DHS S&T to Host Third Biometric Technology Rally
The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate this fall will host its third Biometric Technology Rally and is seeking submissions to participate. The 2020 rally will focus on the challenges of reliably identifying small, free-flowing groups of individuals in a crowded environment such as airports or ports of entry. The rallies the past two years focused on high throughput biometric technology capabilities in checkpoint environments. S&T is seeking face and multi-modal biometric acquisition systems as well as biometric matching algorithms from providers. “Past rallies were limited to testing technologies to testing technologies using individuals one at a time to help industry identify and address the challenges of processing people in high-throughput use cases,” says Arun Vemury, director of S&T’s Biometric and Identity Technology Center. “Now it’s time to take the training wheels off and see how well these systems deal with more realistic conditions—identifying groups of people that opt-in using the system, while avoiding bystanders in a crowded environment who have not opted-in. We believe this structured scenario will challenge the biometrics industry to continuously innovate for the benefit of travelers and DHS stakeholders.” The upcoming rally will take place at S&T’s Maryland Test Facility in Upper Marlboro, Md. Results from the rally will inform future activities, provide feedback to industry and improve product capabilities, and guide researchers to develop next-generation capabilities. Submissions for participation are due by April 30.
CBP Adds Simplified Arrival to Terminal 4 at JFK
Customs and Border Protection has implemented facial recognition technology to its international arrivals process at Terminal 4 at John F. Kennedy International Airport, complementing biometric exit processing that was stood up at the airport in 2019. The facial comparison technology automates document checks required for international travel. As travelers arrive to Terminal 4 on an international flight, they pause for a photo at the primary inspection point, allowing CBP’s facial matching service to compare the new photo against images that the traveler previously provided to the government, such as with passport or visa photos. If a match isn’t obtained, a CBP officer will process the traveler manually. Travelers who wish to opt out of the biometric arrival process may notify a CBP officer as they approach the primary inspection point. If they do so, they must present a valid travel document for manual identity verification by an officer and will be processed consistent with existing requirements for entry into the U.S. CBP says that so far nearly 50 million travelers have participated in the facial comparison system at air, land and sea ports and more than 260 impostors have been captured.
Citadel Defense, Liteye Team to Provide CUAS Solution
Citadel Defense and Liteye Systems have combined their technologies to provide a layered counter unmanned aircraft system (CUAS) solution for on-the move defense. The companies said that Liteye brings its Anti-UAS Defense System, which has capabilities to detect, track, identify and defeat drone threats using electronic-scanning radar, electro-optical tracking, classification, and directional radio frequency inhibition capability, and Citadel Defense brings its Titan 3 technology that includes artificial intelligence and machine learning to detect, identify, track and defeat drones operating across the electromagnetic spectrum. They said that the combination of electronic attack options for the operator provides both a machine learning high fidelity frequency defeat and a robust directional broadband defeat to ensure protection from the most serious threats. Combined, the two companies have more than $100 million in sales to the U.S. defense counter drone market. “No other system provides this level of effectiveness against both RF controlled and silent flight UAS,” says Ken Geyer, Liteye’s CEO.
UVeye Unveils Under Vehicle Threat Detection System
Israel-based UVeye this month unveiled UV Inspect, the company’s new artificial intelligence-based software that can instantly identify bombs, weapons, drugs and other security threats concealed in the undercarriage of new or unfamiliar vehicles. UVeye says that its Helios underbody scanning systems equipped with UV Inspect provide law enforcement agencies and security professionals with the ability to automatically pinpoint threats on vehicles that are not in security databases. The technology can also identify hard drives, storage devices and other computer equipment used to commit cyber-crimes. The technology previously was in use with a select number of UVeye customers in Europe and the Asia Pacific region. “Our newest generation of deep-learning technology can detect within seconds a wide variety of threats, including explosives, firearms and illegal drugs, as well as contraband such as hard drivees and portable storage devices used to commit cyber-crimes,” says Amir Hever, UVeye’s CEO.
Integrated Biometrics’ Kojak Fingerprint Capability in New Kiosk
Integrated Biometrics says its Kojak fingerprint scanner is the fingerprint capability for the DAL-Global and Aertight Systems new Identity-ATM kiosk, which combines a public-facing biometric identification system developed by Aertight with advanced identity-as-a-service software from DAL-Global. IB says that once the fingerprints are collected, the system creates a digital identity using blockchain, linking a single human to their “single digital twin” with multiple biometric records and forensic protocols as proof, making it impossible for synthetic identities and duplicates to exist. The kiosk uses iris and facial recognition in combination with AFIS and ABIS fingerprint databases to establish and verify a new identity during the onboarding process.