ITL’s Information Access Division recently released a report
on results of the Face Recognition Vendor Test (FRVT) 2002. ITL, the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Department of Defense Counterdrug
Technology Development Program Office, and NAVSEA Crane Division performed the
evaluation. FRVT 2002 evaluated commercially available and mature prototypes of
automatic face recognition systems. This was the largest scale face-off
of facial recognition systems ever performed, measuring face recognition performance of ten vendors on a Department
of State database of 121,000 images of 37,000 individuals. FRVT 2002
characterized verification, identification, and watch list performance as a
function of database size, characterized the variability in performance for
different groups of people, characterized performance as a function of elapsed
time between enrolled and new images of a person, and investigated the effect
of demographics on performance. For FRVT 2002, ITL developed a new XML-based
evaluation protocol designed to be flexible enough to be used in evaluating
other types of biometrics as well.
Test results showed
that for recognition of images taken indoors, the best performing system had a
90 percent verification rate at a false accept rate of 1 percent. Results
indicated that face recognition from indoor images has made substantial
progress in the past two years; compared with similar experiments conducted in
2000, the results of FRVT 2002 indicate there was a 50 percent reduction in
error rates. Interesting demographic results show that males are easier to
recognize than females and that older people are easier to recognize than
younger people. FRVT 2002 also assessed the impact of two techniques for
improving face recognition: three-dimensional morphable models and face
recognition from video sequences. Results show that 3-D morphable models
increase performance, and that face recognition from video sequences offers
only a limited increase in performance over still images.
The results of these (and other biometric) tests are crucial to NIST’s mandate under the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 and Enhanced Border Security Act to provide technical guidance for selection of biometric identification systems to be used at U.S. border entry-exit locations. Key results from FRVT 2002 were included in the recent report to Congress, also mandated by the USA PATRIOT Act. The complete FRVT 2002 report is available at http://www.itl.nist.gov/iad/894.03/face/face.html#FRVT2002 and http://www.frvt.org.
ITL has been designated a leadership role for NIST’s
new responsibilities and opportunities to help the nation improve voting
systems under the Help America Vote Act of 2002. The Act was drafted based on
technical work at NIST in the past, the agency’s strong role in standards and
technology, and NIST’s link with the Presidential Commission established after
the 2000 election.
The Act contains specific requirements for NIST to:
·
Provide and
support the Chair of the Technical Guidelines Development Committee (TGDC)
(“guidelines” means standards in the Act);
·
Establish an
intramural research and development program;
·
Support
accreditation of laboratories that will provide independent testing of voting
systems; and
·
Assist the
Election Administration Commission (EAC) with its reporting requirements for
assessing areas of human factor research.
NIST is beginning work on voting by establishing
contacts and working relationships with the community, including the National
Association of State Election Directors, the Federal Election Commission, and
State and local election officials. Planning for additional near-term work is
underway. Present priorities are to:
·
Review with
the community and improve the independent testing laboratory process;
·
Define the
standards development process to be used for the future; and
·
Conduct
research and prepare the Human Factors Report required by the Act.
A cross-laboratory program of research and standards
support efforts is expected. Many Institute scientists and researchers will
likely be involved in this new and important role for NIST.
Library of Congress
Report Cites ITL’s Work on Digital Preservation
ITL’s work in leading the standards efforts in eBooks
and facilitating the formation of the Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF,
www.openebook.org), the eBook industry trade and standards association, was
cited in a major report released in February 2003 by the Library of Congress.
Entitled “Plan for the National Digital Information Infrastructure and
Preservation Program,” the report is the culmination of efforts over the past
two years with representatives from industry, government, and academia to
outline a research and development agenda to preserve the nation’s digital
artifacts. ITL represents NIST on the Library of Congress’s National Digital
Strategy Advisory Board, whose members and associates contributed to this plan
(for more information and the full report, see www.digitalpreservation.gov).
ITL’s electronic book efforts are highlighted as standards for electronic
formats that are important in developing architectures for the preservation of
electronic books, electronic journals, electronic newspapers, and other “born
digital” media. ITL led the overall development of the Open eBook Standard
Specification 1.0, which has been adopted by the publishing industry as the
format used in the conversion of electronic documents for various
computer/hardware reading platforms and eBook file formats which can now be
purchased on websites like Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.
The report also cites the continuing need for
standards and interoperability for various digital media types, and guidelines
for their asset management and long-term storage. Digital preservation encompasses both the network of content
providers and end-users, and also the architecture of connecting the various
archival repositories. This work impacts not only the Library of Congress and
their mission to preserve the nation’s heritage, but also enterprise markets in
healthcare, finance, and homeland
security. ITL’s current research effort in digital
preservation involves compatibility testing for DVDs and life expectancy for
writable optical discs. Collaborators include the Library of Congress, the
Optical Storage Technology Association, and the
DVD Association. The website is http://www.itl.nist.gov/div895/.
