Fearless Flight

An unlikely scenario? Guess again. You avoided the crowd because you had previously allowed authorities to take a digital snapshot of your iris,or another uniquely defined body part,to be stored in a database. Think of it as having preferred customer status when checking in at a business hotel. Of course, you still have to go through the X-ray and metal-detector screening, but with a quicker "thumbs-up" criminal background check, you whisk in and out of airports far quicker than your fellow travelers.

The events of Sept. 11 have turned airport customers' attention to the concept of biometrics,taking one's biological "data" and using it as a virtual identification and authentication tool,as a security solution. Solutions including fingerprint-, facial- and iris-recognition systems present opportunities for solution providers who can provide needed hardware/software implementation, analysts say. In particular, databases among myriad law-enforcement agencies will require integration to make these solutions more effective, and bugs in the systems will also need fine-tuning, they say. But that's to be expected when world events accelerate demand for technology that may need more time to perfect itself.

Leaving the Gate

With security systems fueling much of the interest, global-airline technology spending is now estimated at more than $15.5 billion annually and is increasing at roughly 7 to 8 percent a year, says travel industry analyst Robert Goodwin, vice president of global industries for Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner. Indeed, many customers say it's simply a matter of untightening budget strings before they conduct a full-blown search for solution providers to integrate biometric technologies as a security measure. Toronto International Airport, for example, is currently limited in how it uses facial-recognition technology from Vancouver, B.C.-based Imagis Technologies.

"Right now, we're using Imagis' technology only in a stationary mode," says Larry Foy, spokesman for the airport's Royal Canadian Mounted Police airport security, meaning it relies solely on its own database. "But we'd really like to integrate this system with other jurisdictions in Canada so we can compare information with other investigators and their databases. Facial characteristics do not lie. We anticipate pursuing this once our budget situation improves."

Part of biometric security systems' gradual adoption involves the viability of return on investment. After all, how do you fiscally quantify the impact of this often-expensive technology? "It is simply an added cost for airports," says analyst Steve Hunt, vice president of research for Cambridge, Mass.-based Giga Information Group. "You get value, but the value is improved confidence."

Even so, Hunt sees biometric-linked smart cards as a potential high-growth niche. The integration potential for solution providers is strong, as the cards will serve a host of everyday functions, ranging from security needs to consumer-friendly services. "This is the platform where biometrics will achieve its value," he says. "The smart card that allows you access into an airport can also be used as a credit card to purchase the ticket, as well as the debit card that allows you to buy coffee in the terminal while you're awaiting the flight."

Iris-Scanning Systems

No clear-cut consensus prevails as to which form of biometric technology is the most effective. "The early buzz is on iris scanning," Gartner's Goodwin says. "It's not evasive, and it seems highly reliable."

In practice, willing travelers and airport employees go to PC camera-equipped kiosks and have their eyes photographically captured. From there, the specific and individually unique details about the person's iris are fed into a database to ensure the subject has, for example, passed a criminal background check. The process takes less than a minute.

Iridian Technologies, a Moorestown, N.J.-based biometrics vendor that specializes in iris recognition, has been picking up work on a global scale: The Canadian Customs and Revenue Agency hired it to install kiosks with iris-recognition devices; Saudi Arabia is using the technology to track and ID Muslim visitors on pilgrimage for the Hajj season of worship; and Singapore has adopted a trial program to screen roughly 50,000 workers who cross its borders to get to work every day. Solution providers involved in those projects include NEC Singapore and Sydney-based Iris Australia.

"The potential for iris recognition is enormous," says Bill Voltmer, president and CEO at Iridian. "The iris cannot be lost, stolen or forgotten like PINs, passwords and security cards, so the cost savings can be seen most directly as the organization streamlines the administrative burden of managing passwords."

Other solution providers are confident that Iridian's methods provide the most accurate results. "This kind of biometric provides the highest level of security, allowing for zero percent error," says Gilbert Fiorentino, CEO of Tiger-Direct, a Miami-based VAR.

Face Time

Proponents of facial-recognition systems view that technology as the most convenient way to identify a suspect.

"Facial-recognition technology may provide the most efficient way of stopping criminals or terrorists from getting on a plane," says Iain Drummond, CEO of Imagis, which works exclusively through the channel. "Often, all the FBI may have on a most-wanted list is a picture of a face. Facial-recognition technology is a nonintrusive method of identifying an individual. And it doesn't require their cooperation."

Imagis has been making inroads at several airports, including California's Oakland International. Digital cameras are installed at various points within an airport so that law enforcement can look out for suspects in an unobtrusive manner. This information is then fed to a central database and checked against millions of local, national and international law-enforcement databases in seconds. Imagis ID-2000 software uses more than 200 facial descriptors, including tattoos and scars, to quickly identify individuals who pose a potential threat.

Security solution provider Data911 recently announced support for Imagis' systems. Working with Imagis, Data911 intends to provide integrated tools to screen passengers, verify tickets, provide access controls and even screen for parking access control.

"At the end of the day, we'll be helping our airport customers adopt a very robust biometric system," says George Grotz, director of security programs for Data911, an Alameda, Calif.-based VAR that specializes in the hardware/ software installation and integration of mobile security systems.

Let Your Fingers Do the Walking

Fingerprint-scanning systems are already in use at some airports. Employees and travelers who have gone through background checks and allowed data about their fingerprints to be inputted into a database press their hands on black boxes mounted at doorways at airports to gain entry.

One of the more high-profile airport biometrics players, Los Gatos, Calif.-based Identix, plans to involve more VARs to implement its fingerprint-scanning security systems at airports as demand for physical-access solutions grows. Industry players, including EDS, Oracle, PWC Consulting and Sun, have also built a national, integrated security suite that deploys Identix's fingerprint biometrics. Since the terrorist attacks, more than 40 U.S. airports have ordered Live Scan fingerprint systems from Identix for employee background checks.

"The Identix system has been a great investment for Richmond International Airport," says Larry S. Covington, security coordinator for the Richmond, Va.-based facility. "The turnaround time for employee background checks has been drastically reduced. The entire process,from taking the fingerprints to transmission to the security clearinghouse and receipt of results,now takes two to three days. Before, it regularly took 60 days before the results were received and a validated employee could be given a badge."

Officials at Gerald R. Ford International Airport, in Grand Rapids, Mich., plan to use Identix's technology as well.

"We will be using it to electronically submit fingerprints to the FBI as required under federal regulations," says Robert Benstein, operations director for Michigan's Kent County Department of Aeronautics, which oversees the airport. "Identix established a good track record with our county sheriff's department, which has several of its systems in use." n

Dennis McCafferty is a Washington, D.C.-based writer.You can reach him at [email protected].