Before Covid-19 struck air passenger numbers were forecast to double by 2037, reaching 8.2 billion people annually. This poses significant challenges to airports in terms of managing capacity and proactively preventing criminal or illicit activity. Whether terrorism, human trafficking or drugs, the security threats to the aviation industry are real and constantly evolving. Only four years ago three suicide bombers attacked Brussels airport and Metro station, killing 32 people.
In June, passenger traffic through U.S. airports was down about 81 percent on last year. To stimulate effective recovery from the pandemic, the industry will need to work hard to restore confidence in passengers that flying is safe. Now is the perfect time for airports to rethink existing security strategies and focus on making them fit for future purpose. But how can airports take security to the next level?
Information is key
Social intelligence plays a critical role in improving understanding about human behaviours to identify criminal activity or security threats. Gathering information on a ‘normal’ journey through an airport, such as the average time it takes to move through a terminal or how many communication devices passengers carry on them, helps to build a comprehensive picture around airport activity and identify any possible abnormalities.
Like many other high-risk locations, the use of CCTV has become commonplace in airports to monitor behaviour and identify security threats. But complimenting that with a comprehensive overview of social intelligence relies on different layers of technology to collect valuable information in real time.
New technologies taking off
Recent decades have seen the aviation industry and governments worldwide invest heavily in new technologies, with airports and airlines spending an estimated $61 billion on IT in 2019.
Now more than ever, airports can leverage innovative security technologies to protect customers through the pandemic and beyond. International Mobile Subscriber (IMSI)-catcher technology, for example, allows airport security teams to collect intelligence, accurately monitor the movement of mobile devices around an airport and alert security services to suspicious or criminal activity.
An IMSI is a 15-digit number assigned to the SIM card that identifies the mobile user within the network. Each IMSI is unique to a subscriber and is a way of identifying the owner. IMSI-catchers act like a traditional mobile phone network meaning nearby mobile phones connect to them. They then provide an overview of who is within an airport or departure lounge, enabling authorities to identify unusual and suspicious activity.
Airport security teams regularly interact with intelligence officials and, depending on the laws of the land, WiFi and IMSI-catchers can now also detect the presence of individuals on terror watchlists or known criminals at airports. WiFi monitoring can also identify individuals that may have logged onto high risk locations, such as known cafes and other locations in high risk countries.
Consider a staff only area as an example. If a group of ground staff were gathered in a secure zone (whereby all their IMSI numbers were whitelisted), an IMSI-catcher could immediately detect if any unverified mobile device entered the restricted area, monitor its movements and communications and work as part of existing control systems to alert security staff. The purpose of the IMSI-catcher is to add another detailed layer of security to existing measures, such as CCTV cameras, passport control, security screening, airplane manifests, WiFi access, and building access, to enable airport security to respond rapidly to any potential threats and ensure the safety of passengers, employees and visitors.
As countries look to undertake stricter restrictions for visitors to prevent the spread of Covid-19, the same technology can complement Track & Trace solutions to ensure visitors and travellers can be monitored adequately at border entries.
Privacy vs protection
IMSI-catchers have historically been used by law enforcement agencies for the purpose of covert surveillance, to obtain information from mobile phones and detect illegal activity. But the miniaturisation of technology has meant that, where IMSI and WiFi catchers could only be used previously in a fixed position, now they are portable. This, combined with the wider commercial availability of networked IMSI and WiFi catchers, has created new opportunities for their use.
Airports remain high-risk environments and with today’s unpredictable terror landscape, the ability to gather social intelligence and monitor the movement of devices through an airport could significantly improve national security.
As the aviation industry focuses its efforts on making the passenger experience as clean and safe as possible in response to Covid-19, wider security measures will remain high on the agenda as people return to the skies.
Andy Gent is CEO of Revector, a global leader in telecoms intelligence for fraud prevention and security.
Gent founded Revector after an extensive international career across telecommunications, software, mobile and internet businesses. Formerly Chief Executive Officer of Paktel, Pakistan’s largest Mobile operator, Gent also held senior roles with Mercury Communications, a former national telecoms company in the UK and ECET International, a Cisco-backed software application house and QuailtyNet, Kuwait’s leading internet service provider.
In 2012 Revector was awarded two Queen's Awards for Enterprise in Innovation and International Trade.
