Intelligence Experts to Use Biometrics in Hunt for Islamic State Figures

Intelligence experts plan to use biometric technology in their efforts to track down the Islamic State figures featured in a new video from the militant group, according to new reports.

A new IS video features a masked man speaking with what sounds like a British accent, as well as an unmasked child accomplice who also seems to speak English. The video ends with the apparent executions of five individuals the IS accuses of being British spies, prompting the need for an urgent manhunt with respect to the IS figures depicted therein. Identification of the child is expected to be somewhat easier, given that he isn’t masked; indeed, one British citizen has already come forward asserting that the child is his grandson. But identification of the masked adult will prove to be more difficult.

That’s not to say impossible, of course: voice recognition and even vein recognition technologies were used in concert with other intelligence methods to track down Mohammed Enwazi, an IS member who was prominent—and masked—in previous execution videos from the group. Intelligence authorities are expected to make use of those technologies again as they attempt to identify these latest IS media figures.

Biometric technology is increasingly being used to identify criminal suspects in domestic cases, but the key modality in those cases often seems to be facial recognition. Still, other modalities can clearly play important roles in high-profile security cases, and with any luck they will be of some help here.

Sources: The Guardian, RT

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January 4, 2016 – by Alex Perala