Though I have been in this industry a — very — long time, I took a 12-year gap from full-time work when my children were small. I came back to SDM full-time in 2015, and one of the first events I traveled to was PSA-TEC. I remember Bill Bozeman gathering all the media in a conference room and proceeding to emphatically tell us that security integrators were failing to understand a critical issue in the security industry: cybersecurity. At that time, the general thinking in the industry was that cybersecurity was an “IT problem,” not a physical security one.

A lot has changed in the last decade, and integrators no longer feel that cybersecurity is not their job. But there are still many that are struggling to catch up. They still view it as a necessary evil, or something to outsource in order to win a job.

But this month’s cover story, “Taking the Right Steps for a Unified Cybersecurity Posture,” explains why that approach may not be the best course of action. The silos of physical security and cybersecurity are coming down, and it is time to understand what the convergence of these two disciplines means for your business and for your customers.

The silos of physical security and cybersecurity are coming down, and it is time to understand what the convergence of these two disciplines means for your business and for your customers.

“Physical and digital security are no longer separate worlds,” Priya Serai, chief information officer, Zeus Fire & Security says in the article. “A camera isn’t just a camera anymore — it’s an IoT [Internet of Things] endpoint. A badge system isn’t just access control — it’s an IT system. Convergence means treating all of that as one ecosystem. It’s about strategy and response that cut across silos. A cyber-attack can take down life-safety systems, and a physical breach can be an entry point for digital compromise. In our industry, convergence is how we deliver resilience, making sure people, property, and profits are protected seamlessly, whether the threat comes through a firewall or a front door.”

What’s more, cybersecurity is a moving target, and the age of AI is adding more complexities to the issue, with deepfakes, embedded malware, and even model poisoning adding to the challenge of keeping up with the latest threats and solutions.

Ten years on from that prescient warning I heard from PSA, there are definitely many more integrators not only grasping the issue, but embracing the opportunity it presents to be an ultimate trusted source for their customers. But there is still much to learn, whether you consider your company highly skilled in cybersecurity, struggling to catch up, or somewhere in the middle.

What can you do if you are in the latter two categories? According to the experts I spoke with for the article, partner with an MSP, hire in internal expertise, lean on your manufacturing partner — do something, if you haven’t already, or you risk falling behind on this critical issue and losing not only business but your competitive advantage.