Hundreds of Taliban in tunnel jail escape

This article should clearly point out why biometrics are needed to track prisoners:

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2011/04/201142525410649746.html

http://velehovvlaoho.blogspot.com

Wikileaks and biometrics

Among the cables obtained by WikiLeaks are several that point to the State Department's directive to embassy staff to collect human intelligence on foreign diplomats, including biometric information. Without knowing specifically what was asked for (I have not read the cables in question) this touches on the fear of biometric collection being done covertly potentially compromising any information.

It is important to know that many biometrics are already exposed: face, iris, DNA, fingerprints, and voice. Vein scanning and retina, which operate on information found on the inside of the body are not casually exposed.

Obviously the easiest biometric for diplomats to take would be face via simple camera snapshot. Think of all the pictures diplomats pose for. If some of the camera used were near-infrared they could also try to capture iris. Iris works best in the near infrared, which some cameras can do, but there is information that can be gleaned from the visible spectrum as well.

It would be harder but not impossible to collect fingerprint or DNA data. This type of collection would most likely be forensic in nature; capturing whatever the person of interest left behind. For example, if they used a glass to drink water from it could be dusted for fingerprints.

Individuals may wonder if similar types biometric pilfering could be used against them if a national ID was enacted. It would be highly doubtful. First the enrollment systems would capture much higher quality information from cooperative subjects than can be gleaned at a covert manner. This higher quality allows a greater threshold to be applied when distinguishing individuals. Additionally any national identity would most likely use a key binding scenario to enmesh a cryptokey with the biometric at time of enrollment. This would prevent forgeries from being used to spoof systems. These preventions along with various liveness tests, and PIN backup (to provide 3 levels of assurance) could be used to make systems secure.

Stick it in your ear

The tubular crest that runs over the top of your ear is known as the helix. It's quite distinctive, even if it doesn't posses the pointy bit that proves you're descended from a monkey (lookup Darwin's tubercle), or a Vulcan. Best of all, it doesn't change as you age, unlike the iris, which along with the face are the most popular means by which machines recognize humans.

The problem is, getting a computer to find and recognize the ear. Fortunately, researchers in the School of Electronics and Computer Science of the University of Southampton have come up with a means for identifying ears with a success rate of 99.6%

 

Iran admits its nuclear facilities are under massive cyberattack

A few months ago I commented on the need to integrate security for the home as the country moves towards a smartgrid. Iran is feeling the pressure of a cyber attack directed at its nuclear program. It would not take a leap of thought for something of this magnitude to hit either the US Grid itself, or individual homes

Iran has confirmed that 30,000 computers in the country's power stations, including the nuclear reactor in Bushehr, have been attacked by the Stuxnet worm; the Stuxnet worm is described by experts as the most complex piece of malware ever designed; once Stuxnet gains access to a plant's computers, it hunts out specific software that controls operations such as the opening and closing of valves or temperature regulation; by halting those processes it can cause extensive damage to nuclear power stations, power grids or other industrial facilities; the high number of infections in Iran have led experts to conclude that the worm may have been designed in the United States or Israel to disable Iran's controversial nuclear facilities

http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/iran-admits-its-nuclear-facilities-are-under-massive-cyberattack

For more information on the SmartGrid you can check out the NIST Smart Grid Report: http://www.nist.gov/smartgrid/

A little more about Apple's patents for biometrics

Apple is seeking new patents for technologies that may use advanced biometrics to protect i-devices (iphone and ipad for now). Biometrics to protect laptops and phones isn’t brand new: many models use fingerprint and voice print security, and some even venture into facial or iris scanning and recognition . Apple’s future system will go steps further than that by combining several 'soft' biometrics. Essentially, if implemented on a device, the technology could use stored information about not only the authorized user’s voice print, face and fingerprints, but also usage patterns (using keystroke modalities for example) and even heartbeat. Should the system suspect that the user is not the phone’s owner, in the case of theft, the device could lock out the thief and send an e-mail with the phone’s location and the thief’s photo to the authorized user. It could also inform the owner (and credit card companies and banks) of all activity conducted on the phone by the thief via call logs and keystroke information. Finally, to prevent the thief from using any information stored on the device for nefarious purposes, the system could save data on the phone to a remote location and then wipe the device clean, rendering it secure from data theft.

http://www.tmcnet.com/biomag/articles/96251-apple-filing-james-bond-style-biometricsecurity- applications.htm

Apple patent purchase points to possible biometric functionality

A new patent purchased by technology company Apple from three engineers in Oregon may point to a possibility of biometric capabilities in future devices from the company, according to a Macgasm article. The patent deals with utilizing fingerprint sensors embedded into flat-panel displays for authenticating identity. Such technology could lead to sensors being placed underneath the touch-screens that have become staples of Apples most prevalent devices.


There is a documented need to make collection devices simpler and less expensive while being lightweight and field ready. Many federal defense and law enforcement agencies have similar documented portable collection device requirements with slightly nuanced differences for various operational environments.  Additionally, the high training costs for current field equipment, as documented by US Customs and Border Protection, represent a significant hurdle for fielding devices effectively. It would be preferable if a ubiquitous device, already familiar to government agents, was leveraged to cut down on equipment and training costs.


Of course this leads to leveraging the iPhone as a collection device for fingerprints, through its flat screen, as well as face and iris, through the camera. In 2009, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) published guidance and operational requirements for Mobile ID devices that can be used for enrollment, identification and verification functions.  NIST also developed a prototype software interface application for the iPhone demonstrating how biometric services could be achieved.


With luck having Apple becoming involved with biometric collection will lead to a host of intuitive and easy to use equipment being fielded.


For more information please follow the link:http://www.thirdfactor.com/2010/08/12/apple-patent-purchase-points-to-possible-biometricfunctionality