Security and Spying With Nanotechnology as Tiny Spy Dust Chips Track Your Movements

Nox Defense has released an invisible perimeter defense technology, which combines high-resolution video pictures and radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, sometimes referred to as "spy chips", to track assets and people in real time. The system allows security officers to see a theft or intrusion as it happens, and track a stolen object even if concealed inside a briefcase, under a jacket, or stuffed inside a sock. The FBI is among early adopters of the Nox Intelligent Perimeter Defense system, though has not released details how it will use the system.

RFID is the technology behind access cards, security tags, and now passports. Nox differs from traditional security systems in using RFID for clandestine surveillance: RFID readers are hidden inside walls, floors, and ceilings; RFID tags are secretly and discretely placed; only the security personnel know the system is in place and personnel are tracked without their knowledge. A thief or intruder sees nothing. Nox provides no physical boundaries.

Traditional security systems are simply not proving effective against criminals. According to the American Management Association, employees at US companies steal over a billion dollars a week from their employers, which requires $20 billion in sales every week just to cover the losses. That is a yearly economic impact of $1 trillion. A commander with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), who asked to remain anonymous, explains: "It takes a criminal 12 seconds to defeat a lock or fence. Yet, we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to create fences that only provide an illusion of security. Nox creates a virtual perimeter that tells us who is penetrating the perimeter, when they are doing it and, where it's happening."

"The key to an effective surveillance system is intelligence in the equipment itself," added Carl Brown, President of Nox Defense. "It does no good to install a thousand video cameras if a thousand people have to watch them all day. The system must have the ability to recognize a problem and send an alert automatically, with no human attendant."

One of the more covert Nox Defense technologies is ID-Dust, small RFID chips that are sprinkled on the floor. People pick up the ID-Dust on their shoes, which covert RFID readers track, triggering video surveillance and alerting security personnel on hand-held devices. The Nox software creates a complete history of exactly where the person travels and when, and combines a facility map with real-time video surveillance.

The RFID tags are custom to the NOX system. Asset tags are small, silent until activated (either via motion or external inputs), and secure; they use encrypted RF conversations and cannot be duplicated.