Feral Jundi

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Law Enforcement: ‘iPhone On Steroids’ Gives Law Enforcement A Biometric Boost

     “The technology is a game-changer,” McDonald said. “It’s going to enable officers to really get a handle on who the bad guys are, and make it more difficult for these bad guys to hide from us.”

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     I really like technologies like this, because they piggy back on already available platforms that everyone is familiar with.  Plus this is just neat.  To be able to use your iPhone to capture electronic fingerprints, iris scans and photographs, and then send them into a massive database to tell if you have a criminal or not, is pretty damn cool.

     This could also have application in the war.  Biometrics were used in cities like Falujah in Iraq, to keep track of everyone coming in and out of check points.  If you can put together a database of everyone’s identity in a population center, and you have iris/photo/finger print identification for each person, you can track people way better. It could also help out a country in determining the status of their population, and truly identifying people who are citizens so they could award them the services they deserve. We should be using these technologies more, if we want to separate the bad guys from the good guys.

     Plus contractors and soldiers have access to iPhones, and many carry them.(I carry one on contracts)  Or these smart phones could be purchased off the shelf for military units, and distributed that way. The phones come equipped with all the computing power and mobile apps available on the internet. Apple makes a great product, and they have fantastic support for that product. Devices like the MORIS just slip over the thing, and give it this capability. That is far better than re-inventing the wheel, and paying for that re-invention to get a product that will probably be less capable than what is currently available. –Matt

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MORIS

‘IPhone on Steroids’ Gives Law Enforcement a Biometric Boost

Jun 25, 2010

By Russell Nichols

Plymouth County, Mass., Sheriff Joseph McDonald calls the county’s latest crime-fighting tool “an iPhone on steroids.”

A fitting description for the device, which he said enhances and strengthens the ability of law enforcement officers to identify suspects and retrieve their criminal records in seconds by capturing biometric data.

“The technology is a game-changer,” McDonald said. “It’s going to enable officers to really get a handle on who the bad guys are, and make it more difficult for these bad guys to hide from us.”

This month, Plymouth County became the first in the country to deploy the Mobile and Wireless Multi-Modal Biometric Offender Recognition and Information System (MORIS). The system is part of a national network, designed to help law enforcement agencies keep track of sex offenders, gang members, inmates and illegal aliens, said Sean Mullin, president of Plymouth-based Biometric Intelligence and Identification Technologies (BI2 Technologies), which developed MORIS in partnership with Apple.

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Tuesday, June 8, 2010

PMC 2.0: Biometric Security For Mobile Devices

     I am digging this, because if government or private industry wants to fully integrate mobile devices into their operations, security is paramount. Any means of either shutting down a device remotely or automatically if it is breached, stolen or lost, is a good idea.  I could also see a bio-button having application for other tools of this industry.

     For one, a bio-button could be used to control the fire control mechanism of a sidearm? Meaning if someone takes your weapon or god forbid you lost it, then it would not be capable of firing because it is outside of the range of the bio-button.  Just don’t lose the bio-button! lol You could also apply the bio-button concept to vehicles, safes, entry points, you name it. Although I would put a manual over ride on the button, just incase there is a problem or an attacker uses some kind of electronics frying weapon. Cyber warfare comes to mind with these kinds of devices as well, hence why it is so important to have a strategy within the organization to deal with these threats.

     One cool thing with losing the bio-button according to these guys, is that you can shut down everything remotely using a computer. The other handy feature is the button can be set up to vibrate if for chance, whatever you are tracking has gotten out of your range.  You could also use such a device for close protection, and have a specialist carrying the button and the principal having the mobile device.  Lot’s of uses for something like this. I could also see bio-buttons being integrated into every day items that we keep on us anyways.  A watch, a necklace, a ring, sunglasses, etc.  I look at a device like this as adding redundancy to your sensitive/valuable equipment management system. I don’t look at it as way to shirk personal responsibility towards managing your stuff, but it could definitely help.

    It can also help companies to ensure their stuff is being taken care of by their employees or contractors.  If the device can be shut down remotely, well then it can be monitored remotely as well.  A company can tell if an employee or contractor has that equipment within their reach or not, and this is just one more way of insuring accountability of that equipment.  Stuff to think about and this is definitely PMC 2.0 material. –Matt

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Microlatch ID me Solution

The new Bluetooth ‘bio-button’ mobile security system

Microlatch and a Sydney based development group has created a system that will conveniently and effectively shut down internet fraud, at the same time create a convenient all in one, secure mobile phone (or mobile device) solution to access control, mobile banking, online shopping, home automation, alarm systems, computer and network logins and any number of customised access or login scenarios.

This innovative, patented, three factor securi ty approach using biometrics to provide positive ID in conjunction with mobile phones using a bluetooth interface will allow users to harness the processing power of the modern mobile device in a convenient yet secure form.

