Crossmatch awarded $5.8 Million IARPA contract to develop next-gen biometric presentation attack detection technologies

With the recent signing of a $58 million contract, Crossmatch will work closely with Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), a research arm within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, to develop next-generation Presentation Attack Detection (PAD) technologies for IARPA’s Thor program.

“Innovation has been a driving force within Crossmatch from the onset and IARPA’s Thor program will allow us to innovate and develop new technologies and solutions that surpass existing PAD systems,” said Crossmatch SVP-CTO Bill McClurg. “These solutions will drive new commercial opportunities and market demand, and Crossmatch is excited to have this opportunity to participate in the IARPA Thor program.”

Biometric PAs, also known as biometric spoofing, attempt to circumvent the protection of a biometric system by falsely representing biometric data in such a way as to gain access or avoid identification.  The goal of the Thor program is to develop reliable PAD technologies not easily deceived when someone attempts to disguise their true biometric identity in order to game the system.

Research and development will be ongoing through early 2021.