On March 4, 2003, a Federal Register notice announced the proposed withdrawal of 17 FIPS because they have not been updated to reference current or revised voluntary industry standards. Some of the FIPS adopt data standards that are developed and used by other federal agencies; these have not been updated to reflect changes in the data representations. The remaining FIPS provide advisory guidance to federal agencies on computer security issues; these have been updated and issued in more recent recommendations and publications available at http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/.
The following FIPS are proposed for withdrawal from the FIPS series:
FIPS 8-6 Metropolitan Areas (Including MSAs, CMSAs, PMSAs, and NECMAs)
FIPS 9-1 Congressional Districts of the U.S.
FIPS 31 Guidelines for Automatic Data Processing Physical Security and
Risk Management
FIPS 48 Guidelines on Evaluation of Techniques for Automated Personal
Identification
FIPS 55-3 Codes for Named Populated Places, Primary County Divisions,
and Other Locational Entities of the United States, Puerto Rico, and
the Outlying Areas
FIPS 66 Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Codes
FIPS 73 Guidelines for Security of Computer Applications
FIPS 83 Guideline on User Authentication Techniques for Computer
Network Access Control
FIPS 87 Guidelines for ADP Contingency Planning
FIPS 92 Guideline for Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Codes
FIPS 95-2 Codes for the Identification of Federal and Federally
Assisted Organizations
FIPS 102 Guideline for Computer Security Certification and
Accreditation
FIPS 112 Password Usage
FIPS 127-2 Database Language SQL (ANSI X3.135-1992)
FIPS 159 Detail Specification for 62.5-um Core Diameter/125-um
Cladding Diameter Class 1A Multimode, Graded-index Optical Waveguide Fibers
FIPS 171 Key Management Using ANSI X9.17
FIPS 173-1 Spatial Data Transfer Standard.
Prior to the submission of this proposed withdrawal
to the Secretary of Commerce for review and approval, NIST wants to assure that
consideration is given to the needs and views of manufacturers, the public, and
State and local governments. Comments on the proposed withdrawal of these FIPS
must be received on or before June 2, 2003. Written comments concerning
the withdrawal of these FIPS should be sent to Information Technology
Laboratory, ATTN: Proposed Withdrawal of 17 FIPS, Mail Stop 8930, National
Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD
20899. Electronic comments should be sent to fips.comments@nist.gov. Information
about the FIPS is available on the NIST web pages: http://www.itl.nist.gov/fipspubs/index.htm.
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The 2002 ITL Technical Accomplishments report is now
available at
http://www.itl.nist.gov.
For a complimentary hardcopy of the report, e-mail
elizabeth.lennon@nist.gov.
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UPCOMING TECHNICAL CONFERENCES
The purpose of this conference is to identify the high-priority workforce, technical, and policy issues associated with improving the performance, enhancing security features, and evaluating commercially available IT products for secure applications and to develop action plans for addressing these issues.
Date: May 20, 2003
Place: NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland
Sponsors: IEEE – USA Committee on Communications and Information Policy, NIST, and Carnegie Mellon University/Sustainable Computing Consortium.
Audience: Senior government officials, industry executives, educators, policy analysts, scientists, and engineers involved in the design, development, procurement and/or testing of IT products and services.
Technical contact: Ron Ross, (301) 975-5390, ronald.ross@nist.gov
Conference website: http://ieeeusa.org/conferences/secureit/default.asp
This annual DVD conference will serve as a forum to discuss the latest technical developments, applications, and standards for DVD technology. The conference will feature the leading experts in DVD and exhibits. Topics include HD-DVD: Blue Laser Technology and DVD; DVD Games: The Next Generation; Digital Preservation and the Role of DVD; DVD Usage in the Federal Government; DVD Standards Update, and Niche Markets.
Date: June 9-11, 2003
Place: NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland
Sponsors: DVD Association and NIST
Audience: Archivists, software developers, government employees, and librarians.
Technical contact: Victor McCrary, (301) 975-4321, victor.mccrary@nist.gov
Conference website: http://www.itl.nist.gov/div895/DVD2003/.
The purpose of this workshop is to identify current and planned federal government activities and related needs, general issues, existing voluntary industry consensus standards, gap areas in standards coverage, and industry capabilities in the field of storage and processor card technologies. It is anticipated that the workshop will support development of a standards roadmap, and a guideline on storage and processor card technologies to include multi-technology composition issues. The goal of this initial workshop is to develop and exchange information on the standards for and capabilities of multi-technology storage and processor cards.
Dates: July 8-9, 2003
Place: NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland
Sponsor: NIST
Audience: Users and vendors of ISO/IEC 7810 Storage and Processor Cards.
Technical contact: Curt Barker, (301) 975-8443, william.barker@nist.gov
Conference website: http://csrc.nist.gov/card-technology/index.html
Disclaimer: Any mention of commercial products or reference to commercial organizations is for information only; it does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology nor does it imply that the products mentioned are necessarily the best available for the purpose.