TSA Approves Implants Desktop ETD for Qualified Products List
In a major milestone for the company, Implant Sciences
[IMSC] says its QS-B220 desktop explosives trace detector (ETD) has peen approved by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) for use in aviation checkpoint and checked baggage screening. Implant in May said that inclusion of the QS-B220 on the Qualified Products List (QPL) for check point and checked baggage screening would “unlock” its potential for purchases not just for aviation screening but by other customers within the federal government. “The addition of the QS-B220 to TSA’s QPL is the single most significant achievement in our company’s history,” says Glenn Bolduc, Implant’s president and CEO. Todd Silvestri, vice president of Technology for the company, says the approval means the company has “cleared the last major hurdle in the U.S. aviation market.” The QS-220 was previously approved by TSA for purchase by companies doing air cargo screening in the U.S. The system is the first ETD with a non-radioactive source to be added to the QPL.
Morpho Launches Finger On The Fly
Safran Group’s Morpho has announced the commercial launch of its contactless finger scanner, Finger On The Fly, which provides high-resolution fingerprint capture in less than a second. The system captures four fingerprints from a single wave of the hand. The company says Finger On The Fly is the fasted contactless biometric device on the market. Morpho says the device is “suited for applications such as border control at airports, access control at sensitive and high traffic sites, flow management and a wide range of situations where high speed enrollment and matching, as well as convenience and security are a priority.”
NNSA, Oman Conduct Counterterrorism Exercise
The Energy Department’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the Sultanate of Oman in August completed a week long CBRNE Commodity Identification Training and Interdiction tabletop exercise at the Royal Oman Police Customs Agency in Muscat, Oman’s capital. The exercise brought together interagency officials to strengthen their capacity to detect and interdict smuggled CBRNE-related materials, components, and equipment that could be used in a terrorist act. The exercise was aimed at training participants on the visual recognition of commodities that could be used for CBRNE purposes and highlighted methods that a terrorist might use when seeking to acquire or develop CBRNE weapons, as well as show how such items would look—including how they might be marked, labeled, and packaged. During the exercise Omani experts foiled a fictional plot.
SAIC Introduces Cyber Security Solution
Science Applications International Corp. [SAIC] has introduced CyberSecurity Edge, an adaptive cyber security solution that offers advanced data security and mitigates vulnerabilities across multiple platforms. “This solution provides maximum data security readiness and responds to advanced persistent cyber threats, multiple platforms, and unstructured data,” says Doug Wagoner, sector president. “SAIC’s approach takes the full data life-cycle into consideration to facilitate cyber resilience, mitigate risks, and anticipate the next threat.”
Firms Test Mobile FirstNet Deployment at Urban Shield Exercise
Mutuallink, Inc. says it and its partners Oceus Networks and Sonim Technologies deployed a mobile LTE communications system last weekend as part of a regional preparedness exercise in Northern California. The FirstNet-related deployment of an Enhanced System on Wheels (ESOW) allowed participants to share real-time video, images and voice communications using mobile phones and tablets on the scene of a simulated incident that involved a terrorist boarding a public transit vehicle. The Urban Shield exercise included public safety officials from the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center, Bay Area Rapid Transit, SWAT teams and other agencies. The ESOW provides secure local, multimedia multi-party collaboration capability between user equipment and legacy devices such as video cameras and land mobile radios. Mutualink’s technology services as the interoperable communications platform for ESOW, allowing the bridging of disparate systems. Sonim provided rugged handheld devices and Oceus the 4G LTE lightweight deployable communication system.
Veritas To Acquire Cyber Security Software Solutions Provider BeyondTrust
Information technology security software solutions firm BeyondTrust says that it will be acquired by the private equity firm Veritas Capital in a deal that will boost investments in its capabilities and help it penetrate new markets. “BeyondTrust is poised to continue its significant growth both with new customers and across our existing customer base. We are excited to partner with Veritas in order to continue innovating our integrated cyber security software platform and to pursue enterprise and government markets.” Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Arizona-based BeyondTrust is currently owned by the private equity firm Insight Venture Partners. BeyondTrust is an infrastructure software provider with core solutions in privileged account management and vulnerability management for reducing information technology (IT) security risks and simplifying compliance reporting across disparate IT environments. The company’s solutions are marketed under the BeyondInsight IT Risk Management Platform. Evercore [EVR] served as BeyondTrust’s financial advisor on the deal.