Homeland Security Electronics products Personnel at government agencies need the latest, state-of-the-art electronics technology to help them do their jobs. Not only would state-of-the-art electronics improve surveillance at borders and airports, but also at nuclear and chemical plants, sporting arenas, and other facilities where the public gathers en masse. Better sensors also are needed to detect chemical and biological attacks. Computer networks and databases need better protection from information attacks on government, financial institutions, and private industry. Below we have sampled a few of the latest products from private industry that are available now for use in homeland security applications.
Data display
RGB Spectrum releases latest SuperView product
Designers at RGB Spectrum recently released the latest edition to their SuperView line of video windowing display processors, the SuperView 3000. The new system combines as many as 12 computer signals and/or video signals on one monitor or projector. An earlier SuperView model monitors ground traffic at airports in Dallas and Los Angeles.
The SuperView 3000 is compatible with all PCs and workstations, and with any monitor or data display projector that has resolution as fine as 1,600 by 1,200 pixels, RGB Spectrum officials say. Input signals may be NTSC, PAL, S-Video, FLIR, or any computer signal with resolution as fine as 1,600 by 1,200 pixels.
All image windows can be positioned, scaled from icon size to full screen, overlaid with computer graphics, or overlapped with other windows. Also, each input can be panned and zoomed to emphasize areas of particular interest, company officials say.
The SuperView 3000 processor is for applications where users must display several different video and computer sources simultaneously, such as control rooms, network operations centers, tactical operations centers, teleconferencing, and training facilities, RGB Spectrum officials says.
Signals may be from virtually any sources, including cameras, tape recorders, teleconferencing systems, desktop computers, and videodiscs, company officials say. The SuperView 3000 supports software to manage all functions under Windows 95 and higher, company officials say.
For more information on the SuperView 3000 or RGB Spectrum contact Michael Callahan by phone at 510-814-7000 or on the World Wide Web at http://www.rgb.com.
Sensors
Safe-Travel develops biometric airplane ticket
Safe-Travel LLC experts in Farmington Hills, Mich., are offering a biometrics system for airport security called Secure Perimeter Identification System, or SPIdS. Safe-Travel won the SPIdS patent in September 2000, which defines how to embed real-time biometrics on airline boarding passes.
SPIdS uses commercial facial and fingerprint recognition systems from Imagis Technologies, Visionics, and Digital Persona, company officials say. Safe-Travel and its integration partners IBM, Toshiba TEC Corp., Factotem, American Barcode, Imaging Automation, and TeamLinux, provide security and quick access to facial and fingerprint biometrics.
Combining fingerprint with facial recognition systems through badge procedures virtually eliminates the possibility of a false-positive match, Safe-Travel officials claim. SPIdS matches and tracks face, prints out a picture, and enables continuous monitoring of an individual within a secure perimeter, company officials say.
The SPIdS Smart Station profiles first-time travelers at check-in through an identification process that includes pre-flight questions, a digital photograph, fingerprint, and a database query, company officials say. Once verified, this data flows into the SPIdS database for future identification. The database can also be networked to other databases, Safe-Travel official say.
For more information on SPIdS or Safe-Travel contact the company by phone at 248-539-9400, by mail at 30777 Northwestern Highway, Suite 108, Farmington Hills, Mich. 48334, by e-mail at [email protected], or on the World Wide Web at http://www. safe-travel.com.
Symbol designs snap-on biometrics tool
Designers at Symbol Technologies in McLean,Va., are introducing the FPR 3000 snap-on fingerprint reader as an accessory to the company's SPT 1800, PPT 2800, and PDT 8100 handheld computers. The FPR 3000 module attaches directly to these devices, adding only an inch and a half to the overall length of the handheld.
The snap-on module provides fingerprint acquisition and verification for a variety of mobile security applications, Symbol officials say. The device also is for airports and other public sites with security officers and security checks. The device communicates and updates current information on a real-time basis with anytime, anywhere registration features at the point of activity, company officials claim.
