TEL AVIV — An Israeli company has developed a system to
identify past and potential terrorists.
The company said the system uses
polygraph-like tools to identify insurgents — even when they do not have
weapons — within three minutes.
The passenger places his passport on a scanner and the other hand on
a sensor. He is then asked to answer written questions indicated by the
passport while a special detector measures physiological responses.
Executives said the SDS-VR-1000 system, meant to replace human selectors, was based
on the expertise of former officials from the Mossad and Israel Security
Agency.
Suspect Detection Systems said it has developed what it called an
advance automated filtering tool to identify potential attackers to airports
and other crowded facilities, Middle East Newsline reported.
"Our system makes an initial assessment within three minutes," SDS chief
executive officer Shabtai Shoval said. "If the system identifies a suspect,
he can be sent to a personal agent to complete the investigation."
They said the system assumed that insurgents
were able to reach their target without weapons and using their real
identity.
The SDS-VR-1000, through the use of artificial intelligence in software,
measures psychological and physiological parameters to detect hostile
intent.
"What this does is collect objective data out of the passenger's ID —
and
it analyzes the data compared to the subjective data it collects while the
passenger is asked different questions," Shoval said. "The process takes
about three minutes, and the passenger either receives a transfer printout
authorizing him to advance to the next stage of entry to the country, or an
announcement that he is required for further questioning. A monitoring
official will then escort the passenger to another area for further
questioning."
Executives said that in trials the SDS-VR-1000 achieved a success rate
of 95 percent. They said Israeli authorities have approved the system and
would undergo testing later in 2005 in Israel at an unidentified U.S.
airport.
SDS has been negotiating with Boeing regarding a strategic partnership
in the United States. Executives said the system was expected to cost about
$200,000.
"It's like a robot selection process," Shoval said. "We don't make the
decision to take someone out of line and put him in jail. We only take
someone for further investigation. There's no profile selecting and no human
rights violations."
