security beat

July 2007

Homeland Security ‘Human Factors’ Puts Imprint on
Emerging Technologies

By Stew Magnuson and Breanne Wagner

Jay Cohen, Department of Homeland Security undersecretary, rarely passes up an opportunity to mention that he created the human factors division at his revamped science and technology directorate.

Cohen has repeatedly said that he is as interested in the bomber as he is in the bomb.

“We’re right now the smallest division, but I’d like to think we’re the sugar in everybody’s Wheaties,” said the division’s first director, Sharla Rausch.

In other words, everything the science and technology directorate does has a human element, Rausch told a National Defense Industrial Association science and technology conference.

That goes for the other five divisions: explosives, chemical-biological, command, control and interoperability, borders and maritime security and infrastructure and geophysics.

Before Cohen’s arrival last year, human factors in DHS technology programs were “sporadically spread out.” The new division is attempting to be more systematic, she said. Its motto is: “know our enemies; understand ourselves; put the human in the equation.”

The division has five goals for which it would like assistance from contractors.

The first is identifying the enemy. “What we’re looking for is real-time, accurate ... ergonomically effective biometrics,” said Rausch.

Next is enhancing the safety and effectiveness of the tools and technology DHS officers use. For example, the division wants to identify the best personnel to do screening at airports.

The third goal is understanding terrorists’ intent and behavior. How do radicals recruit members, what are their patterns, and what are the best ways to counter their message?

Perhaps the most controversial goal is the creation of technology that can identify suspicious behavior. The division needs sensors that can quickly identify hostile intent in an unobtrusive manner. These solutions must be “publicly acceptable,” she said.

The last is how to lessen the social, psychological and economic impact of disasters — natural or manmade — on communities.

“Just in case that bomber squeaks through, we want to make sure the community is prepared to respond and recover,” Rausch said.

Law Enforcement Personnel Can Spot Terrorist Suspects
Before Attacks

Law enforcement and intelligence personnel need to be aware of specific activities terrorists engage in during the build up of an attack, said Rohan Kumar Gunaratna, head of the International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Violence in Singapore.

Most law enforcement personnel are trained to respond to the execution phase of an attack, but they need a separate set of skills to prevent one, Gunaratna said during the GovSec homeland defense conference.

Terrorists first use propaganda to gain support for their cause because they can’t recruit or radicalize without it, he noted.

Next, they move on to fundraising, which is sometimes done illegally through identity theft or other means.

After acquiring funds, they procure weapons or materials to make them. Gunaratna pointed out that terrorists buy commercially available products, such as pesticides, fertilizer, diving equipment, remote controls or chemicals. Terrorists are now making more homemade explosives that use these everyday materials, he added.

The New York Police Department is already taking steps to disrupt the procurement of these products through a program called Operation Nexis, he noted. The NYPD educates vendors about what terrorists might buy and what looks suspicious.

Terrorists also travel frequently during the planning stages of an attack and will use traditional modes of communication such as drop boxes, phones and the Internet. They may also take on multiple identities to evade detection. These could include impersonation, forging signatures, switching passports, fake identification, as well as using a real ID, Gunaratna explained.

One of the most obvious activities is training, during which terrorists may buy military equipment such as night vision goggles and uniforms.

Right before the execution phase of an attack, terrorists will conduct initial surveillance and reconnaissance and then begin rehearsing, Gunaratna said. Before the USS Cole warship was attacked in 2000, terrorists had plans to rehearse on another ship, but that vessel sank before it could be attacked, he noted.

After rehearsal, terrorists will conduct final surveillance and reconnaissance.

Gunaratna believes the U.S. government has successfully disrupted at least some of these activities. He asserted that one of the reasons the United States has not been attacked since 9/11 is because of the nation’s intelligence operations, such as the tracking of electronic communications.

‘Intelligent Video’ Is Useful, But Can’t Do Everything

Video cameras are a familiar piece of security operations worldwide, but the information captured in these images is limited to what the human eye can see. What if video cameras could detect things humans can’t see?

