Sorting the bad guys from the good

they know which behaviors to avoid. Not to mention that racial profiling is a questionable approach and has been known to be costly when innocent victims sue the authorities.

“Profiling doesn’t always work and it makes many people angry,” acknowledges Givon. “Our method focuses not on an external profile, but instead checks each individual’s reactions to specific stimuli, measuring their physiological response. Based on the criteria and the response, we can accurately determine whether a candidate is likely to behave in an illegal or dangerous manner.”

The trick, says Givon, one of Israel’s top engineers, is that WeCu focuses on very close corroboration between stimuli and reaction, to the extent that the system can almost always pick out individuals who pose a threat. Tests in both lab and real-life situations with hundreds of subjects have shown that 95 percent of the people flagged by the WeCu system are indeed “persons of interest” with whom authorities would want to have a chat, claims Givon.

While conscious behavior that would fit a profile can be controlled, it is almost impossible to hide automatic physical reactions and subtle, almost involuntary behavior changes, says Givon.

“One of the many advantages of the WeCu system is that the subject is not even aware he or she is being monitored,” says Givon. “The system can be easily integrated with ‘normal’ activities, such as check-in at an airport, or a parcel check at a government office building. The point is that the subject doesn’t even realize a check is being performed,” he says, adding that “for the average person, the stimuli — of which there are an unlimited number for each type of investigation - is so run of the mill that it’s barely noticeable.

WeCu’s detection device has been extensively tested, and Givon says that feedback from top profilers suggests that WeCu is much more effective than current methods.

The system also preserves people’s privacy. “We keep no records and do not take into account anything other than the reaction of the subject to the stimuli presented by the WeCu device. We have no prior information about the person, and we don’t care who he is, where he comes from, or what he believes. We don’t even keep a database of reactions, unless of course the subject reacts in a manner that raises alarm bells,” says Givon.

WeCu was first developed as an attempt to track down potential suicide bombers. It went on the market several months ago and interest among customers is high. Deployment in a number of venues will begin in the coming months, says Givon.

Until recently, the company was operating under the radar — it still lacks a Web site — but its work is known and respected in the security community, to the extent that it won an award as one of the sixty top companies that will impact Israel’s tomorrow, during the country’s 60th anniversary celebrations.

WeCu was developed by Givon, along with other leading lights in the Israeli scientific community, including professor of psychology (and former Knesset member) Shlomo Breznitz, who specializes in stress situations; Dr. Boaz Ganor, founder and executive director of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya; and Tsipora Alster, an expert in behavioral sciences; and other experts in behavior and terrorism.

Located in northern Israel and employing about a dozen people, the company has received several grants from the Israel Chief Scientist’s Office and the U.S. Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) and DHS, but is 90 percent self-funded.

While there is always media interest in systems that may prevent terrorist attacks, Givon says his greatest hope is that there won’t be any news to prompt interest in WeCu. “And hopefully, when the system is widely deployed,” he adds, “there will be far less media interest in what we do — because there will be far fewer terror incidents to report.”

The use of biometric security systems is on the rise in Israel. Early this month Israel’s Airport Authority unveiled new biometric security technology with machines that recognize passengers using a biometric triple identification system called Unipass which should make the job of human security personnel quicker and more efficient. At present it is only available to El Al Israel Airlines business class passengers.