Security consulting and installation of equipment

I was working in the last years frequently in the area of the Integrated Border Management in different countries, especially in Central America, in 6, respectively 7 countries in 2 missions (2009 and 2011), Moldova and the Ukraine, and also as consultant in UK.

Other frequent activity in this area is the participation in biometric identification projects, such I have realized in Nicaragua, Moldova, Yemen and in Spain. In the projects usually were oriented on an integral approach starting with the birth register and civil registry, including the emission of identity documents and passports. Objective was the creation of a biometric population register, using biometric identification and conventional methods of the civil register work, like the application of a national identification number, existing in many countries. Over this issues were prepared any articles.

In my assignment in Peru I have had the first direct contact to the security techniques area, working there in an integral project for the Interior Ministry, the Navy and the justice sector. In this time we have had biometrical projects for security documents and ID-cards (with and without approximity chips), as well IT systems with special security requirements. A special example for this is the Peruvian Passport project which was developed under my direction with a group of local and foreign engineers. In the first month of my assignment in Peru the Minister of Interior was assigning my the task to make the project for an machine readable passport according to the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization with OCR-B. In the project was included a biometric verification of the passport emission. The project and the bidding documents were  elaborated by my group and the bidding was executed by the ministry. I was in the bidding member of the evaluation group.

3M-Special film with inverse print for the Peruvian Passports

By side the passports there was the request to avoid cases of double emission of passports for one and the same person under different identification, as well the security to avoid bad practices inside the institution. As verification criteria was selected biometric verification schemas. As biometric indicators were captured the fingerprint and the hand geometry. The hand geometry was especially interesting why the data set was very short (9 byte long) and with this data was given the compatibility with systems like INSPASS and CANADAPASS, which is specially interesting for frequent user.

The data capturing equipment was conformed in the following form:

• Each alphanumeric data capturing station were assigned two biometrical data capturing stations (PCs),
• Digital camera with manual adjusting possibility over the biometric station,
• Fingerprint scanner,
• Handkey for the capture of the hand geometry
• Signpad to digitalize the signature.

Under consideration that the implementation in the main offices of the DIGEMIN was finished in 1998 and the installations in the provinces was until 1999 operative, the system was very modern, not only for Latin America, also for the developed countries. A corresponding interest was in these countries, so many official delegations were visiting the DIGEMIN to see our system.

Should be mentioned, that the strong centralization of the passport emission of the Peruvian migration authority was a important criteria to implement the system in this form. I was getting in this time different strong comments from Germany, especially critics according the data privacy politics, which was legally different and was changing only after the 9/11 incident. But the internal political situation in Peru in this years, characterized by a nearly civil war situation, with strong problems in the drug trafficking area and a generally high level of common criminality was requesting these methods to make the process safer.

My with this project shown competence was used later from different other governmental institutions which were integrated in the project RENADEPPLE. Especially is there mentionable my involvement in projects from the Ministry of Interior and the Peruvian Navy, where I was attending later projects with biometric components in the security area. Generally I was preparing the description of the technical solution, the bidding documents and I was participating in the technical evaluation group of the biddings. In any cases I was working in the same projects as consultant and in the supervision of the contractor in the project execution. This was gong until the source code verification.

Interesting is in this content also that we have implemented biometric components in projects for access control, as well to protect sensible information in IT systems, which have fulfilled partially the specifications of the electronic signature and/or data encryption use.

The so developed IT systems were implemented on national level, partially also on the international level, in embassies and other official offices outside the country.

By side of this direct technical activities in the security sector we have analyzed with my group the security from buildings and administrative acts in different governmental institutions with any surprising results, discovering real leaks in the security.  For instance in the International Airport "Jorge Chavez" in Lima, which we have analyzed in base of strong differences in the migration statistic (evaluation of the migration movements from 1990 until 1996). According to the migration statistics were disappeared 10.000 persons with US-passport each year. The number was obviously wrong, but nearly each year with the same amount, reason enough to check out these cases. As a first, and most important result was fixed that many people with double citizenship - US and Peruvian - were entering Peru with the US passport as US-Americans, but staying there more as 2 months they need to pay a visa which was more expansive as to buy a new Peruvian passport. So these people were buying a new Peruvian passport, and going out of Peru as Peruvians. An other result was a wrong line out of ways for the passengers in transit from Bolivia, which were coming in from Bolivia, crossing the border control into Peru, but guided later back to the transit room without a new check in. With these both results be could fix nearly 99,3 % of the observed irregularities, fixing the roles for these cases.

After my assignment in Peru I was working as contractor for a German enterprise to elaborate a plan for the investigation and development of biometric systems for security systems, witch should combine in modular manner different biometrical methods, permitting so the user a set of possibilities for a modern modular system, witch is scalable according to the security needs of the costumer.

Since my throwback from Afghanistan I was starting again to work in the security area, again in the integration of biometric devices into security systems for the Spanish spoken area. First contracts are in execution and a corresponding Web-Site is in preparation which will be lunched in short time.

Finally should be mentioned that exactly in the security area it's not possible to publish many details without certain problems with the clients. More details can be given in direct contacts.

In conclusion in the security area I was involved or leading the following activities:

• Analysis of the security needs from buildings and processes,
• Week point analysis in existing systems and buildings,
• Elaboration of security concepts and contingency plans for buildings, processes and information in all forms and formats,
• Elaboration of bidding documents and evaluation of the responses,
• Installation and installation supervision of third party supplies,
• System integration of biometric and other sensor equipment (Movement detectors, camera equipment, gas sensors, long-distance signalization, etc.),
• Supervision of third enterprises in the reconstruction security equipment,
• Maintenance and troubleshooting in installations and systems.