That is the question being addressed by firms that are working on a technology called video analytics. A marriage between advanced computer science and artificial intelligence, video analytics uses algorithms to turn camera images into data.

Companies in the business of video analytics are touting their products as “intelligent video,” but some experts think this label is misleading.

“Video is still vision-based; it’s not yet intelligent,” said Ed Troha, director of marketing and communications for Object Video, an intelligent video software firm in the Washington D.C. area.

Video analytics can do face and number recognition, for example, but is still limited by a number of factors, Troha said at the GovSec homeland defense conference.

It can’t see through fog or darkness and “there is no video analytics system that can spot a terrorist” in a large crowd, Troha asserted.

What video analytics can do is pick out human forms and vehicles. It can also detect a person before the eye can, he said.

Video analytics detects certain objects or activity by following rules outlined by the user. For example, if security personnel want to know when someone walks across a certain road at a specific time, they can write this rule into the software by drawing a line on the video screen shot. The video program will then alert the user when someone crosses that line.

Such software can be used for physical security, retail, banking, casinos, traffic management, crowd monitoring, left object detection and building management, Troha said.

Homeland Security receives $1B for Public Safety Communications

The Department of Homeland Security received $1 billion in additional grant funds for fiscal year 2007 to develop a public safety program, said Stacey Street, branch chief of DHS’ capabilities division under the national preparedness directorate.

The public safety interoperable communications grant program will help state, local and federal first responders better communicate during a natural or man-made disaster, a grant program fact sheet said.

The program is a one-time opportunity for states and territories to fund public safety communications systems purchases, deployment or training that will allow first responders to operate voice, data and/or video programs in the 700 MHz band, the fact sheet said. The systems will use reallocated public safety spectrum in the 764-776 MHz and the 794-806 MHz bands that were released for public safety use as part of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.

Congress told the department to award contracts this fiscal year, putting the program on the fast track, Street said. Plans call for the program rules to be released to the public in mid-July, with applications due in mid-August, Street said. Grant projects are expected to be complete in fiscal year 2010.

The funding spike increased the DHS grant program from just under $3 billion for fiscal year 2006 to a little less than $4 billion in fiscal year 2007. This is the largest program the grant office will be administering this year, Street said.

The communications program is a partnership between DHS and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, a Department of Commerce agency. NTIA is responsible for the development of telecommunications and information policy for the executive branch.

Composite Materials Touted for Securing Shipping Containers

The Department of Homeland Security has struggled to find solutions to securing shipping containers. The fear is that terrorists, smugglers or stowaways could break into them during their journey to U.S. shores. A worst-case scenario is the placement of a weapon of mass destruction inside a container that can be detonated as soon as it reaches a port.

The problem so far has been finding a lock that is both rugged and affordable for shipping companies.

The University of Maine’s advanced structures and composites laboratory says it has a solution. The secure hybrid composite container is lighter than steel and contains sensors embedded in the walls, said the lab’s director, Habib Joseph Dagher.

“By putting the sensors inside the walls, you address many of these issues,” Dagher said.

DHS’ science and technology directorate has given the laboratory a contract to develop the container. It is designed to make both shippers and Customs and Border Protection agents happy, he said. The composite material is 15 percent lighter than its steel counterparts, has lower maintenance costs, does not require painting and won’t rust. It costs about 50 percent more than a regular container, but after four years, the shipper will recover those costs and begin to save money, Dagher said. Containers employing the technology would also receive quicker customs clearance, he said, therefore saving shippers and customs agents time.

“The major cost savings come from the durability aspects of the container,” he said. The lighter material will also save money for trucking companies, which will reduce fuel costs, he added.

The sensors are embedded into the composite material in all six walls so they are protected from both the harsh marine environment and the jostling containers suffer when being loaded and unloaded, he added.

In late spring, DHS shipped 10 containers from Tokyo to the West Coast to run tests on the sensor system.

Please email your comments to SMagnuson@ndia.org

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