User controlled and ‘user friendly’, this method of ensuring positive ID via a biometric ‘Bio-button’ wirelessly ‘paired and tethered’ to a mobile device resolves the security risks inherent with keeping the ‘registered users’ biometric data and digital keys stored on such devices.

For example, a convenient ‘one time’ biometric authentication via the separate ‘Bio-button’ to a ‘smart phone’ allows the user to make full use of the enormous computing and processing power now available in this type of mobile platform.

By utilising the processing power and wireless connectivity available to users via such devices, the ‘id-me’application will allow users to configure various levels of security thereby providing the user customised, secure physical access but also allowing expansion into ‘positive ID’ security for financial institutions, online payment systems, online shopping, contact-less payment systems etc.

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Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Mobile Apps: Army Launches Software Application Development Challenge “Apps For The Army”

   Ok military guys and gals who are ‘avid readers’ of Feral Jundi, now is your chance. If you want to win a portion of that $30,000 prize, then you would be foolish not to submit Feral Jundi as a mobile app for this contest. lol  Just kidding.  But hey, if this blog counts as news about contractors (which is important to the military), then FJ would be a cool app to have on these new military smart phones they plan on distributing.

   Either way, FJ is already set up as a mobile app, complete with a cool little button avatar. Although I refuse to pay for the thing to be submitted to iTunes Store.  At least not yet.

   The most important part of this article though, is the idea that some of these apps that the contest produces might be Blackberry/Android/iPhone compatible.  That would be cool, and I can’t wait to see what the contest produces.  I am sure some of the stuff they make will have PMC 2.0 utility as well. –Matt

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smart phone on a weapon

Army Launches Software Application Development Challenge “Apps for the Army”

March 1st, 2010

The Pentagon, Arlington, VA  – Today the Army announced its first internal applications development challenge, dubbed Apps for the Army or A4A.  Open to all Soldiers and Department of the Army civilians, A4A offers Army personnel the opportunity to demonstrate their software development skills and creativity.  In return, the Army hopes to improve its current capabilities or to add new ones – all through the ingenuity of its people.

“We’re building a culture of collaboration among our Army community to encourage smarter, better and faster technical solutions to meet operational needs,” said Army Chief Information Officer/G-6 Lt. Gen. Jeff Sorenson.

“Soldiers and Army civilians will be creating new mobile and web applications of value for their peers—tools that enhance warfighting effectiveness and business productivity today,” Sorenson said.  “And, we’re rewarding their innovation with recognition and cash.”

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Thursday, January 14, 2010

PMC 2.0: Ushahidi Haiti

  The boys and girls at Ushahidi have come through again with another super useful tool for those that are tracking the efforts on the ground in Haiti.  If you are deploying to Haiti, and want a quick run down of what some of the big ticket issues are, then check these various websites out along with the Ushahidi site.  I have no clue if you will be able to use smart phones on the ground there, but I am sure there will be an effort to get networks up and running at full speed. Communications, to include a fat pipe for the internet, will be vital for the relief efforts.

   I have not downloaded any of the mobile apps for Ushahidi, but I still recommend playing around with the app and testing it out. If you have access to wifi and have a browser on your phone, you can still visit Ushahidi Haiti that way.  Knowledge is power, and this is just one more tool for trying to get some clarity out of that sea of information pouring out of the disaster. –Matt

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Our Efforts in Response to Haiti’s Earthquake

We’ve launched Haiti.Ushahidi.com

January 13, 2010

The past 20 hours have been sad, exhausting and inspiring. Sad for obvious reasons. Exhausting because many of us have been working straight through with no sleep. But inspiring because of the incredible community of Crisis Mappers.

Here’s what been happening in the community:

Ushahidi launched a Haiti deployment

Mikel Maron at OpenStreetMap launched this Wiki

Andrew Turner at GeoCommons is updating CrisisCommons

Our friends at Sahana have set up a Development Team

Sahana has also set up a Wiki here

Our InSTEDD friends set up a GeoChat instance

Our friends at MapAction have deployed a team

Einar Bjorgo at UNOSAT is keeping us posted on imagery

InSTEDD is also working on getting +46 numbers for GeoChat, the Emergency Information Service (EIS) and Ushahidi. InSTEDD is also in Santo Domingo deploying EIS. Sahana is exploring the possibility of integrating GeoChat based on some work they did at Camp Roberts a few months ago. InSTEDD is also looking to start testing a Sahana/Mesh4X sync. There are several dozen other ongoing efforts but hard to keep track.

I first heard about the major earthquake around 7:30pm (Boston time) last night and immediately called David Kobia to get an Ushahidi deployment out. I have five close friends from The Fletcher School who have been in Haiti over the past two weeks and it wasn’t until midnight that I finally got word that they were alive.

What happened between 7:30pmm and midnight was inspiring. We went live with a basic deployment within half an hour. I called Chris Blow and got in touch with Brian Herbert. They both worked with David to continue the customization.

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