Digital Security OffersPitched To Airport RMs

Las Vegas

Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in which four commercial jetliners were hijacked, EDS has introduced a suite of digital security offerings aimed at helping air transport risk managers reduce airline and airport security hazards.

The announcements came at a press briefing during the Comdex Fall 2001 national computer and technology conference and exposition held here earlier this month.

The new security offerings involve both smart-card and biometric technologies, “complex” data management capabilities, and industry-specific solutions, the Plano, Texas-based company noted.

On the passenger side, the air security offerings include “passenger risk scoring,” which alerts authorities to potentially threatening passengers seeking to purchase a ticket. This capability, according to EDS, is currently in use by “several of the nations largest airlines.”

EDS is also offering passenger authentication systems that use biometric technology (digital scanning of handprints) to identify known or trusted people in airports, allowing authorities to focus their resources on less-well-known or trusted individuals.

In addition, an aircraft boarding control system ensures that all passengers board the aircraft and allows unaccompanied baggage to be removed “in a timely manner,” the company said.

In offerings designed for airlines and airports, EDS said it is providing an employee access system that uses biometrics-enabled smart cards to authenticate airport employees identities and regulate access at key points.

An EDS airport perimeter security system uses radio frequency technology to monitor airport vehicles and determine access to restricted zones.

“These systems are ready to go today,” said Jim Dullum, president of EDSs Global Transportation Industry Group. The keys, he said, include creation of a centralized database of passengers and the combined used of biometric techniques and smart cards.

EDS also announced that it formed an aviation security task force following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.

The company said it is working with other firms to deliver security recommendations to the federal government, as well as airports and airlines across the U.S.

“Many of the recommendations call for quickly introducing to the airline industry existing security technologies already in use in other high-volume, scalable environments,” he noted.

EDS pointed to the success of its own automated inspection system currently in use at Israels Ben Gurion International Airport. The Express Entry system allows Israeli citizens to participate in an automated inspection, rather than waiting in traditional passport control lines, said EDS.

Automated kiosks capture biographic information from a passengers credit card, then look for a biometric match by checking hand geometry against a previously established database. Every transaction is verified and approved via an interface with the National Immigration System, the company explained.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, November 26, 2001. Copyright 2001 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.

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