Unique Biometric ID System Secures U.S. Facilities in Iraq

U.S. troops face daily threats from terrorists and insurgents throughout Iraq, with their only refuge often being the safety of U.S. military facilities. The December 2004 suicide bombing of a U.S. military dining facility in Mosul, however, killed 22 people and demonstrated that bases are not always impenetrable. Thanks to a first-of-its-kind biometric ID system developed by CSC, U.S. military facilities now have an extra layer of protection against such enemy infiltration.

With the Biometric Identification System for Access (BISA), CSC will ensure that all foreign nationals with access to U.S. military facilities in Iraq have been cleared against U.S. databases of known terrorists and suspected enemy combatants. Once cleared, applicants receive biometrically enabled ID cards that must be used every time they enter a U.S. facility.

Faceless, nameless terrorists

"We have faceless, nameless terrorists in Iraq, and we don't know who they are. With BISA, we're trying to establish identification management processes and techniques to protect U.S. facilities from inside attack," says Steve Hooks, CSC program manager for BISA and the U.S. Department of Defense Biometrics Fusion Center (BFC).

CSC has provided technical support, research, testing and program management to the BFC, a test and evaluation facility for the DoD, since October 2004. CSC recently won a task order to develop, support and implement BISA for the BFC. The system was developed by CSC's Global Security Solutions (GSS) business unit, which offers government and commercial clients end-to-end physical and information security. The CSC team, hoping to prevent another Mosul-type bombing, met an incredibly tight six-month deadline from concept to completion; BISA is now live at bases throughout Iraq, with more sites being regularly added.

BISA flags suspicious applicants

When a foreign national requests access to a U.S. military facility, they must report to an enrollment station to provide biographical information, iris image and fingerprints and to be photographed. That information is packaged and sent via satellite to a U.S. facility, where CSC runs the information against the DoD's ABIS (Automated Biometric Identification System) and the FBI’s IAFIS (Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System) databases. The databases house biometric data taken from detainees, enemy combatants and other persons of interest. ABIS information is combined with other relevant data to determine whether to grant access.

Once the DoD has verification of identity and a complete approved background check, the applicant is given a smart-card enabled ID card, with fingerprint and photo, to access the facility. This provides an extra layer of protection against infiltration, says Daniel Munyan, chief scientist with GSS, who helped developed BISA.

"With biometrically enabled ID cards, even if an insurgent steals a uniform, a jeep and a pass, they will not be able to get on U.S. bases," Munyan says.

BISA overcomes tough environment, distance

While biometric ID systems are seeing increased use in both commercial and government realms, BISA is unique, says Munyan, because it is the first multi-enterprise biometric ID system. One enterprise system resides in Iraq, where enrollment takes place at military bases. One system resides in the United States, where the information is processed through the government databases. The third enterprise system handles smart-card generation and provisioning. BISA comprises all three, and does so facing tough challenges.

"It's a very unique situation," Munyan explains. "Environmental conditions, the heat, the distance to Iraq, the uncertainty of power, the fact that we have to use satellite and not landlines to transmit the information—all are major challenges. But we have a great team working on this system."

While Hooks admits that it's hard to quantify terrorist acts that are prevented, he believes the system is working well. BISA has already identified suspects who were denied access to bases, with some taken into custody.

"I think we're saving lives," he says. "If you can take one bomber out and keep that person from manufacturing more improvised explosive devices, you have to assume that you're saving lives."

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