Biometric identification will be a fundamental component in the coming operational scenarios. The Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center, is evaluating various options to give the military in the field easy access to IT systems while preserving digital integrity.
The Pentagon is investing millions of dollars in the biometric approach to enable a safe activation of technologies provided to the military in the field.
The whole concept of authentication - explain from the Department of Defense - it is a necessary evil from the soldier's point of view, but if we could do it without physical contact we could save lives.
In the fiscal year 2017, the army will carry out tests for what has been called "detection of insider threats based on biometric identification" or detection of internal threats based on biometric identification. The tests must ascertain the degree of intelligence reached by the identification process in an environment connected to different devices to which various users will have access (authorized or not).
The difficulties in an operational context are manifold and could render standard biometric identifications useless. A battlefield, for example, is different from an office. The camera may not recognize the soldier with a helmet or the face of a man stained with blood or in poor light. Fingerprints work if there is no debris on the reader sensor and on the user's hand. The iris scan depends on the amount of light that illuminates the eye. Voice recognition to disable security protocols works, but tactical environments may not guarantee the ideal conditions for clear reception.
Biometric identification, however, is a need, not a hope. The FBI confirmed that hackers (probably Chinese) managed to erase 5,6's fingerprints of millions of people.
The objective of the Pentagon is to adequately protect identifying traits and personal information for access to the military network.
(photo: US Navy)
