Good article,mentions Eurotech!!! Part 8: New devices for national security
By Charles Choi and Dee Ann Divis
Published 2/9/2002 2:06 AM
WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Scanners that screen for everything from plastic explosives and biological weapons to deceit on the faces of airline passengers may become tools in securing U.S. borders against terrorism.
Aimed at improving security without slowing down commerce, the new devices will have to contend with the hundreds of millions of people, trucks, shipping containers, airplanes and vehicles that pour over the border every year.
Many of the emerging technologies were supported by Defense Department projects. Among them is face recognition software -- developed with the aid of the Office of Naval Research in Arlington, Va. -- that eventually could be deployed in the nation's airports. The most widely used facial recognition software today originally was nurtured as a research project at Rockefeller University in New York to aid ONR's neural computation program. The software analyzes the placement and angles of between 12 and 40 facial elements. The arrangement of these elements, like the eyes and nose, remains constant irrespective of the angle from which the face is viewed.
"It captures a face and converts it to a digital code," explained Joseph Atick, president of Visionics in Jersey City, N.J. "You can implement it as checkpoint surveillance in a walkthrough situation or in a physical border -- for instance, requiring drivers to roll down a window of their car as a requirement for entering the country."
A "faceprint" file is only 88 bytes in size, which enables quick cross-referencing.
"In terms of accuracy and being able to handle large databases of photos, it's the best we can do right now," said neural computing program officer Thomas McKenna of ONR, which sponsored the technology.
There are other types of scanners that use such unique physical information -- called biometrics -- to match individual identities.
Retinal scanners map the unique pattern of blood vessels in the retina with a low-energy laser. Iris recognition technology analyzes the colored ring in the eyeball. Like fingerprints, no two retinal blood vessel patterns or irises are alike. Such scanners, when used with databases of retinal or iris prints, have the potential to keep known terrorists and criminals out.
Legislation now under consideration in Congress would mandate that biometrics be used on key travel documents, particularly visas and some passports. Sponsored by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., bill S. 1749 would mandate the Department of State begin issuing "tamper-resistant, machine-readable" travel documents with biometric identifiers. The bill also requires aliens entering from countries that have a visa waiver program with the United States to have passports with "standardized biometric identifiers."
Biometric data also has been suggested for inclusion in a national identification card. These cards, perhaps replacing existing driver's licenses, could be used as a form of identification -- for example, when boarding an airplane.
Though there are many variations on this more controversial proposal, the fundamental idea is to have a "smart card," perhaps similar in appearance to a credit card, with a magnetic strip or computer chip that contained key data. Biometrics and other measures, such as an imbedded hologram, would make the cards difficult to counterfeit, say proponents.
Some advocates want to see the card used for commercial transactions as well, just like a credit card.
"The potential is endless and the amount of information that can be stored on the cards is virtually unlimited," explained a spokesman for EDS, a leading supplier of smart cards. "Basically it has a computer ship and you can store any type of information in there -- whether it's biometric information, fingerprints or facial structure. You can even go so far as putting DNA coding on there. It would all depend on what types of information the individual client wanted on the card."
To make the cards viable though, they need to be standardized, say proponents. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is working on legislation to form a biometric technology clearinghouse that might move the process forward.
The organization "would bring together a number of the different agencies that are involved in this in a public private partnership to develop the best possible biometric information to be used on information cards," said a Feinstein spokesman.
"The idea is to have a public private organization so that we can take advantage of what is out there in the private sector," the spokesman told United Press International.
Data from smart cards might someday find its way into yet another system proposed to improve flight security. This system, being suggested by private companies to the government, would use current fraud detection software to try to identify travelers that might have terrorist intent.
HCN Software, leader of one of at least two teams working on the idea, uses software with artificial intelligence algorithms to detect patterns of out-of-synch buying behavior. They collect data from a wide array of banks, combine it with other data like addresses and search for patterns experience has shown indicate possible credit card fraud. The same approach of searching for unusual, risk-indicative patterns, they say, can find possible terrorists.
"We will take reservations data, and apply these algorithms to score them for risk that a passenger is intending to commit a terrorist act," Joseph Sirosh, HNC executive director of research and development told UPI. "If the score is high (the passenger) will be put into a category that is directed to security people for closer screening. This will be screening at the airport ... before the passenger boards the aircraft."
