Ava Cloud Video Security 3.7 release

Malcolm Walters, May 27 2021

Increase the security of Ava video surveillance systems with two-factor authentication.

2 mins

Malcolm Walters

Product Manager

At Ava, we have always put security at the core of what we do. We realize that security incidents in our industry create uncertainty. And we know that our customers and partners care about putting cybersecurity at the forefront of their operations. The Ava Aware 3.7 release tackles the need for increased security by introducing two-factor authentication (2FA) when logging into your Aware video management system.

Our latest release also includes enhanced control of access to your system via the Ava Deployment Management Portal, audible indication of alarms within the Aware browser UI, and additional options for listening to audio alarm snippets in Aware.

Let’s see what this release means for your organization’s security.

What is two-factor authentication?

First, it’s essential to briefly explain what two-factor authentication is and why it’s important to check if users trying to access a system are who they say they are. 

2FA is a method of multi-factor authentication (MFA) where a user has to present two different types of identity information. Today, just using a password to authenticate is vulnerable since if an attacker learns your password, they can impersonate you. With 2FA, a user has to use the password associated with their account and an additional piece of information. 

For Aware, the second factor is a Time-Based One-Time Password (TOTP). These are generated in an application typically run on your mobile device. These applications are widespread and more secure than the 2FA scheme based on SMS or email. It can also be used offline when there is no mobile or Ethernet connectivity.

Why is it important that you use 2FA?

Using a multi-factor authentication like 2FA, you increase your account security with an additional level of protection against phishing, credential-stuffing attacks, and other data breaches. 2FA prevents an attacker from logging in even if they learn your credentials. Even if they discover your current TOTP, they cannot reuse it or generate additional codes in the future.

Using 2FA in Ava Aware

As an Administrator, you can mandate that all users in a User group use 2FA when logging into Aware. If not required, then each user can configure their own account to use 2FA. Once configured, your users need an authenticator app installed on their mobile phones to generate the TOTP verification codes required to log into your Ava deployment.

To generate TOTP codes, we recommend installing either the Google Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator apps on your iOS or Android devices.

If users lose access to their 2FA authenticator, for example, if they lose or have their phone stolen, or if they accidentally delete the authenticator app settings for the Aware deployment, an Administrator can reset their two-factor authentication. The user will then need to set up two-factor authentication on their next log-in.

For more information about 2FA in Aware and how to configure it, visit our documentation portal.

The Ava Cloud Video Security 3.7 release also includes:

  • enhanced control over access from the Ava Deployment Management Portal (DMP)
  • audible alarm notifications within the Aware browser UI
  • additional options from the Aware user interface to listen to alarm audio snippets and include them in external links
  • information about the status of the cloud connection to Aware Cloud in the Ava Cloud Camera user interface
  • easier searching of specific entries in the audit logs
  • on-board processing of video analytics on all Ava-branded cameras (both on-premise and cloud models) 

Discover all the new features from our release notes.

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