Canon U.S.A. Inc. has announced it is the recipient of two 2023 ASTORS Homeland Security Awards from American Security Today (AST). AST awarded Canon a Gold ASTORS Award for uniFLOW Online in the Best IT Access Control & Authentication Solution category and a Platinum ASTORS Award for Canon's MS-500 camera in the Best IP Video Surveillance Solution category.

American Security Today's Annual ASTORS Awards, now in its eighth year, continues to recognize industry leaders of physical and border security, cybersecurity, emergency preparedness – management and response, law enforcement and first responders, as well as federal, state and municipal government agencies in the acknowledgment of their outstanding efforts to keep our nation secure.

AST notes that its annual ASTORS Homeland Security Awards Program is specifically designed to honor distinguished government and vendor solutions that deliver enhanced value, benefit and intelligence to end users in a variety of government, homeland security and public safety vertical markets.

"ASTORS nominations are evaluated on their technical innovation, interoperability, specific impact within the category, overall impact to the industry, relatability to other industry technologies and application feasibility outside of the industry," said Tammy Waitt, co-founder and editorial director, American Security Today.

uniFLOW Online is recognized for its usability, flexible and straightforward design, advanced scanning and extensive security features. uniFLOW Online is designed to help customers keep control over access to their multifunction printers and critical information thereon, as well as the dual advantage of staying connected while having the flexibility to work from either their office or home. With uniFLOW Online, administrators can make sure users have to identify themselves through the established login method.

uniFLOW Online allows users in zero-trust environments to release print jobs after authentication. Administrators set it up so that documents are only printed when a user is physically standing at a device and authenticates, regardless of whether the user submitted the print job from their desktop PC or mobile device.

Launched in August 2023, the Canon MS-500, an ultra-high-sensitivity interchangeable-lens camera (ILC) is not only the world's first ultra-high-sensitivity camera equipped with a SPAD sensor, but also features the world's highest pixel count on its 1-inch single photon avalanche diode (SPAD) sensor of 3.2 megapixels.

In areas that require extremely high levels of security, such as seaports, public infrastructure facilities and national borders, high-precision monitoring systems are required to surveil targets both during the day and at night. When combined with ultra-telephoto broadcast lenses, it may be possible to capture clear color videos of subjects with the MS-500 camera at a distance of several miles, even at night. The MS-500 camera helps to strengthen Canon's ultra-high-sensitivity camera lineup, which also includes the ME20, ML100 and ML105 cameras, allowing the company to meet a variety of customer needs in the advanced surveillance market. The MS-500 SPAD Sensor Camera is a CES 2024 Innovation Award winner, and TIME Magazine named it one of The Best Inventions of 2023.

"Canon is proud to offer this high-quality imaging equipment for sale to government agencies and grateful for this acknowledgement of the MS-500 SPAD sensor camera," said Brian Mahar, senior vice president and general manager, Canon U.S.A. Inc. "Receiving recognition from AST is just one example of how Canon is dedicated to innovation and a leader in digital imaging solutions."

"At Canon, we harness our rich heritage of crafting powerful digital solutions and cutting-edge imaging technologies to engineer tailored solutions that can meet distinct market demands," said Shinichi "Sam" Yoshida, executive vice president and general manager, Canon U.S.A. Inc. "Receiving the ASTORS Homeland Security Award from American Security Today for uniFLOW Online is a testament to Canon's commitment to providing solutions that can be used to help users through robust high-precision monitoring systems and powerful print management solutions."