Suffering the same fate as many other technology projects during our economic slowdown it appears the CommerceGuard project has had it operations suspended by GE. The CommerceGuard project was responsible for development of the CommerceGuard Container Security Device System (CSD) whose purpose was to track and secure shipment containers. The system was developed to meet the needs set forth by the Department of Homeland Security(DHS) which called for
a sophisticated security system within the electronics industry that can detect unauthorized breaches on all six sides of a standard cargo container or an intrusion through the door while also monitor and relay conditions inside the container such as humidity temperature and oxygen levels.
Put simply.
A more effective and secure way to track and audit who is accessing cargo containers shipped before it hits our shorelines.
Still early February of this year began to signal the beginning of the end for the project when it appeared that GE was not interested in further testing the technology. This was done just prior to a critical round of testing by DHS. Perhaps the reason for the hesitation in further testing was because the solution uses RFID technology. A technology proven long ago to be susceptible to hijacking & hacking attempts. The company sited a variety of reasons from developmental costs, speed of updated data, to maintenance costs.
A bit more on the CSD technology concept.
It uses 2 devices to monitor when ever a cargo container is opened or closed. The internal wall sensor & the door sensor work in unison to monitor and make a note of the date, time, and location of containers as they are accessed. It will also audit the amount of times this information has been queried and by whom. This process is kicked off by the shipper as they seal and virtually “Lock” their container using a hand held mobile device. This information can be referenced by receiving ports and either inspected or cleared based partly on this type of access audit. It can also be exported to various standardized data formats.
EDIT: This post was edited to correct inaccuracies on some of the details provided. Apologies for the Error..
