Mail Screening Security: Where are we?

​Dating back to the 1700’s, the postal service in various countries has been used to transport packages intended to injure or even kill the recipient.

A more recent and infamous example is the USA terrorist “Unabomber,” also known as Ted Kaczynski, who killed and injured several people via mail bombs from 1978-1995. If you have not seen the Netflix Show “Manhunt Unabomber,” it may be time to do some binge-watching. Another example you may be more familiar with is the USA’s anthrax scare during 2001. A slew of anthrax-laced packages were sent that year killing five people and injuring seventeen. Preventative measures were quickly taken to help reduce the risk of further related incidents.

Nonetheless, postal threats remain a global issue. 

​Last month, attacks in Austin, Texas caused panic waves throughout the United States. Several bombs went off at various locations, and two managed to reach FedEx facilities, which are often heavily secured. Even with their implemented security, one package exploded at the FedEx center near San Antonio resulting in one injury. Authorities found the other box at a FedEx facility near Austin International airport.

Currently, the US postal service relies on both X-ray scanning and personal checks to detect suspicious items. A document provided by The US Homeland Security offers a list of measurements to take to ensure safety. As stated in the text, there is not a “one size fits all” approach. The efficiency of X-ray scanning detection has drastically improved throughout the years. Regardless of the current technology and procedures in place, the threat still stands, and we can make further improvements.

As a result of the SME-1 project, we at Luxbright have been able to discuss first hand with industry-leading companies to better understand their needs and deliver a solution to improve the detection of dangerous goods in the mail.

Furthermore, Luxbright’s developments within the ColdNano-X project offer the possibility to enhance detection rate performance in:

1. Advanced package and baggage scanning
2. Postal scanning
3. Secondary checkpoint human scanning

Check back for more updates on how Luxbright plans to improve mail scanning and safety.