The FPR 3000 has a 50 MIPS ARM processor and ST Microelectronics Touch Chip sensor. The processor enables the use of cryptographic algorithms in the module to achieve FIPS 140 level-2 certification. It also enables the use of third-party feature extraction and verification algorithms. The device has an operating temperature of 0 to 40 degrees Celsius and weighs 3.2 ounces.
For more information on the FPR 3000 and Symbol Technologies contact the company by phone at 703-790-6431, by e-mail at [email protected], or on the World Wide Web at http://www.symbol.com.
GSSI releases new ground-penetrating radar
Engineers at Geophysical Survey Systems Inc. (GSSI) in North Salem, N.H., are releasing their latest ground-penetrating radar (GPR), the SIRveyor SIR-20.
It is the first in a new generation of the company's GPR data acquisition systems. The SIR-20 combines a rugged data-collection unit and a laptop PC with GSSI's Windows-based RADAN NT post-processing software.
The new system enables the operator to collect data in single-line mode or collect data specifically for 3-D format, GSSI officials say.
GSSI's products can locate objects embedded in concrete to a depth of 18 inches, company officials say. The ability of seeing GPR data as 3-D cubes enables an intuitive approach to data analysis and interpretation, company officials say. Several viewing options enable users to find features not visible in traditional vertical data profiles, GSSI officials say
The SIR-20 provides multi-channel data collection at 800 scans per second, is Global Positioning System compatible, and is controlled by a ruggedized notebook computer running Windows 2000. The system is for use on highways, bridges, and other multi-channel applications, company officials say.
For more information on the SIR-20 and Geophysical Survey Systems contact the company by phone at 603-893-1109, by fax at 603-889-3984, by mail at 13 Klein Drive, P.O. Box 97, North Salem, N.H. 03073-0097, by e-mail at [email protected], or on the World Wide Web at http://www.geophysical.com.
Primagraphics designs fingerprint scanner
Primagraphics engineers in Cambridge, England, are entering the biometrics realm with their 5200 series 12-bit grayscale 500-dots-per-inch precision scanner, which meets the FBI Appendix F specification for fingerprint scanning, company officials say.
FBI Appendix F is a de-facto industry standard for fingerprint scanners and defines guidelines for scanning accuracy, linearity, and uniformity, company officials say.
The Primagraphics scanner scans quickly, uses little power, and offers programmable operation via the SCSI interface, Primagraphics officials say. Fingerprint analysts, who require a consistent contrast, could benefit from the scanner's high geometric accuracy, spatial resolution, and gray-scale resolution of 12-bits per pixel, company officials say.
The 5200's precision-driven scanning head uses a linear array with 5000 elements. The overall resolution is programmable to a maximum of 5000 pixels and 7000 lines. Reduced resolution scans can be performed in integer steps from 2:1 to 16:1 of the maximum resolution.
The device can perform a 10-by-14-inch 12-bit monochrome scan in 20 seconds, which could process about 1,000 documents each day. Primagraphics fingerprint scanners are for police forces worldwide, company officials say.
For more information on Primagraphics contact the company on the World Wide Web at http://www.primagraphics.net.
Vision Stick aids in security inspection and surveillance
Engineers at AngioLaz Inc. in Bellows Falls, Vt., have designed the Vision Stick surveillance tool for inspecting confined, hard-to-view areas such as sewers, casings, tanks, wells, silos, vaults, and compartments.
The device has a camera mounted on the end of a telescoping probe that allows for clear viewing in areas such as tanks, boats and ships, cargo, ground vehicles, crawl spaces, air ducts, and other confined areas, AngioLaz officials say.
The video cameras have their own light sources and integrated video monitors that allow the user to view areas otherwise inaccessible. The device can look into openings as small as 1.5 inches in diameter with its non-conductive, telescoping pole that adjusts from 5 to 12 feet. It is available with an infrared or light-emitting diode light source, company officials say.
Accessories include a protective case for the viewing monitor, a high-speed battery charger, a lithium ion battery system, and a portable Sony digital VCR, AngioLaz officials say.
