DECEMBER
2004 BROADSHEET
- The Technology
of Big Brother?
The CETC's last meeting of 2004
had the intriguing title "The Technology of Big Brother?" Having
already achieved some attention in the local press because a government
department had reportedly declined to send a speaker for such a potentially
controversial topic, the audience at TWI may have wondered if they were to hear
about new trends in social engineering. In fact, at the meeting chaired by CETC
Treasurer Ken Dickson, they heard two fascinating accounts of new technologies
which could have far-reaching implications for our personal security.
Ken Moore, Sales Director of
Ipsotek (www.ipsotek.com), told us about the "Behaviour Recognition
Solutions" which they can provide via existing CCTV networks. According to
a recent article in the Times, their technology "will do the same for CCTV
as computers did for accountancy". The essence lies in algorithms which
allow conventional images to be monitored constantly, with time-stamped,
labelled alarms being triggered according to pre-set criteria. Some impressive
examples were shown, including perimeter protection using "virtual
tripwires" rather than actual barriers, and detection of suspicious objects
in busy environments such as metro stations. Alarms can then be sent to security
staff for appropriate action to be taken. Another example is the ability to pick
up characteristic behaviour patterns of possible suicides on the London
Underground. Suicide prevention would not only have saved 16 lives last year,
but also reduced disruption and saved London Transport over £20 million.
Overall, this technology turns conventional CCTV systems into ones where every
camera is constantly monitored and all incidents recorded. This can save lives,
disrupt terrorism and save money for the operators. Ipsotek's technology does
not select an individual but monitors for suspicious or dangerous behaviour.
This means that it identifies the behaviour and is only discriminating against
the behaviour of a group or individuals in a CCTV scene. As such it is not
intrusive in a "Hostile Big Brother" manner. Ipsotek's technology was
developed by a team now at the University of Kingston.
OmniPerception
(www.omniperception.com), is a spin-out, based on work at the University of
Surrey. David McIntosh, the company's CEO, gave an equally absorbing account of
a different technology: facial recognition. The heart of the technology is again
an algorithm-based computer system. It seems that basic facial characteristics
change much less than the human eye would suggest and that the company's
recognition system already achieves accuracies of over 98%. Although
fingerprints, for example, are currently even more reliable, they are not always
readable. In addition, facial recognition has advantages over other alternative
biometric identification systems, being non-invasive, operating at a distance
using conventional cameras and highly cost-effective. In practice, a person
would carry an individual smart card (based on RFID technology, the subject of a
CETC event in the New Year) on which their unique facial characteristics are
encoded in a 2500 digit FacialPIN™. The authentication system analyses the
image of the person in front of the camera and compares it with the encoded data
stored on the card. The authentication process can even be done on the card
itself, with the personal details never having to leave the card - with
significant benefits in terms of civil rights and personal freedom. As the
technology matures, it holds out the prospect of greater personal security
(identity theft will become much more difficult), reduced fraud (e.g. by foiling
multiple benefit claims by one person under different names) and even the
possibility to use mobile phones to carry out secure transactions.
Taken together, these two
technologies could result in great benefits to individuals as both technologies
are designed to improve and simplify the process of ensuring everyone's general
safety and security. Of course, any system can be misused but it doesn't seem
that the average citizen has much to fear from Big Brother at present.
The Club is very fortunate in benefiting from the sponsorship
of the following organisations:-
