In the security world, what has become common is not what is best for every situation. So many of the measures in place at venues right now exist in response to what happened years ago in different settings. 

Threats have changed, and technology has improved. There’s no reason to keep a solution in place just because it was the only option decades ago.  

The Old Standards are Outdated 

In 1972 – in response to a series of plane hijackings – the government put rules in place that all plane passengers should be screened. For those screenings, technology was used that had been developed for maximum security prisons and certain sensitive military facilities: walk-through metal detectors and x-ray machines. 

These tools, which worked well for places like prisons, have stayed the same even though situations have changed, and technologies have advanced in ways that better reflect the times we live in. Metal detectors, for example, are very good at detecting metal. But now, so many of us carry non-threatening personal items that contain metal, like cell phones, eyeglasses and umbrellas, that we’re forced to completely empty our pockets before we pass through traditional metal detectors. 

We Need to Protect Targets of Least Resistance 

Over time, the threats have shifted as well. Instead of hard targets like government buildings or forward-operating bases, terrorists have focused on soft targets like nightclubs and stadiums. In the United States, there has been a steady stream of active shooter events at these types of settings. 

The response has usually been to add more metal detectors, which, because of the bottleneck created by the slow process of emptying pockets or false alarms, tend to create other soft targets (people waiting in line) outside of a venue. 

These venues tend to be places that are not protected by government mandates in the way that airports are – places like schools, emergency rooms, performing arts centers and office buildings. For attackers, these are targets of least resistance. When plotting the kind of high probability, high consequence event that we all fear, attackers will seek out a place where they can do the most damage with the least resistance (such as having to pass through a metal detector). 

Setting the New Standard 

Current mainstream security standards don’t do enough to protect soft targets. Evolv recognizes the desperate need for standards to reflect today’s threats and exists to address the question: How do we create a seamless experience that enables security professionals to create a safe environment? To answer that question, we should consider the following: 

What are the real threats of concern? 

Security personnel are not looking for tiny pieces of metal in your pocket. They’re looking for weapons. We have technology that can identify exactly what items we should be concerned about in a security screening so that every item doesn’t trigger an alarm – only items of concern. 

What personal items do people carry most often? 

There are items that people carry in their pockets or purses every day that pose no threat, but still set off metal detectors. Evolv’s ability to identify those – phones, keys, ear buds – cuts down on false alarms and allows people to get where they need to be more quickly. 

Who’s going to be running the system? 

You need to make sure the technology is right for the security team running the system. For someone who might be monitoring the system for an eight-hour shift, it needs to be simple. Nuisance alarms – the kind of alarms that are set off by the everyday metal objects mentioned above – can become exhausting for an individual who has to screen someone for something that isn’t a real threat. That can affect the detection of actual threats. The system should be easy to use and quickly identify actual threats. 

How well does the system work with existing security measures? 

We want a seamless entry where there’s no bottleneck…but we also know that our customers need to be able to integrate our systems with existing security measures, such as surveillance cameras. This allows for quick and comprehensive threat detection and notification, enabling security personnel to take immediate action.  

We need to constantly challenge our assumptions of what real threats are, and think differently about the world we’re living in when it comes to threat assessment. We need to employ the appropriate technology to prevent the kind of high probability, high consequence events that can result at a target of least resistance. Evolv exists to help you avoid being one of those targets, and we are setting a new standard when it comes to keeping people safe. 

It is a significant milestone that the Evolv Express® product has received DHS SAFETY Act Designation®. We have been working with the Department of Homeland Security for quite some time on this. Independent validations like SAFETY Act designation and our strong showing in the recent NCS4 Operational Exercise are important milestones for Evolv Express as a truly disruptive technology to transform the ingress. 

Having Safety Act designation can provide vendors like Evolv, and our customers, with important legal liability protections that encourage investment to prevent terrorist attacks. While these protections are important, accomplishing the mission of keeping people safe while also protecting the visitor experience requires more.  Achieving SAFETY Act Designation is viewed by many as a de facto standard for physical security technology.   

Visitors have never been more aware of their ability to choose virtual alternatives to in-person experiences. To fill their facilities and venues, enlightened operators will need to reach for a higher standard of security and visitor experience. There are some specific principles that are important in a new standard. 

Zero-Wait Should Be Standard

Although no one likes being stuck in a line, few people realize just how vulnerable they are standing in a line outside the security perimeter. That crowd is a soft target that is vulnerable. Eliminating the line outside the security perimeter is ideal.  However, many of today’s technologies (designed decades ago), require people to wait and go through one at a time.  Zero wait time means people need to walk through at the pace of life without stopping, removing items or breaking their stride.  Achieving zero-wait requires fast, accurate weapons detection and rapid alarm resolution. Zero-wait should be standard. 

Data-Driven Decision-Making Should Be Standard

Most modern organizations are accustomed to using analytics to drive decisions in key areas of their business, but this revolution has been slow to reach physical security. There is a tremendous amount of data associated with the ingress of people, their arrival curves at different entrances, and the speed of ingress.  Analytics should provide better data for pre-event planning, and improved post event analysis.  This includes how many staff members to assign at different locations, the impact of changing threat sensitivities for different operational scenarios, and other factors that affect the visitor’s experience.  This is only possible on a digital native platform, but current standards are silent on the topic of data analytics. Data-driven decision-making should be standard.

Machine Learning Should Be Standard

Modern machine learning is pervasive in cybersecurity but curiously absent in traditional security screening technology and standards. The ability to train multivariate statistical models with real-world data allows for more accurate, nuanced weapons-detection decisions to be made in real-time. These algorithms require sensors that provide a rich data set from which important characteristics can be gleaned.  And the more data is gathered, the better the models get over time. Old school metal detector signal processing will never be able to keep up with modern machine learning. Machine learning should be standard.

Image-Aided Alarm Resolution Should Be Standard

As the number of visitors passing through a system increases, and the amount of training and tenure of security guards gets lower, there is an increased chance of human error.  Technology can be a key enabler to reduce human error by having the technology do the monotonous tasks and have people focus on the critical judgments to assess a threat / no threat scenario.  Adding an image of an individual to help ensure they are assessing the right individual and a directive interface to show where to focus provides significantly more guidance for a security professional.  Image-aided alarms can help avoid invasive full-body pat down searches and dramatically shrink the alarm resolution window. That’s an obvious win for everyone, but it isn’t addressed in any existing security screening standard. Image-aided alarm resolution should be standard.  

Digital Integration Into the Security Infrastructure Should Be Standard

Keeping people safe requires a thoughtful combination of advanced technology solutions produced by many different vendors. Unfortunately, most security screening solutions function as isolated analog silos that don’t share or receive data from other systems. It shouldn’t be that way. The screening system should function as an intelligent node in a fully networked nervous system that supports the right response at the right time. That requires a digital-native platform with robust integration APIs and a network of partnerships between vendors. Sadly, this kind of integration currently falls outside most existing security screening technologies. Digital integration should be standard. 

Conclusion

 I’d like to reiterate that we are very happy that Express has received SAFETY ACT designation. We value what the DHS is offering through the SAFETY Act process and look forward to ongoing collaboration. However, in the present environment we believe that SAFETY Act designation is table stakes. Our mission demands that we aim to not only keep people safe, but also deliver an outstanding visitor experience. This standard requires digital-native technology that makes the most of modern analytics, machine learning, image-aided alarm resolution, and digital integration. We believe that Express embodies this new standard today, and we’re hard at work to raise the bar even higher in the future.