Rethinking Security As Access Control Moves To The Edge
Security Boulevard, December 11,2025
The convergence of physical and digital security is driving a shift toward software-driven, open-architecture edge computing.
Access control has typically been treated as a physical domain problem - managing who can open which doors, using specialized systems largely isolated from broader enterprise IT. However, the boundary between physical and digital security is increasingly blurring. With that shift comes a need to revisit the architecture of access control infrastructure itself.
The traditional model - centralized servers handling decision logic, with field devices acting primarily as passive endpoints - remains common. But it reflects an earlier design philosophy, one in which physical security systems were purpose-built and evolved slowly. That's changing