Biometrics: From Kabul to Washington

Interview with Lisa SwanDeputy DirectorBiometrics Task Force, U.S. Army American combat forces deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq employ biometrics to tell our friends from insurgents and terrorists. Back home, the Defense Department uses similar fingerprint, iris and facial recognition tools to manage access to military bases and IT systems. Coordinating Defense Department efforts to find new uses of biometrics on the battlefield and back home is the Army's Biometrics Task Force, which leads Defense Department efforts to program, integrate and synchronize biometric technologies and capabilities. The task force also operates DoD's biometrics database that supports the nation's security strategy. In an interview with GovInfoSecurity.com's Eric Chabrow, Deputy Director Lisa Swan discusses the: Synergy between the use of biometrics in combat and in the office; Best situations to employ biometrics as a tool to authentic user access to IT systems; and Evolution of biometrics as an authentication tool and where new research may pay off. Swan began her government service 20 years ago. Prior to her current assignment, she served as director of the task force's Biometrics Integration Directorate, overseeing the integration, coordination, and synchronization of biometric technologies and capabilities across the Department of Defense. She holds a BS in material engineering from North Carolina State University and two MS degrees, one in systems engineering from Virginia Tech and the other in national resource management from the National Defense University.