Body bombs: Threats and detection of suicide bombers

Following recent news of

an attempted attack on Mohammed Bin Nayef

, the head of Saudi Arabia's counter terrorism operations, this past August, many in the intelligence community have raised concerns about the ability to prevent such attacks. To learn more about improvised explosive devices (IEDs) worn on or even "in" the human body, SecurityInfoWatch.com interviewed Robert P. Daly, the chief technology officer for Brijot Imaging Systems, to discuss such threat vectors and technologies available to identify these threats. His interview appears below.

SIW: News that a terrorist managed to explode himself in an apparent attempt to kill a Saudi prince brought to light the use of "body bombs", where the explosive device is concealed inside the human body. Is there technology available to reliably detect threats hidden inside the body, such as in the intestines and abdomen?

Daly: Detection of concealed explosives in an abdomen or rectal areas would be done by the aid of a radiological investigation. There are commercially available semi-transmissive x-ray machines on the market. However, they are slow, difficult to use and require very specialized training. I am unaware of any security checkpoint deployments. Alternatively, the detonation device consisting of a cell phone, which was most likely concealed externally, could have easily been detected by imaging technologies using passive millimeter wave like the Brijot system, active millimeter wave or backscatter technologies. Additionally, the would-be assassin had given himself up during Ramadan and was given audience to the Prince for repentance, who although closely guarded, was not subjected to any screening other than metal detectors at the airports he passed through. Since the detonator and explosive material were made of plastic/non-metallic materials the metal detectors would not detect them externally or internally.

SIW: What are the types of detection technologies that can be applied in such situations?