Planes, Trains, and Robotic Surveillance

An Israeli company Planum Vision, has developed an unmanned "overhead train" capable of providing surveillance of large fixed perimeter installations, or even national borders:



Interesting approach...and evironmentally friendly too!

More Security in Soft Focus

Police in Ocala, Florida recently released surveillance photos of this man. He is the suspect in a recent assult and robbery at an area Kwik King.

Have you seen him?
Would you know if you had?

Not very likely.

Connecticut's Facebook for Bank Robbers

New Technology is being used by banks to help prosecute robbers. The Connecticut Bankers Association recently launched a Web site that enables Facebook-like profiling of bank criminals including surveillance photos whenever possible. It’s already generating some interesting results.

As of mid-November, the FBI reported 103 bank robberies in Connecticut this
year, compared to 60 at the same time last year. The FBI says about
41 percent of robberies this year have been solved. Improved technology has
helped to get surveillance photos out to the public almost immediately, but more
could be done.

Great idea, but I am a bigger fan of this particular Internet crime-fighting technology, however.

Danger Will Robinson

The latest in a seemingly endless line of ever creepier face recognizing robots.

Sex on the Beach

In addition to sand flies and the occasional tsunami, devotees of beach-front-fornication in Palm Beach have something else to worry about… talking surveillance cameras.

The Era of Searchable Surveillance

From my article in Security World Magazine:

At present, security systems are inefficient, lack integration and are not
scalable to meet the needs of large or geographically dispersed
organizations. The challenge is heightened by the rapid convergence of
physical and IT security systems. Existing reactive alarm systems and raw
video review are insufficient for overcoming the wide and diverse range of
threats facing companies and government organizations, leaving them vulnerable
to security breaches.

Google Meets Sherlock Holmes

From Newswise:

In any one day, homeland security and law enforcement agencies might sift through thousands of complex and often contradictory clues about potential terrorist threats. To thwart another September 11, analysts must meld the encyclopedic eye of Google-age technology with Sherlock holmes’s inductive genius.

Mass Iris Scanning May Replace Airport Queues

From GCN Insider:

“Envision a future in which large-scale portal screening such as at airports is no longer a matter of forming long, snaking lines for serial processing, but more nearly resembles Grand Central Station, with individual travelers moving in a Brownian way,” — that is, any way they want to, William Gravel, a Defense Department consultant, said to the audience at a recent biometrics conference in Baltimore. “It is a vision,” he said, but “it is not a fantasy.”

3VR on Fox News

Tim Ross, EVP and Co-founder of 3VR, was interviewed today on Fox News:

LA to Profile Muslim Communities

The Los Angeles police have begun a difficult and controversial program to identify and reach out to some of the area’s more insular Muslim communities.

There are an estimated 500,000 Muslims in Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties. The Police Department is trying to identify the location of Muslim enclaves to determine which might be susceptible to "violent, ideologically-based extremism," Downing said Thursday. The intent, he said, is to "reach out to those communities," including Pakistanis, Iranians and Chechens.

The ACLU and numerous Muslim organizations, including the controversial Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), have teamed up in opposition to the initiative, however, citing “grave concerns” and comparing it to “racial profiling.”

"Singling out individuals for investigation, surveillance, and data-gathering
based on their religion constitutes religious profiling that is just as
unlawful, ill-advised and deeply offensive as racial profiling," the letter
said.

The general response to the seemingly common-sense proposal has been far less critical, however. And city officials, who plan to meet with Muslim leaders for the first time next week on the program, are glad that at least some potential critics are waiting for more details before drawing final conclusions.

Salam al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said
he would withhold judgment until hearing more from police next week.
"Muslims should be treated as partners, not suspects," he said. Chief
William Bratton said the initiative is intended to get officers into
communities, meeting with people and learning the local landscape.

Makes sense to me…but somehow I doubt CAIR will feel the same way.

Lights, Camera, Surfs Up

Brett Williamson, the CEO of Surf Life Saving in Australia plans to triple the number of cameras on the beaches his organization patrols. The new surveillance measures will have little to do with public safety, however. Instead their focus will be on protecting Surf Life’s swimsuit-clad employees from ‘frivolous legal actions.’ No word yet on whether a lifeguard-themed TV series is also in the works.

