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Application performance of video-based services for public safety and security (PSS) systems is of high importance in order to protect citizens, organizations, and institutions against threats to their well-being. Video based services help PSS personnel to efficiently perform their rescue operations. Real-time video streaming of incident-based services over the PSS communication networks facilitates in realistic assessment of the situations and saves many precious lives. However, video communication over PSS networks, such as Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA), is a big challenge due to the narrowband and the hostile environment. Thus, specialized codecs have been developed considering the constraints of the PSS networks. This paper presents performance comparisons of two video codecs, namely H.264/AVC and MPEG-4, over TEDS links. The significance of the results is evaluated using SPSS (t-test) to critically analyse the data. It is observed that video quality offered by H.264/AVC over TEDS links is better than the one offered by MPEG-4. Moreover, it is also noticed that TEDS bandwidth limitations substantially affect the quality of reconstructed video containing frequent changes of scenes. Based on the findings of our analyses, we propose a set of applications which are suitable for TEDS networks. The findings of this study would help the researchers to further explore the possibilities of video communication over TEDS links by optimizing the lower level network technologies.

Smart cities assure the masses a higher quality of life through digital interconnectivity, leading to increased efficiency and accessibility in cities. In addition, a huge amount of data is being exchanged through smart devices, networks, cloud infrastructure, big data analysis and Internet of Things (IoT) applications in the various private and public sectors, such as critical infrastructures, financial sectors, healthcare, and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). However, these sectors require maintaining certain security mechanisms to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of personal and critical information. However, unfortunately, organizations fail to maintain their security posture in terms of security mechanisms and controls, which leads to data breach incidents either intentionally or inadvertently due to the vulnerabilities in their information management systems that either malicious insiders or attackers exploit. In this paper, we highlight the importance of data breaches and issues related to information leakage incidents. In particular, the impact of data breaching incidents and the reasons contributing to such incidents affect the citizens’ well-being. In addition, this paper also discusses various preventive measures such as security mechanisms, laws, standards, procedures, and best practices, including follow-up mitigation strategies.

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SummaryPower lines present a more challenging communication environment compared to other media. Impedance mismatches and network branches render the channel frequency‐selective, leading to strong inter‐symbol interference (ISI). Moreover, devices connected to the power grid introduce impulsive noise on the network. Such factors may degrade the system performance drastically. Therefore, robust coding and modulation schemes are required to increase the communication reliability. Furthermore, multiple access communication allows many users to share a common medium to enhance the systems' throughput. This paper examines the behaviour of two schemes, turbo codes and multi‐fold turbo codes, against a two‐user adder channel under power‐line conditions operating below 500 kHz. Both schemes employ distinct codes for each user and make use of orthogonal frequency‐division multiplexing (OFDM) to cope with the ISI. Three configurations of a low‐voltage (LV) power‐line outdoor network are considered. Results obtained through simulations show that a gain, up to 3 dB, can be obtained for both users using the multi‐fold turbo coding over the conventional turbo coding. The effect of iterative decoding on the performance of both schemes is also reported.