CSC's Global Security Solutions Focus on Integrating Technologies

In the world of security solutions, technologies like biometrics, radio frequency identification (RFID) and computer vision are becoming commonplace. CSC is taking an innovative approach to security issues by fusing these technologies to perform integrated functions.

Daniel Munyan, principal security scientist with CSC's Global Security Solutions, says that CSC's integration expertise is a key factor that sets the company's work apart in the security industry. "Through the integration and application of new technology, we're creating new solutions," says Munyan. "We are accomplishing things that have never been done before."

As part of CSC's Global Security Solutions, Munyan and team focus on automated identification technology (AIT). The group combines a number of technologies that are commonly used in security systems, like biometrics, which focus on identification and verification; RFID, which exchanges information with a reader for tracking and tracing physical goods; computer vision, which helps a computer decipher the meaning of data in a video feed; and smart cards, which enable an electronic exchange when cards are swiped.

Munyan says that using these technologies independent of each other is not sufficient to provide complete security solutions. For example, privacy legislation like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in the healthcare industry and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) in the financial industry, demand both identity privacy and security. Additionally, public and private institutions have a greater need than ever to ensure identity due to e-commerce and the war on terrorism. "We live in a world where identity theft is the fastest-growing crime in our nation, costing billions of dollars," he says. "And the truth is, police and legislation can't keep up with the number of ways an identity can be stolen." No single countermeasure is capable of delivering the kind of security required in situations such as these.

Historically, security devices have existed autonomously. For example, biometrics are used to monitor one door, one lab or one building, but are not typically used to control access in a coordinated way. CSC is putting biometric access control into enterprise solutions so that across an organization, anywhere in the world, it is possible to identify people and acknowledge credentials to provide access.

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"CSC's vendor-neutral, technology independent integration approach is uniquely able to provide defense-in-depth security," says Andy Efstathiou, analyst at the Yankee Group.

Privisingularics: Capturing the private and unique individual

The technologies being created and applied in the area of automated identification technology, or AIT, in CSC's Global Security Solutions subscribe to the guiding concept of privisingularicism, which is Latin for the private and unique individual. The technologies created in this group focus on identifying the individual and communicating his or her identity to other systems, which can be a complicated process. One prototype recently delivered to the U.S. Navy is a self-aware environment that can identify and differentiate people in a group and display information on computer screens appropriate to an individual's clearance level.

This prototype, created in CSC's security solutions lab in Annapolis Junction, Md., fuses the following five functions to create a solution that CSC's Daniel Munyan, principal security scientist, says has never been accomplished in security:

* Enabling a computer vision system to sense an individual and activate a biometric device from a distance. Computer vision will be able to tell when that person is within three feet of the camera, and it will tell the camera to turn on.
* Creating a unique identifier in a biometric system and passing that identifier back to the computer vision system. Essentially, this means that the system can recognize two blobs on the screen and can tell if they are clear to proceed.
* The ability for computer vision in a low-light environment to differentiate between moving people and moving objects.
* Disambiguation, which is the ability to identify and track two people as they move.
* The ability to pass an identification claim from a biometric system to a tracking system and process the claim on a second biometric system. For example, if a person looks at a camera, which identifies the person and gives a green light to proceed, the identity data will be relayed from the camera to a computer, which will acknowledge the person's identity, confirm the identity via iris scan and turn itself on automatically.

Iris technology: Security in the eye of the beholder

Biometric technology needs an identifier that is universal, distinct, permanent and collectible. One of the most promising biometric technologies centers around the human iris, which has been proven to be more unique than DNA, says Daniel Munyan, principal security scientist with CSC's Global Security Solutions. Irises are formed before birth and remain intact until 15 seconds after death. They can't be stolen, and they are so complex that they are measured by their differences, not their similarities, as in all other forms of identification. In fact, says Munyan, every human being on earth has at least 50 percent difference between their right and left iris and their right iris and anyone else's iris. "If there's a 50.0001 percent difference, I know it's a different person," he says.

Another advantage of iris technology is that it is relatively difficult to spoof. Because the iris and eyelid vibrate at known frequencies, and because oxygenated tissue reflects light at a specific frequency, it is possible to differentiate between a real person and a digital image, glass eye or contact lenses with irises printed on them.

