see, the buildings are several blocks apart. This physical challenge made a wireless connection the ideal solution. And at the same time, it’s the most cost effective for the customer while meeting their business needs and plans for future growth.

In the past, high speed wireless systems used to be expensive, unstable, and slow. New technology like Ubiquiti’s line of products has lowered the cost, improved the stability dramatically and allows dozens of cameras to be streamed at the same time. This technology has allowed customers to cover areas of their business with commercial video surveillance that wouldn’t have been an option financially a few years ago.

Kenton Brothers has deployed dozens of wireless commercial video surveillance systems over the past 7+ years. These have been successful projects resulting in happy customers. Why? Because we’re fixing pain points in their business and making them more secure.

At Kenton Brothers, it is our mission to Protect People, Property, & Possessions. Would you like to learn more about commercial video surveillance? Give us a call!

 

Kenton Brothers: Who Needs Wires? Connecting Buildings with Line of Sight Ubiquiti Radios