In this article published in The IRS Report in May 2010, John Snowden discusses technology against terrorists...

Technology provides new lines of terror defence

The risk of nuclear confrontation between nations has receded but the risk of a nuclear attack has gone up. This is what Barack Obama told delegates at a recent gathering of world leaders in the US where 47 nations signed up to an agreement designed to stop atomic materials falling into terrorist hands.

The agreement pledged that within four years they would lock down the vulnerable stockpiles which are, in part, remnants of the Cold War two decades ago. These unwanted contaminated nuclear leftovers can be found in more than 40 countries, including Britain.

Almost exactly one month before the conference, Digital Barriers was launched on the Alternative Investment Market via an institutional placing of 20m shares at 100p. This newly incorporated company is focused on the provision of specialist products and services to the security market, specifically the protection of public spaces and facilities against terrorist attacks.

Some 14 blue chip institutions took declarable stakes of more than 3%, mainly 5.41%, in this issue and the shares enjoyed a 27.5% premium on the first day of dealings and have not fallen below since. Most of the board have a proven track record in the security market through a company called Detica.

Chairman Tom Black spent more than 20 years with Detica, becoming chief executive in 1995 and leading a £12m management buyout a couple of years later. In 2002, Dr Black handled Detica's LSE flotation. Out of interest, Detica was the only technology business in the UK to float for a year either side of 2002, which says a lot for the management. In 2008, Dr Black oversaw the sale of Detica to BAE, handing over a company with 1,600 staff and sales of £200m.

Managing director Colin Evans also has more than 20 years experience working in several aspects of the security industry. As well as being responsible for the day-to-day management of Digital Barriers, he brings expertise in accelerating hi-tech business growth and post acquisition integration including eight completed at Detica.

Since Digital Barriers' AIM launch, the company announced the acquisition of Security Applications Ltd for a maximum consideration of £2.5m. SAL is a specialist installer and integrator of thermal imaging equipment for perimeter surveillance, law enforcement and the protection of high profile target installations. An initial £1.65m down payment will be met from existing cash reserves with the balance paid after SAL's 31 July year end.

Richard Heard, prior to joining the team, had worked in Washington DC for Detica for six years, running the company's US Homeland & Security Enforcement practice. His current role will be managing clients in both the UK and USA. Stephen Deane joined from Accenture where he worked for over 13 years. He will be responsible for technical strategy and the product road map.

As you can see, the board has a wealth of experience in applying technology against terrorists. The company is working on the premise that the most significant threat to the country's security comes not from state-to-state conflict but from international and domestic terrorism. Specifically, Digital identifies attacks on crowded places, high profile targets and the national infrastructure. Digital Barriers will concentrate on proactive protection to create a technology deterrent and means of better identifying possible threats. Terrorists are adept at spotting weaknesses and adapt by playing a percentage game, knowing there will be many failures. Unfortunately, the terrorists only need to get lucky with one success but the public needs to be always lucky.

Digital Barriers will use technology to pursue investigative threads to identify terrorists and intercept planned attacks. Dr Black is confident that there is a gap in the £90bn homeland security market. The directors have invested £5m of their own money into this company which is already working on several large projects such as technology to monitor high-profile targets in London's transport network. Digital Barriers is on the case and the management has the proven expertise.

Dealing with the terror threats through smarter technology

The current weakness in counter terrorism strategies is in identifying threats with time-specific intelligence. In the first instance the surveillance technology deployed within a location serves as a deterrent to a potential attack. This could roughly be equated as the equivalent of a line of armed police. If that deterrent fails, then the technology must seek to identify the threat during its preparation. This may happen with an on-going investigation or spotting unfamiliar activities around the location.

Dr Black gives an example of what this means. He points to the recent policy of preventing tourists from taking photos in Trafalgar Square as an example. He believes technology could be used to identify a person who has visited the landmark and taken photos four times in the past week, which would prompt an investigation into whether an attack  is being planned. “No solution catches all the bad guys all the time. It's about creating as hostile an environment as possible for terrorists”.

You can see all of John Snowden's articles at www.TheIRSReport.com

John Snowden is a regular contributor to The IRS Report.

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