The Road to Southend Pier

In his new book, subtitled “One Man’s Struggle Against a Surveillance Society,” Ross Clark chronicles an attempt to walk from his East Anglia home to a Pier in Southend…all the while avoiding surveillance cameras and the other various instruments of Britian’s so-called police state. In London, sometimes called the most surveilled city in the world, it is said an average pedestrian might find him or herself photographed more than 300 times per day. Along his way, Clark thoughtfully discusses some of the inconsistencies, inefficiencies, and absurdities of his country’s security policies.

Mick Hume of the London Times makes the point that Clark’s funny and insightful critique is hardly that of an extremist, however.

His book is less a militant's pamphlet than a protest on behalf of respectable Brits about the absurdities of the surveillance society. He is appalled that while millions are herded on to a DNA register, police cannot take samples from terrorist suspects on control orders. “It is bizarre to think,” he writes, “that the Government is planning to let credit agencies advertise the contents of our bank accounts — yet will not allow police forces to name convicted criminals.” Clark is most dismissive of the bureaucratic pointlessness of the “virtual” police state, with cameras that nobody watches taking pictures that nobody can use. He observes that the “peculiar effect of surveillance, both on us and our leaders” is that “it gives the impression that everything is under control, when in fact it isn't”.

So, if not a “virtual” police state, does Clark seek a “real” one… none at all…or none-of-the-above. His views, like those of most, are decidedly more interesting and complex. And of course it's true, when it comes to our security and privacy, we can do better…and should.

MI5 Tracks 2000 Terrorists

Via Security Managment Weekly & Washington Post:

Around 2,000 terrorism suspects are being monitored by British authorities,
and an equal number of individuals are suspected of also being involved in
insurgent or malicious activity, according to remarks from MI5 Director General
Jonathan Evans in a rare public address. Britain's Security Service has recorded
a rise in the number of terrorism-related arrests, including foiled plots to
bomb international jets and detonate car bombs in public places, but attributes
this growth in part to heightened security efforts. Evans and Prime Minister
Gordon Brown both underscore the threat of Islamic terrorist activity in the
country, and Evans has named al-Qaeda as one group with a "clear determination
to mount terrorist attacks against the United Kingdom." The MI5 head says while
the attacks are mainly carried out by Britons, citizens are being influenced and
trained by militant groups in Pakistan and Somalia. Evans adds, however, that
non-extremist agents from Russia and China also pose a threat to the country by
attempting to steal civilian and military technology, and by placing undercover
operatives within Britain.

Half-moth Half-robot All-seeing

Researchers at the University of Arizona have accomplished the amazing, and somewhat bizarre, feat of connecting a 6-inch-tall wheeled robot to the brain of a moth. As the moth observes activity around it, the signals from its brain are translated and sent to a computer that directs the robot to turn toward wherever the moth is looking.

The moth's vision has evolved over millions of years to accurately guide the
insect as it dodges predators or seeks mates. Although the moth brain is
the size of a grain of rice, the insect's ability to detect motion is "amazing
-- beyond anything we could build," said senior author Charles M. Higgins, an
associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of
Arizona.

The researchers also pointed to other potential uses for moth-based technology:

Higgins said a robot hooked into the moth's sophisticated olfactory system might
one day be used to detect bombs. After all, he said, "if it blows up, all you've
lost is a moth."

Many Faces of Biometrics in Iraq

Just back from Iraq, Wired writer/blogger Noah Shachtman offers some interesting details on the wide array of biometric technology being utilized there. First, he writes about his own experience:

Then, us reporters need to be issued IDs. Which means getting a scan of your index finger, and a having a standard, passport-style picture taken. At two-thirty in the morning, it took seven tries to get a shot where I didn't look stoned out of my mind. After that, they take scans of both your irises. Five more headshots – for the facial recognition software. And scans of all ten fingerprints. Finally, I'm approved as an accredited member of the press in Iraq. Just that easy.

