A glimpse at the future direction of biometrics

be used in. As the marketplace for biometric-based solutions has widened significantly, the importance of these biometric technologies has also dramatically increased. 9/11 certainly provided a significant need for implementing biometrics in government programs world-wide.

Some of the advertised homeland security applications include:

  • REAL ID: the nationwide effort intended to prevent terrorism, reduce fraud, and improve the identification of state government issued documents.
  • US-Visit: U.S. Government’s effort to transform the nation’s border management and immigration system into an effective infrastructure.
  • TWIC: The Transportation Worker Identification Credential is a common credential used across all transportation modes developed in accordance to the legislative provisions of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA) and the Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA).
  • Registered Traveler: A market-driven initiative undergoing a revamping effort by private sector companies with Transportation Security Administration (TSA) oversight.
  • Nexus: The joint U.S.-Canadian program for frequent business and pleasure travelers through all modes of travel.

Similarly to the biometric standards implemented by ANSI, ISO, and NIST, the International Committee for Information Technology Standards M1, began a focused and comprehensive approach in the United States for the rapid development and approval of national and international generic biometric standards in November 2001. M1’s work accelerated the process by which these technologies were developed and deployed for the purposes of homeland defense and prevention of identity theft. Other government and commercial applications would be considered once the technology was refined and made scalable.

Some of the recognition hardware and software solutions featured at the conference included: fingerprint, voice, facial, iris, earlobe, DNA, and gait, as retina scans, hand geometry, signature verification, criminal/civil IDs, and PC/Network access were also showcased.

Although certain biometric technologies, such as iris-scanning, seemed more prevalent than others, the layout of the convention allowed attendees to see for themselves trends in the industry through the interesting variations of technologies, either through additional modalities or entirely different approaches.

There were hundreds of exhibitors at the event, all with intriguing technologies and interesting products. In the coming weeks we will highlight on the pages of Homeland Security NewsWire products and solutions from these companies:

  • Accenture: A system integrator and global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company.
  • AOptix Technologies: Featured their new InSight VM 2 Meter Iris Recognition System, a stand-off iris recognition capability using adaptive optics. Subjects walk into a very large capture volume of .75 cubic meters. The system does the work of finding and imaging a single iris in two seconds.
  • Cogent: A provider of Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems (AFIS) and biometric access control solutions to governments, law enforcement agencies and commercial customers worldwide.
  • Cross Match Inc.: A provider of biometric identity management systems, applications and enabling technologies to governments, law enforcement agencies and businesses. Offerings included fingerprint and palm scanners, biometric software, iris-scanning technology, document readers, and related services.
  • Global Rainmakers, Inc. (GRI) Owns the HBOX® line of products, for iris-based recognition, enrollment, acquisition and matching. GRI’s product portfolio includes HBOX, HBOX-V, EyeSwipe®, EyeSwipe Mini, HCAM® and HCAM-E on the hardware side; EyEnroll, SAMBI™, BiOmega™ and HGRID™ on the softare/algorithm side. GRI’s products perform, real-time, at-a-distance and in motion iris recognition in high-throughput environments.
  • IEEE Certified Biometrics Program (CBP): The IEEE Certified Biometrics Professional (CBP) is a certification program designed to help meet the training, hiring, and evaluation needs of professionals and organizations throughout the biometrics industry. The CBP exam focuses on the knowledge and skills necessary to apply the biometrics professional body-of-knowledge to real-world problems and situations.
  • LG Electronics: Iris ID Systems (formerly LG Iris) was established in the United States in 2002. Hardwares included the IrisAccess 4000, the iCAM lineup of the iCAM TD100 and iCAM H100 handhelds. A range of SDK’s, image quality and forensic tools, and Large Scale Matching solutions are available from Iris ID.
  • MXI Security: A manufacturer of encrypted USB and encrypted biometric USB drive market. FIPS 140-2 Level 3 validated, MXI Security’s secure biometric USB drives feature up to 3-factor authentication (biometric, password, CAC/PIV) and internal AES-256 encryption.

For those unfamiliar with the basics of the biometric industry and its emerging technologies, the Biometrics Consortium Conference and the National Biometric Security Project (NBSP) offered an online introduction course at no cost. The course takes 1 hour and 20 minutes to complete and may be taken in four different modules.

 

Most of the presentation slides and videos, such as the special rapid human DNA session presentations moderated by Dr. Thomas Callaghan, Senior biometric scientist, FBI laboratory, and Mr. William Casey, Deputy Superintendent, Boston Police Department, NIST’s and Standards’ sessions, as well as sessions addressing key government programs will be posted and linked to the online program in the next week or two.