Orlando Airport Commits to Deploy Biometric Entry and Exit for International Travelers

The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority in April approved $4 million to create an integrated passenger processing system that will use facial recognition technology to help process arriving and departing international travelers at Orlando International Airport. The action makes the airport the first in the U.S.to fully deploy Customs and Border Protection’s Biometric Entry and Exit program. The airport, along with CBP, has been testing the facial recognition system for passengers boarding British Airways flights to the United Kingdom. Under testing that lasted several months before the decision to adopt the systems was made, CBP and the airline used the facial recognition technology to eliminate the need for passengers to use their passport at the time of boarding and the boarding process took less than 15 minutes. The authority says that testing of the system for arriving passengers also reduced processing delays. “This program will benefit our more than six million annual international passengers by delivering a simpler travel process,” says Frank Kruppenbacher, chairman of the authority.The system will be deployed to the airport’s 30 gates that have international departures and at CBP checkpoints located in the airport’s two Federal Inspection Stations.

SITA Deploys ABC Kiosks to Mexican Airports to Speed Passenger Processing

The Federal Government of Mexico has acquired Automated Border Control kiosks from SITA that are equipped with fingerprint capture technology to verify passengers’ identities to improve national security and speed processing at several airports in the country. The company has deployed 100 of the kiosks at airports in Mexico City, Cancun and Los Cabos to securely identify travelers as they enter the country. Automating the entry process also helps speed the processing of travelers. SITA says that eventually, the kiosks will be used to facilitate the full admission process for Mexican citizens as well as non-citizens that do not require a visa for entry. Arriving passengers will use the kiosks to provide standard travel information to the authorities, place their hand to be scanned for fingerprints, and once their identity is verified against the national immigration database they will be given the all clear to enter the country. The kiosks also capture facial photos and scan passports. SITA says its iBorders BorderAutomation ABC Kiosks have been shown to reduce the time passengers spend in line by as much as 40 percent.

Tascent Introduces New Mobile Biometric Platform

Tascent has introduced the Tascent MX, a handheld multimodal biometric capture system for enrollment and identification system. The MX leverages the OtterBox Universe case system and integrates with smartphone devices to provide a modular approach to biometric capture. The unit attaches and detaches from the devices easily.

Raytheon, Virsec Partner on Cyber Security Solutions

Raytheon [RTN] and the cyber security firm Virsec have formed an alliance to provide cyber security solutions to government and critical infrastructure markets. Raytheon on Monday said the partnership combines California-based Virsec’s Trusted Execution security platform with Raytheon’s expertise in defending cyber networks. “Critical infrastructure, from the electrical grid to transportation, is under assault, and hackers are evading conventional security defenses,” says John DeSimone, vice president of Cybersecurity and Special Missions at Raytheon’s Intelligence, Information and Services segment. “Commercial tools from companies like Virsec can help bridge the gap for our global government and commercial customers and provide effective protection against the growing cyber threat.” Raytheon said that Virsec’s security platform in real-time can detect deviations in software applications and protect memory and processes.

Polaris Alpha Acquires Fourth Dimension Engineering to Bolster Cyber Capabilities

Polaris Alpha, a portfolio company of Arlington Capital Partners, has acquired Fourth Dimension Engineering, adding expertise in hardware design and custom electronic solutions in the cyber arena. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Fourth Dimension is located in Columbia, Md., near the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command. The company has 79 employees. “This acquisition firmly establishes Polaris Alpha as a preeminent leader in all aspects of advanced cyber operations,” says Peter Cannito, CEO of Polaris Alpha. Geoff Bloom, executive vice president for Cyber and SIGINT at Polaris Alpha, says that “Combining their unique hardware expertise with Polaris Alpha’s complementary cyber and signals intelligence capabilities significantly increases the scale of our advanced cyber offering.” Fourth Dimension says its quick reaction capabilities in electronic solutions means schedules of “hours to weeks.” Fourth Dimension’s strengths in hardware design, mechanical engineering and RF design are areas that Polaris Alpha wanted to expand. Fourth Dimension also brings additional customer relationships within the Defense Department. SC&H Group served as Fourth Dimension’s financial advisor on the deal, which closed on April 11.

NEC Iris Recognition Technology First in NIST Testing

NEC Corp. says that its iris recognition technology achieved the highest matching accuracy ranking in the recent Iris Exchange IX evaluations of automated iris recognition algorithms performed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The company says its recognition technology achieved matching precision of 99.33 percent from iris data using near-infrared photography.