Ramona Adams
SRI International has secured a four-year, $12.5 million contract from the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity to research and develop technology that can help mitigate attempts to deceive biometric systems, known as presentation attacks.
The company said Tuesday it will build a prototype Multi-physiological Joint Optimization and Liveness Nuances for Identity Ratification system, or MJOLNIR, in an effort to address known and unknown presentation attacks.
The initiative is part of IARPA’s Odin Program that seeks to develop detection technology to keep presentation attacks from interfering with the identification of true biometric identity.
Vulnerabilities currently limit the use of biometric systems to low risk activities such as phone security or human-administered operations, SRI noted.
Jeffrey Lubin, principal investigator of SRI’s Odin team, said the IARPA program aims to foster the development of “dynamic” biometrics to expand use of biometric systems for individuals, businesses and governments.
SRI expects future dynamic biometrics to scan tissue below the skin surface to detect physiological information as well as analyze factors such as heart rate, perspiration and blood flow within tissues and across other body regions to identify presentation attacks.
