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Biometrics in Airports
asv108 writes: "Extremetech has an article by renowned security expert Bruce Schneier about why face recognition in public places such as airports is not a good idea." Schneier is being generous - real world results show that facial recognition systems are a lot less than 99.99% accurate even under laboratory conditions (people posing for the camera under ideal lighting).
According to the FAS website, the KH-12 "IMPROVED CRYSTAL", which is the best the US has in orbit, can..."readily identify and distinguish differing types of vehicles and equipment with resolutions better than 10 centimeters."
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So unless you are playing with big cards, I doubt the Man can read your hand.
The optical sensors like KH-11/KH-12 can't see through clouds, so they also have the Lacrosse series, which use Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) to image thier targets.
http://www.fas.org/spp/military/program/imint/l
http://www.fas.org/spp/military/program/imint/k
Anthrax isn't deliverable by water. Your worst fear should be clouds of anthrax delivered via air, since anthrax:
;) If we don't have enough vaccine for everyone, why the hell not? Anthrax has been well known to be a major bio warfare hazard for years, and the vaccine has likewise been known for years. Livestock handlers and livestock have been getting vaccinated for anthrax for ages.
*lasts 30-40 years in the open
*is easy to produce
*is infectious in miniscule amounts
*when inhaled is nearly 100% fatal once symptoms occur, regardless of treatment
*the US government isn't letting anyone but the military be vaccinated!
Vaccination appears to provide a 95%+ immunity to airborn anthrax (evidence is sketchy for humans, since we don't experiment with infecting the vaccinated
Remember, they flew the routes beforehand. They had studied the routes and passenger loads, picking the flights that would have the fewest passengers thereby minimizing their risk of failure?
So, the question becomes, if your on a Government list are you allowed to use mass transportation? Would we stop at terrorist? What about know protesters for major events? Say if some G7/G8 meeting or IMF meeting is going on, do we monitor or prevent know organizers of the protests that follow? What if they had violent behaviour before?
Really, the only security that I wouldn't mind in an airport is similar to that portrayed in the Total Recall, where everyone walks past a screen which highlights solid objects. Its totally fair and cannot be considered intrusive for it doesn't violate you.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
The KH-11/KH-12 are basically hubble telescopes pointed at the earth.
As a student in HS, my teacher was involved in the spec'ing of the hubble telescope. We're talking about using mid/late-eighties technology up there. The CCD was equivalent to what you can purchase at Best Buy today on a decent digital camera.
The optics were pretty good, and chances are that the military bought the good optics instead of the lowest contract price (I seem to remember 2-3 companies that each produced optics).
Anyhow, needless to say, all the "hubble-like" telescopes received upgrades these past few 2-3 years. There's a good chance that the resolutions have gone from the 4/8 megapixel (best of the 80s) to the 268+ megapixels. (The optics will probably never get much better).
Pan
I said no... but I missed and it came out yes.
I was king code-monkey on the original implemenation of INSPASS. A system designed to expedite one's wait as they enter the U.S. from a "friendly" country. It was designed to reduce the lines so that INS inspectors had more time to focus on bad guys and people from "unfriendly" countries.
... and a far girthier size. Imagine, I walk into an airport. I scans my face, or fingerprint. From there the image is sliced and diced into various quadrants. Even with a beowolf, there are thousands of minutea points I share with the rest of the worlds population.
... where it's easy for a bad guy to take advantage of the overworked employees with managers demaning they keep the line moving.
... that can also be used to confirm my baggage on the flip side.
It was essentially a "good guy" system. Meaning, I'd swipe my card, which claimed I was "Joe Smoe". I then put my hand in the box and had it's geometry scanned. If it passed, it would "confirm" my identity and send me along to the Customs line. If it threw a false result, I was compelled to stand in the long line with everyone else.
Using biometrics to determine "bad guys" is a horse of a much different color
So up comes a list of "close matches". Then human intervention comes along and finishes the job. This is a poor-man's quick and dirty explanation of our current "bad-guy" systems work to match figerprints. Like I said, a far girthier and much colored horse.
If biometrics were to be implemented as an airport, I would see it as again, a "good guy" system to expedite the long lines currently at the airport
I would think it better to be a system provided by the airlines. Heck, credit cards are already putting my face and other info on smartcards, why not a frequent flyer plan along with it
We'll see.
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