Behavior-based solution keeps airports secure, passengers' privacy intact
less than a minute it can screen an individual — without his or her knowledge and without requiring their cooperation, and without interfering with routine activities — and detect the individual’s intentions or involvement with a defined threat, such as criminal or terror activity.
How does WeCU system work? The company says its system blends in with the natural environment at the protected site, and that the screening procedure itself also blends with regular, routine activities, such as flight check-in at an airport or employees’ access control process at sensitive facilities.
The system can be contained inside any device which is used in these environments, such as self service kiosks, desk tops, access control gates, etc.
The WeCU concept exploits human characteristics and behavior. When a person intends to carry out a particular activity or has a significant acquaintance or involvement with a subject, he carries with him information and feelings that are associated with the activity or the subject. In effect, his brain creates a collection of associations which are relevant to the subject.
The WeCU system identifies this associative connection by actively exposing the person being screened to stimuli targeted at a specific threat, followed by detection of the person’s physiological reaction, or response, to the stimuli through nonintrusive biometric sensors. If the stimuli are relevant to the individual being screened, the system will identify suspicion-raising signs (response) at the time of the screening. The company notes that the system identifies these suspicion-raising signs with great accuracy and with an extremely low rate of false negative and false positive indications.
WeCY says it has worked on developing the system for six years — and that the system is now ready for deployment in two main configurations, for various applications — from internal-threat screening of employees in sensitive organizations to mass screening of passengers in airports, etc.
The system has been demonstrated to government authorities in Israel and other countries. The company says that the Israeli government and the U.S. DHS showed particular interest in WeCU. DHS has awarded the system two research grants, and three additional research grants have been given to WeCU by the Israeli government.
The company says its solution has a competitive advantages over other airport security methods:
- It is fast — the detection cycle is thirty seconds
- There are no bottlenecks
- It is discreet – no cooperation or awareness from the individuals being screened is required
- Privacy is protected — no need for tracking or data bases
- No profiling, no discrimination
- Automatic and objective — no possible human bias
- It is resistant to countermeasures
- It is cost effective
