CBP, Philly Airport in Biometric Exit Pilot
Philadelphia International Airport and Customs and Border Protection this month will begin a 45-day pilot evaluation of face recognition technology from different vendors at three international gates on select international flights as part of the government’s Biometric Exit program. The airport will evaluate face recognition systems from NEC Corp., SITA and veriScan, which was developed by the Washington Metropolitan Airports Authority. CBP is responsible for the back-end matching of travelers departing the U.S. Foreign nationals are required to participate but U.S. citizens may opt out. The biometric check is in place at a number of U.S. airports for departing international flights and is used by CBP to ensure non-citizens are leaving the country in accordance with their visa terms and by the airlines in lieu of a boarding pass at the departure gate. Once the pilot program is finished, the airport will take through May 1 to analyze which technology performed best before making a decision on what system to buy. The airport says full implementation could take a year.
Skyview Capital Acquires Fidelis Cybersecurity
Skyview Capital acquired Fidelis Cybersecurity Inc. from a group of investors, adding a pure play cyber security firm to its portfolio. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Fidelis Cybersecurity, which is based in Maryland, has more than 250 employees. General Dynamics [GD] acquired Fidelis in 2012 when it had 70 employees and then sold it in 2014 to the private equity firm Marlin Equity Partners to stay focused on its core government customers. The cyber security company, which primarily serves large commercial customers and some government clients, had 180 employees at the time GD divested the business. “With the ever-increasing complexity of digital environments and the pace of cyber threats across the world, we see an opportunity to build upon Fidelis’ impressive technology and solidify its position within the IT security industry,” Alex Soltani, chairman and CEO of Skyview, said in a statement. He also said that Skyview is looking to help Fidelis “identifying both organic and inorganic growth opportunities.”
UAS Remote ID Tested
Remote identification technology aboard an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) was successfully demonstrated last fall as part of a larger evaluation of counter-UAS capabilities at the Army’s Maneuver and Fires integration Experiment, says Pierce Aerospace, a remote ID service supplier. In the test, Northrop Grumman’s [NOC] integrated C-UAS system successfully acquired Pierce’s Flight Portal ID broadcasting aboard a friendly UAS to avoid attacking it and instead successfully defeated hostile aircraft. Northrop Grumman’s Sophisticated Counter Unmanned Systems Weapon Radio Frequency (SCUWR) system of systems, which included Liteye’s anti-UAS system that detects, tracks and classifies UAS and can mitigate threats from drones using radio frequency disruption, and SCUWR’s 30mm x 113mm chain gun mounted on an Army Stryker armored vehicle, were not told which UAS was friendly, Pierce says. The gun was used to defeat the hostile UAS. The Federal Aviation Administration has a rule process underway to include remote ID on small drones used in the national airspace.