We're excited to announce a groundbreaking integration project that brings together two key security systems - K-DAS and NX Witness. While these platforms were originally quite different in their architecture and event processing methods, our unified solution aims to dramatically improve threat detection and response times.
Smart Integration Module
At the heart of our project is a specialized integration module - a smart intermediary that runs as a standalone service in a Docker container. This module "speaks" both systems' languages, ensuring seamless data exchange and real-time synchronization between platforms.
Threat Model and Alert Levels
K-DAS operates on a straightforward three-tier alert system:
- Level 0 (White): Initial activity detection. Depending on settings, it may notify operators or create an NX Witness bookmark in the background.
- Level 1 (Yellow): Indicates sustained or more serious activity, which may trigger operator notifications.
- Level 2 (Red): Critical threat requiring mandatory acknowledgment through NX Witness. Operators receive clear notifications with event confirmation options.
Each NX Witness event is automatically archived, with a unique ID video bookmark attached to the relevant camera's timeline, allowing for complete incident tracking.
Quick Event Search and Analysis
We've implemented a user-friendly event search system:
- Find the event by date
- Get its unique ID
- Use the ID in NX Witness's "Events" bookmark search to see the full incident history - from description to video footage
Working Around NX Witness Limitations
During integration, we addressed several NX Witness quirks:
- REST API Limitation: Since NX Witness doesn't support automatic alarm confirmation via REST API, two-way sync isn't possible. As a result, events need manual confirmation, but all data is preserved for later analysis.
- Coordinate Handling: NX Witness lacks map and coordinate support, which is crucial for perimeter security systems. Since K-DAS relies heavily on coordinates, we've introduced a "milestone" system: instead of coordinates, we use kilometer markers, with cameras pre-linked to relevant milestones.
Results
Despite certain limitations, the K-DAS and NX Witness integration has proven highly effective in tracking threats, analyzing alerts, and providing quick access to video evidence. We're planning to further optimize our milestone algorithms and expand system capabilities through new integration scenarios.
Stay tuned to the developer blog for more details and upcoming features.