NEW CODES COME INTO EFFECT!

Vancouver, B. C. - It’s official.  British Columbia has formally implemented the 2012 versions of the Building Code, Plumbing Code and Fire Code effective December 20, 2012.  The official bulletin is available on the Provincial Website.  There are significant changes in all three Codes.  We’ll be providing analysis and interpretations on some of the more significant ones that relate to fire and life safety systems.  Check out our FAQ pages over the next few weeks!

WARNING ABOUT COUNTERFEIT CAT-5 CABLE

Fallbrook, California - The Fibre Optic Association (FOA) recently published an excellent video demonstrating the hazards of using counterfeit cable.  In the video, they not only show you the differences between the physical cable construction, they also provide clear and concise advice on how to identify counterfeit cable.  The sample they received sported bogus UL® marks on the box as well as on the cable jacket.  I’ve heard about similarly CSA® branded boxes and reels of fire alarm and Lumex cables.  Their advice?  Use cable sourced from reputable distributors that can verify the pedigree.  Don’t buy cable in unmarked boxes (even if they carry a CSA® or UL® mark.  The Fibre Optic Association Website is at www.thefoa.org.  To view the video, go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfBxlg74tvM&feature=youtu.be.

CCTV DVR’s ALLOW HACKERS REMOTE ACCESS TO NETWORK COMPUTERS!

A total of eighteen brands of dedicated digital video recorders which use firmware by Guangdong, China based Ray Sharp have been identified as vulnerable to an attack which would allow a hacker to gain remote control of the devices to watch, copy, delete and alter streaming video.  Even more disturbing, once accessed, the machines could be used as a gateway to allow a hacker to find other computers behind a corporate (or personal) router’s firewall.  The vulnerability was discovered by a hacker who was able to send commands to a Swann DVR without requiring any sort of authentication.  DVR’s which use a protocol known as Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) set up on routers with the protocol enabled (usually by default), are vulnerable to this form of attack.  As many as 58,000 DVR’s could be affected.  To date, no firmware fix has been released.

TECH-NEWS & VIEWS

January, 2013

LAUNCHING A NEW (OR IMPROVED) DOODAD? GOT A STORY? SOMETHING OF INTEREST AND/OR NOTEWORTHY?

Contact Us! We'll make sure it gets out there!

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR A BURNING BRICK AWARD!

That wall of Burning Bricks keeps growing (unfortunately)!  Click HERE to find out more!