Then there is the experience of the general population, in places like Fallujah, who actually seem to have a slightly easier time of things:

The Marines have walled off Fallujah, and closed the city’s roads to traffic. The only way in is to have a badge. And the only way to get a badge is to have Marines snap your picture, scan your irises, and take all ten of your fingerprints. Only then can you get into the city.

That’s just one approach in one location, however. The various biometric projects that Shachman describes seem disconnected and sub-optimized on a number of levels. There is no single biometric database, for instance, and even if it existed, it would be too large for the hand-held devices used by the Marines. And in Baghdad, they have another problem:

Back in Baghdad, they're running a biometric badge system – based on Saddam’s old fingerprint records -- to check on the backgrounds of Iraqi security forces. (Which brings up the question, is a criminal in Saddam’s eyes a bad guy – or a good one?)

More stories and insight at Noah’s blog.

You Look Too Young to Smoke

A Japanese vending machine company is using facial recognition to verify the age of would-be smokers. Creators of the device claim 90% accuracy in separating children and adults. In the case the machine can't make a clear determination, it can also request picture identification as backup. I wonder if children will try to trick the machine and look older by wearing makeup, wigs, or putting a cigarette in their mouth.

Nashville Schools Get Security Facelift

The 75,000-student Nashville School District announced that they will be deploying face recognition systems at 3 different facilities this December. It is hoped that the specialized cameras and software will help protect the safety of students, as well as, generally monitor access of the traditionally open educational settings settings.

"This will give us an edge in providing safety for our students and teachers," Thompson said of the $30,000 camera system. Several intruders have entered
Nashville schools in the past year, he said. A successful test in Nashville could prod other schools to try the technology, said Peter Pochowski, executive director of the National Association of School Safety and Law Enforcement Officers. He said Nashville is the first to use face-recognition cameras. Nashville will take digital photos of students and workers at the three test schools and store them in the new camera system, Thompson said. When a camera spots a face in a school that it cannot match to a stored photo, it will alert security. The system also could detect suspended and expelled students and fired employees, Thompson said.

In 2004, the Phoenix School District made a similar announcement, but ultimately never deployed their facial recognition systems over accuracy and privacy concerns. Of course, significant advancements in both facial recognition and privacy technologies have been made in recent years. Here is one example that I am partial to.

Cell Phone Surveillance

Researchers in Switzerland have announced software to take your cell phone in an entirely new direction. In addition to texting, playing music, watching videos, and surfing the Web, you will now also be able to create your own ad-hoc wireless mesh intelligent video surveillance network...all with the same device you use to call your mother. Their software package is called Facet.

When a Facet-enabled phone detects an object entering or leaving its field of view it communicates the information to adjacent phones via Bluetooth. In this way, the message can be passed to the whole network. The system can collectively analyze data. Each phone determines how far it is away from its nearest neighbor, based on how long it takes a person to walk between phones.

I think I’ll wait for the iPhone edition.

Europeans Like to Be Watched

Unisys recently released results of a study of European attitudes toward security and privacy :

The Unisys Security Index is the first of an ongoing global research project to help businesses and governments understand consumer attitudes to national, personal, financial and Internet security. Assessing the opinion of more than 13000 people in 14 countries, across Europe, the US, Brazil and Asia-Pacific, the survey will be repeated three times a year.

Among the key findings:

Widespread acceptance of new security measures including video surveillance and increased security when travelling. On the Continent, four in five people are comfortable with an increase in video surveillance and increased security when travelling - especially at airports.

FBI Has It's Ways

George Christian, Executive Director of a consortium of 27 libraries, received a National Security Letter, in July of 2005 after a library patron’s online activity garnered the attention of the FBI. As a result, until recently he’s been under a strict gag order:

Christian is just one of an estimated 300,000 people who have received National
Security Letters requesting access to personal data. Phone records, Internet
usage, bank statements and telephone conversations are just some types of
information agents have gathered either through National Security Letters or
surveillance.

Interesting. And then there is this tidbit:

“I said you are asking for what we know about the user of an IP address [a
series of numbers that identifies a specific user on the Internet] for 45
minutes five months ago,” Christian said. “There’s just no way. And quite
seriously the agent looked at me said, ‘No, we have ways.’ ”