Improve Airports with AI Video to Prevent a Terrorist Attack
AI-driven computer vision fights against terrorism and provides the passengers with the best protection.
Just a few days ago, a suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul took place during the evacuation from Afghanistan. At least 182 people were killed, including 169 Afghan civilians and 13 members of the United States military, the first American military casualties in Afghanistan since February 2020. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant — Khorasan Province claimed responsibility for the attack.
Earlier this year, the king and queen of Belgium led tributes to the victims of the suicide bombings that killed 32 people and injured more than 340 in the Maelbeek metro station in the city center, close to several European Union institutions in Brussels and Zaventem International Airport five years ago. Sixteen people were killed at the airport and another 16 died shortly afterward in another explosion at Maelbeek metro.
The attack has been linked to the same cross-border Islamic State (IS) group cell that carried out the November 2015 attacks in Paris. The earlier attack in the French capital saw bombers and gunmen target cafes, a public area outside the Stade de France stadium in Saint-Denis, and a popular music venue, murdering 130 people.
Public areas have always been a major target of terror attacks. Till today, it is no doubt that the aviation sector remains attractive to terrorists due to its importance to the global economy and the opportunity to inflict mass casualties.
In addition to planes and terminals, publicly accessible areas such as airport dining and shopping areas, parking lots, hotels, and adjacent mass transit systems, are all vulnerable locations for potential terrorist attacks though almost every corner is covered with security cameras.
As the airport is getting more and more crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic to deliver people’s needs, the key is how to use technology-driven, non-invasive security measures for airport staff or passengers, and smart security measures, such as video analytic, biometrics, and remote bag drop facilities, as advanced ways to mitigate vulnerabilities and improve the passenger experience.
The fight against terrorism remains a key objective in airport security management. Where thousands of people gather, signals indicating terrorist activity are easily overlooked. When it comes to reliably detect unattended luggage or people with weapons in crowds, video surveillance involving human operators could reach its limits from time to time.
Video analytics powered by Artificial Intelligence can support humans in recognizing threats much earlier, reducing the maximum human efforts on security management, and even perform tasks autonomously.
Detect Unattended Luggage
Portable explosives are the most frequent and deadly mode of terrorist attack internationally, and they often appeared in the airport as giant bags or unattended luggage.
The video analytics function driven by the cutting-edge AI technology of SkyREC AiMS (Autonomous Intelligent Management System) can quickly detect lost objects abandoned in specific areas such as airports and other public transportation like train stations, bus stations, or stadiums, enables airport security cameras to detect objects such as suitcases and bags not moved for a period of time (therefore suspected of containing explosives) and notify security personnel.
Detect Suspicious Behavior
Some human behavior that deviates from “normal” patterns can be detected by SkyREC AiMS in real-time as well, ranging from minor disputes between people to vandalism. Similarly, aggressive or violent behavior in airports can be detected early.
Terrorist attacks often tend to have a prelude: people stay in one place for a period of time to scout the situation without being noticed by security guards. The Object-focused video analytics of SkyREC helps detect even inconspicuous individuals based on specific behavior patterns like people lingering but doing nothing around certain areas for too long.
Keep Restricted Areas Safe
In very complex buildings like airports, it is always an ongoing challenge to keep restricted areas free from unauthorized people including passengers. For instance, each security gate that is opened unintentionally triggers the alarm and that could cause shutting down airport operations for a period of time. Smart video surveillance combined with passenger information systems can help prevent these types of incidents.
SkyREC AiMS allows airport security managers to set up security zones in public areas where the security officers are automatically notified when unauthorized people approaching restricted areas which are analyzed with facial recognition technology to prevent criminals, terrorists, or the blacklist.
Based on the target object’s appearance by choosing physical descriptions, uploading a picture, or saving a bookmark image directly from the recorded videos, SkyREC Appearance Focus quickly digs up through video footage collected from cameras and reports the route or last-known location of the target face, human or vehicle. SkyREC Appearance Focus depends on its robust video analysis technology to raise the video security management from reactive to proactive by improving the incident response and post-event investigation efficiency.
Prevent the Spread of COVID-19
In the past, security managers were primarily concerned with global terrorism; today, COVID-19 threatens the health of staff and passengers. Even if the number of passengers remains at a low level in many airports, surveillance won’t become any less complex.
Hygiene regulations raise new requirements for passenger processing and control. Reason enough for security managers to rethink airport security methods and evaluate how smart surveillance technologies can help meet new (and old) challenges better and more efficiently.
Social distancing is key to preventing, or at least slowing down, the transmission of COVID-19 from person to person. With SkyREC AiMS, where many people come together, intelligent video analytics can ensure appropriate social distancing between people and everyone wears face masks wherever mandatory.
