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Secure Business: Area companies are at the
nation's front lines of defense against terrorism by making products
guarding safety of US populace
by Danny King
10/22/01
As the threat of terrorism on the United States continues to evolve,
so does the focus of local technology firms.
Terms like “cyber attack” and “airport infiltration”
are joining “air raid” and “ground war” in the
lexicon of domestic defense. As a result, a number of local high-tech
firms, some of which have had little or no previous experience with
the U.S. military, are finding their products increasingly relevant
to anti-terrorist efforts.
L.A.’s association with defense-related technology is nothing
new, of course. Los Angeles County’s near tripling of its population
between 1930 and 1960 mirrors the local growth of aerospace giants
like Douglas Aircraft and Northrop Aircraft.
And even as aerospace budgets were cut back in the early 1990s,
much of the industry’s technological expertise was transferred
to non-aircraft defense efforts and even commercial uses.
“There is a history of engagement in defense beyond assembly,”
said Rohit Shukla, chief executive of the Los Angeles Regional Technology
Alliance, who cited Computer Sciences Corp. and Hughes Electronics
Corp. as examples.
But defense-related technology is no longer solely the domain of
corporate giants. Here are a few local firms that are expected to
see a jump in business as anti-terrorist efforts are increased both
domestically and abroad:
Rapiscan Security Products Inc.
Founded: 1993 (a subsidiary of OSI Systems Inc.)
Focus: Screening and explosives detection systems
Headquarters: Hawthorne
Revenues (fiscal 2001): $51.8 million
Rapiscan’s baggage inspection system addresses one of the more
pervasive fears of airline travelers after the Sept. 11 attacks:
A $40,000 baggage scanning machine is useless if its operator is
not sufficiently trained to spot concealed weapons in carry-on luggage.
Rapiscan began developing Threat Image Projection (TIP) software
for its baggage scanners five years ago and introduced its TIP-included
scanners to the market in 1999. TIP stores more than 200 images
in its database, ranging from guns to knives to bombs. These images
are periodically simulated within pieces of luggage going through
the system, with the scanner operator given the opportunity to identify
whether the object is real or simulated.
Without the simulation program, the operator “could go weeks
or months without seeing anything exciting go by,” said Peter
Williamson, vice president of OSI Systems security products group.
The program doubles as a kind of grading system, as image recognition
data for each scanner operator is stored.
About 40 percent of the 700 baggage scanners in the nation’s
20 largest airports are Rapiscan products. Williamson declined to
quantify how much the Sept. 11 attacks would affect revenue expectations
for Rapiscan, which made up 47 percent of OSI’s revenues for
the year ended June 30. But he estimated that inquiries have tripled
since Sept. 11. He also said that the FAA has discussed using TIP-type
software as a training and certification tool for baggage scanner
operators.
Cs3 Inc.
Founded: 1991
Focus: Computer infrastructure security products
Headquarters: Los Angeles
Projected Revenues (2001): $750,000
As seen with last month’s Nimda worm, there is the real threat
of a “cyber terrorist” looking to cripple institutions
dependent on information technology by deploying virus-type code.
“We don’t have to make a case anymore that people want
to do nasty things,” said founder K. Narayanaswamy.
In response to potential cyber attacks, Cs3 Inc., which Narayanaswamy
co-founded in 1991, is releasing Reverse Firewall, a rack-mountable
device that regulates outgoing cyber traffic and filters out potentially
damaging viruses, also known as Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS)
“packets.” Once DDoS code is identified by the product,
network administrators are notified of the potential problem. “We
can get down to the smallest sub-network from where it’s originating,”
said Narayanaswamy.
The concept of regulating outgoing network traffic, as opposed to
traditional firewalls filtering incoming traffic, is particularly
relevant as Internet service providers begin to examine ways to
monitor traffic. Cs3 estimates sales of 1,000 to 2,000 units through
the first six months of 2002. The product, which will sell for about
$3,000, has been tested by military communications group Space and
Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) and will be marketed to ISPs
and universities.
Cogent Systems Inc.
Founded: 1990
Focus: Biometric identification systems
Headquarters: South Pasadena
Projected Revenues: Would not disclose
“The whole thing boils down to authenticating identity,”
said Mike Hollowitch, in explaining the fingerprint recognition
data network systems produced by Cogent. Law enforcement agencies,
border patrol offices and voter registration administrators are
a few of the groups that have purchased products from the company.
