The Electronic Security Association (ESA) held its 2019 Leadership Summit Jan. 28-31 in Austin, Texas.

On Feb. 3, CBS 2 Chicago ran a lengthy investigative story about DEFENDERS, ADT’s largest authorized dealer. While multiple allegations were presented, the main argument was that DEFENDERS has “hundreds of frustrated customers who said they were duped, in some cases overpaying by thousands of dollars.”

More than 200 leaders in electronic security and life safety from all over gathered in Austin, Texas, Jan. 28-31 for ESA’s 2019 Leadership Summit and were not disappointed, according to a post-show survey conducted by ESA.

AFA Protective Systems Inc., ranked no. 23 on the SDM 100, has been awarded a multi-year fire alarm inspection contract at JFK airport by The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. 

San Jose, Calif. has become the 11th U.S. city to drop the controversial alarm management practice known as “verified response.” 

Google Nest has become a trending topic this week as multiple users have reported security breaches. On Tuesday, Q13 FOX reported that a family in Auburn, Wash. claimed that someone hacked their Nest and was watching them and speaking through the cameras. On Sunday, a Northern California family’s Nest issued a fake emergency warning claiming that three nuclear missiles from North Korea were headed for Los Angeles, Chicago and Ohio, according to the East Bay times.

Chris Heaton, VP of advocacy and public affairs at the ESA, said that there are two different kinds of bills most likely to affect the security industry in 2019: those involving school security, and those involving occupational licensing. 

Carmelo Mosca has truly climbed the ranks of Affiliated Monitoring Inc., a Union, N.J.-based monitoring center.

EverCommerce, a service commerce platform connecting technologies and solutions for service sector businesses, has added Secure Global Solutions (SGS), a software development firm that produced the stages platform, to its list of companies on its website. 

The Security Industry Association (SIA) released its Security Market Index for January, and the results show that overall confidence in the security industry is holding level this month, as general optimism about current business conditions and steady increases in new product sales, introductions and production keep the Index at 65, the same as in Nov. 2018.