For more information on the Vision Stick or AngioLaz contact Stephanie Paquette by phone at 800-340-9083, ext. 235, by fax at 802-463-3274, by mail at P.O. Box 556, Industrial Park, Bellows Falls, Vt. 05101-0556, by e-mail at [email protected], or on the World Wide Web at http://www. angiolaz.com.
Software
Argus software tool provides e-business security
PitBull LX from Argus Systems Group in Savoy, Ill., provides information security software to shield electronic business from computer hackers. PitBull LX's secure software application environment protects against application security flaws by isolating applications in separate security compartments.
The Argus tool relegates software bugs that in the past could grant an attacker system-wide access, to one security compartment. The tool figuratively locks the attacker and the bug exploit inside a jail cell with no way out, Argus officials say.
PitBull LX eliminates web page defacements, protects sensitive data, controls the actions of hackers and internal users, meets and exceeds privacy regulations, and securely hosts several different applications on one machine, Argus officials say.
Security benefits of the Argus tool include:
- protection against known and unknown bugs;
- domain-based access control that grants the right type of access to those that need it, and denies access to others;
- root restriction;
- stopping the propagation of worms and other rogue processes; and
- a flexible design that enables the tool to be applied only to areas that need it, company official say.
PitBull LX supports AIX, Solaris, and Linux operating systems.
For more information on PitBull LX or Argus Systems Group contact the company by phone at 217-355-6308, by mail at 1809 Woodfield Drive, Savoy, Ill. 61874, by e-mail at [email protected], or on the World Wide Web at http://www.argus-systems.com.
Radware's Fireproof provides enterprise security
The Fireproof security application switch from Radware in Mahwah, N.J., stiffens the defenses of firewalls, virtual private networks (VPNs), and intrusion-detection systems.
The tool's application security and denial-of-service protection provide a layer of defense based on the real-time identification of more than 450 attack signatures along with continuous monitoring and blocking of all suspicious traffic, Radware officials say.
The application switch platforms are based on a multi-layered switching architecture, switching application-specific integrated circuits at the port levels, and a non-blocking 19.2-gigabit backplane.
Fireproof protects firewalls with built-in algorithms that monitor the number of clients and load on each firewall, Radware officials say. The tool distributes traffic evenly between units while tracking inbound and outbound traffic. Fireproof ensures VPN gateway performance by load balancing and traffic redirection, company officials say.
The Radware tool eliminates network failures by creating an intrusion detection system (IDS) farm that copies traffic to operational IDS servers only, Radware officials say. Fireproof controls and ranks traffic monitoring by filtering out suspicious traffic and copying it to the IDS, company officials say.
For more information on Fireproof or Radware contact the company by phone at 201-512-9771, by fax at 201-512-9774, by mail at 575 Corporate Drive, Lobby 2, Mahwah, N.J., 07430, by e-mail at info@ radware.com, or on the World Wide Web at http://www.radware.com.
Sharing information securely
Engineers at Xythos in San Francisco, Calif., have developed technology that provides a secure way to share information among government agencies. The company's WebFile Server (WFS) and WebFile Client (WFC) software provide secure file access, sharing, and management of enterprise information, company officials say.
The tools provide increased secure access, by delivering secure file visibility across the entire enterprise regardless of individual network architectures or differences between them, Xythos officials say. The software enables users to securely access, edit, and collaborate on any file or document based upon the most advanced resource authorizations while providing file control. Access can be achieved from any Internet connection allowing exceptional flexibility.
The software also provides automatic email integration, which eliminates unsecured file attachments while combining file sharing with the government's most commonly used desktop application — email, Xythos officials say. The software is 100 percent standards based, including support for HTTP, SSL, and WebDAV providing compatibility with networks for today and the future, Xythos officials say. Xythos software solutions can be easily integrated into larger government applications using its fully documented APIs, company officials claim.
For more information on Xythos Software contact Quinn Katherine Daly by phone at 415-248-9020, by email at [email protected], or on the World Wide Web at http://www.xythos.com.