Cogent’s systems are based on technology that identifies a
matched set of fingerprints between an individual and an existing
database, or a “hot list,” in a matter of minutes. For
instance, Cogent administers a 1.2 million-fingerprint database
for the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation,
while selling individual fingerprinting systems to school districts,
hospitals and daycare centers throughout the state. Equipped with
a Palm Pilot-sized finger pad attached to a workstation, an organization
can do a background check on a prospective employee by finding out
if there’s a match with the state’s “hot list.”
Another client is a Caribbean island’s government that uses
a fingerprint database to prevent citizens from voting multiple
times.
Hollowitch, vice president of operations, noted that inquiries have
increased since the Sept. 11 attacks, although he declined to identify
which organizations and agencies have shown interest. He also said
that technological improvements have lowered a network user’s
hardware cost to a few hundred dollars, while a database system
set up for a typical law enforcement agency would cost about $30,000.
Vidius Inc.
Founded: 2000
Focus: Computer network security
Headquarters: North Hollywood
Projected Revenues (2002): $5 million -
$10 million
Think of being able to pick up a desired document from hard drives
anywhere in the world through Gnutella, a document exchange. Then
imagine the ease in which a terrorist on the same network would
have in doing the same thing.
“Peer-to-peer networks create incredible havens for terrorist
communications,” said Company Chairman Derrek Broes. “It
creates a walled garden for them.”
Such is the focus of Vidius Inc., which produces computer security
software while also providing security-related intelligence for
its clients. Founded last year by two former members of the Israeli
military, the company specializes in identifying, holding, and locating
potentially questionable activity administered by peer-to-peer network
users. Vidius accomplishes this by predetermining networks in which
illegal file theft has been known to take place, otherwise known
as “rogue protocols.”
A so-called firewall, while able to stop virus infiltration on a
traditional network, will not stop peer-to-peer file exchanges.
Because of this, Broes has been approached by organizations ranging
from government agencies to copyright holders.
Broes estimates that a larger peer-to-peer network has between 30
million and 40 million regular users. Even a newer network like
KaZaA has seen about 16 million file downloads over the past couple
months.
Syagen Technology Inc.
Founded: 1996
Focus: High-speed chemical screening products
Headquarters: Tustin
Projected Revenues (2001): $3 million
While traditional airport security analyzes the large objects with
the traveler, Syagen Technology’s Passenger Screening Portal
will analyze tiny objects on the traveler.
The portal, which looks like an elongated version of a walk-through
metal detector, is designed to detect any trace materials found
in explosives. The project has been in development for three years,
and a prototype, which was funded by the Federal Aviation Administration
and built in conjunction with Albuquerque-based Sandia National
Laboratories, is currently being tested. Product approval will be
determined within a year, according to Syagen founder and Chief
Executive Jack Syage.
As a traveler walks through the portal, a puff of air is blown,
shaking the person’s clothing and loosening any particles.
The air is then directed into a detection port, where the particles
are analyzed for explosives. The product would be an addition to
any existing security tools, though Syage noted that a metal detector
could be placed within the portal.
While explosive detection technology was Syagen’s focus when
it was founded in 1996, the company has since concentrated on chemical
analysis for the pharmaceutical industry. Even if the portal is
approved, Syagen doesn’t expect his company’s pharmaceutical
emphasis to change. “Biotech and life sciences are big, sustainable
markets, whereas security is up and down,” he said.
Raytheon Electronics Systems
Founded: 1922
Focus: Defense and commercial electronics
Headquarters: El Segundo
Projected Revenues (2001): $7.6 billion
While its 95,000-employee parent company is based in Lexington,
Mass., the 10,000 employees of El Segundo-based Raytheon Electronics
Systems are responsible for almost half the company’s revenue
and, more importantly, many technological products currently being
deployed in the Middle East.
Raytheon Electronics developed the Advanced Targeting Forward-Looking
Infrared (ATFLIR) system aboard the F/A-18 aircraft currently being
used by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. The infrared targeting and
navigation system is said to be three to four times more accurate
than the first generation version.
The local plant also produced the reconnaissance system for the
Air Force’s U-2 aircraft. The Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar
System (ASARS-2) is a high-resolution, all-weather product notable
for its ability to detect moving ground targets from high altitudes.
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