The software would sift reservation information plus publicly available data like addresses and phone numbers -- possibly adding credit card purchases and other restricted information if permission is granted. It could rate the risk of a particular passenger in a matter of seconds of a ticket purchase, said Sirosh -- well in advance of the
flight leaving. Because only computers, and not investigators process the data, privacy is protected, he said.
The neural-network system also actually learns as it operates.
"As they see more and more data (the systems) improve themselves on a constant basis and identify what is abnormal and what is normal and clearly learn to separate the two," explained Sirosh.
The system should be ready for demonstration six to eight months and could be in place at airports in as little as a year thereafter if the government and other interested parties agree. It is not clear yet who would actually operate the system or how much it would cost.
"The Government wants a lot of control," Sirosh noted.
The initial data on terrorism behavior for the HCN system will come from a clinical psychologist who worked on counter-terrorism efforts with the government in the late '80s. Accenture, the other firm reportedly developing such a system, declined comment for this report for security reasons.
Though these measures may aid in the identification of terrorists, they do little to stop bombs or suitcases concealing bioweapons.
Scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington are working on low frequency radio wave pulse generators that swiftly and safely detect explosives concealed in luggage, mailboxes or on people. The radio waves momentarily disturb the alignment of atomic nuclei, causing them to emit unique weak radio signals. Sensor coils then detect these signals, which computers analyze to determine the type of material found.
"They've installed the scanners in a small number of airports now," ONR's Audrey Haar told UPI, regarding information she received from the Federal Aviation Administration.
The Defense Department also is looking through more than 12,000 different proposals for new counter-terrorist technologies. The proposals arrived in response to a Pentagon request made in October for new ideas.
"We have them from all sorts of companies, large and small, as well as from individuals and educational institutions," said Maj. Michael Halvig of the U.S. Air Force. "We're not putting a definitive time on when the review process is finished yet ... it will take months probably, one or two, but maybe three or four."
Among these proposals is an acoustic scanner for explosives and radioactive material. The company submitting the idea, Eurotech Ltd., of Fairfax, Va., already has demonstrated the technology for government contractors and U.S. Air Force personnel. The device would screen large volumes of cargo and luggage using sound waves to detect the unique acoustic fingerprints of various materials and help monitor shipping containers from planes, trains, buses and ships.
"This can scan moving objects, such as a truck passing through a weigh station security point," said Don Hahnfeldt, president of Eurotech. "This can also be retrofitted to work with current technologies as well, such as metal detectors at airports."
In several years, thermal sensors also may help detect lies and biological or chemical weapons. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and Honeywell Laboratories in Minneapolis are working with DOD to develop an infrared camera that monitors flashes of heat that develop around the eyes whenever a person lies.
"This kind of technology really is a screening tool that goes along with many other security tools to identify individuals at risk of committing acts of terrorism," said lead researcher James Levine of the Mayo Clinic. The scientists believe the camera may find use at airports and border checkpoints within the next two years.
Researchers at the University of Delaware in Newark are working on a thermal camera-on-a-chip that would be thousands of times faster at identifying possible chemical weapons than existing laboratory-scale infrared sensors. The camera would detect the unique infrared signature given off by every chemical. Because the chip has no moving parts, it would be rugged enough to be deployed in the field to detect airborne or container-bound biological or chemical warfare agents.
"Right now, the camera for this system cost $40,000, and it has a limited range," said analytical chemist Doug Elmore of the University of Delaware. "It sounds like a lot of money, but the camera that we're using probably cost over $1 million 10 years ago. There's good reason to expect the price to go down considerably in coming years."
Installing new technologies and expecting them to analyze every person and container moving through the 301 ports of entry into the United States will prove a challenge, however.
"In fiscal year 2001, 11,186,909 trucks were processed entering the country through both borders; 214,610 vessels; 2,257,608 rail cars; and 5,709,974 sea containers. So that gives you an idea of the volume," said U.S. Customs Service officer Jim Michie.
"It's a task that's going to take a great deal of planning and a great deal of cooperation between this country and Canada as well as Mexico."
Copyright © 2002 United Press International
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