Over time, iris technology is expected to become standard in all high-end access control systems. However, fingerprints will still remain the only biometric identifier with a large enough database to be used for background or immigration checking, and it is the only persistent identifier-it stays behind after you touch something.

Much research is being conducted to develop efficient iris solutions. Munyan says that the most difficult thing about iris technology is getting a picture to begin with. "You need 128 bits of information," he says. "You need to be within 18 inches of the iris. This is difficult to do because the technology integration does not exist commercially that will automatically find a human face at a distance, hold onto it, lock onto the eye area and send that stabilized video to a camera with sufficient image quality to capture a usable iris image."

Technology needs to be developed to acquire an image of a human face that is moving and transmit it to face recognition software as if it were still. Munyan says that the technology doesn't exist yet, but it is under development. Most systems today try to take a snapshot of a human face, but CSC is working with partners to research and develop a system that will build a jigsaw puzzle of quadrants of an iris that can identify a person in motion. When it receives 128 bits of data, the system has enough information to identify a person.

RFID: Tracking goods and people

The bulk of CSC's work actually occurs in the area of radio frequency identification (RFID), an area considered years ahead of biometrics in practice. While other security technologies focus primarily on authenticating individuals and controlling access to authorized spaces, RFID boosts security by helping organizations track goods and individuals. RFID uses various classifications of tags that give and accept additional information when scanned (similar to bar code tags and tag readers). The end result is the ability to store and retrieve information akin to a portable database. Encrypting the data transmissions between tags and readers provides a means to secure cargo or data and guard against tampering.

Although not confined wholly to security, these RFID systems have become an integral part of the IT infrastructure and must be incorporated into the enterprise security plan. Due to their automated and wireless nature, this often requires RFID-specific security measures. Additionally, with a little forethought, many RFID systems can be modified to provide security functions on top of their originally envisioned business use.

CSC is working across disciplines and industries in a concentrated RFID effort that focuses on four major applications of this technology:

* Supply chain: American inventories have slack built in to make up for misplaced items. The U.S. Department of Defense developed the concept of Total Asset Visibility (TAV) that is now standard across the U.S. military. CSC had a very important integration role in proving TAV with the Air Force a couple of years ago. Using RFID tags, tracked by satellite technology, boxes nested inside boxes can be tracked and updated individually on shipping manifests to keep a continuous flow of product in transit. RFID helps ensure that goods make it safely to their destination, and it has the potential to defend against dangerous cargo being smuggled into the United States.
* Fee collection: RFID can be used in conjunction with other security technology to encrypt wireless transactions in contactless smartcards. Gas stations and fast food restaurants currently employ RFID tags, which are scanned during customer transactions for immediate payment. In tollbooths where this technology is used, users merely drive through the scanning point, where their tag is scanned in transit.
* Fraud prevention: RFID tags are beginning to be used to authenticate pharmaceuticals through their supply chain and soon all the way to the local pharmacy. Because of the high number of knock-off drugs on the market, the FDA is seeking a way to secure prescription shipments. RFID will also help account for drugs as they move from manufacturer to distributor to pharmacy.
* Track and trace: Under the upcoming United States Animal Identification program, livestock will be tagged with RFID transponders to trace animals in the food supply in case of infection detected among the farm, feedlot and slaughterhouse. Regular events like feedings and vet visits can be scanned and documented as well. The end result is a database of information that can calculate the per-pound cost of the animal and track where money was spent to raise the animal.

Daniel Munyan, principal security scientist with CSC's Global Security Solutions, is meeting with other CSC technologists to determine how RFID can be used for security purposes; one use he envisions is tracking the thousands of employees on the floor of a large chemical plant, which could be susceptible to terrorist attack or industrial espionage.

RFID security technology is likely to evolve from more conventional RFID deployments. Many companies will be required to implement RFID by the federal government or by large stores such as Wal-Mart. Using RFID for security may appeal to companies as a way to justify initial RFID investments. "They already have to invest in RFID," Munyan says. "Using it for security will help them make the cost worthwhile."