Detecting carriers of dirty bombs

Data protection writ large
The assistance system comprises several components: a sensor network, commercially available Kinect cameras, and data fusion software. The sensor network is made up of gamma spectrometers, which detect and classify gamma radiation. “Most of the materials that lend themselves to being used in a radiological bomb emit gamma radiation, which cannot be shielded. That’s why we use this kind of sensor,” Koch explains. The next phase of the system will be able to tell which substance is emitting the radiation, and whether it is being carried on someone’s person or is present inside their body – perhaps because they are on medication such as radioactive iodine. Although individual sensors can provide data on the type of material and the intensity of its radiation, they cannot pinpoint its location. This calls for a network of gamma sensors connected to Kinect cameras as used in the gaming industry. The advantage of these cameras is that they provide not only images but also information about distances. Mounted on the ceiling, they record groups of people like a hilly landscape, which means they can precisely track even the busiest streams of people. “We know at any given point in time where each person is located. But of course, we don’t know their identity – and that is an essential consideration for data protection,” Koch adds. Biometric tracking of potential terrorists should be undertaken only when there is sufficient reason to do so.

System clearly identifies carriers of dangerous substances
Once these devices are connected to each other, they can record people in both time and space, and their data fused. Sophisticated mathematical evaluation algorithms then filter out the desired information from the huge amounts of data. “We use artificial intelligence to do this. The algorithms help us calculate the movements of the only person with whom the gamma sensor readings can be correlated. That identifies the potential attacker,” Koch explains.

If they were applied at critical spots – in entrance areas and approaches to railway stations and airports or other public buildings – assistance systems of this sort could report information about radiological threats to, say, transportation company surveillance systems. The question of who has access is one for security personnel and the police.

Fraunhofer FKIE has been granted permission to experiment with weak radioactive substances, and has already successfully tested its system in the laboratory under the supervision of a radiation control agent. REHSTRAIN has been officially presented as part of a project workshop at FKIE, which in addition to partners from Germany and France was also attended by potential end-users.

The REHSTRAIN project
The terror attacks on the Brussels Metro in March 2016 showed that rail infrastructure is at risk of terrorism. Security concepts and strategic security analyses are essential protective measures against possible attack. With their open, extensive rail networks, the ICE and TGV high-speed trains present a particular security challenge. In order to guarantee the security of those traveling across borders, the partners in the REHSTRAIN projec t – short for Resilience of the Franco-German High-Speed Train Network – are researching how vulnerable French and German high-speed train services are to terrorist attack.

REHSTRAIN aims to protect critical rail infrastructure using a range of counterterrorism measures and to adjust security requirements to match changing threats. Research is being conducted into how smoke spreads through tunnels and how tunnels behave structurally following an explosion or a fire. The findings will be transferred to a management cockpit that has an overview of the entire rail network. The software for the complex sensor network will use artificial intelligence to help prevent attacks and to deal with the consequences of an attack swiftly and decisively – for instance by calculating alternative routes.

The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research BMBF is providing 1.5 million euros of funding to the project, which is scheduled to run from October 2015 to January 2018. Prof. Stefan Pickl of the Universität der Bundeswehr München initiated this groundbreaking idea and has taken on the role of project coordinator.