Taggant

A taggant can mean a radio frequency microchip used in automated identification and data capture (see RFID). In such cases, electronic devices use radio waves to track and identify items, such as pharmaceutical products, by assigning individual serial numbers to the containers holding each product. This technology may prevent the diversion or counterfeiting of drugs by allowing wholesalers and pharmacists to determine the identity and dosage of individual products.

A taggant is also a chemical or physical marker added to materials to allow various forms of testing. It is believed that they generally consist of microscopic particles built up in many layers, which are made of different materials. It is a somewhat secretive process, but products that may be affected include ink, paper, perfume, and medication. Taggants allow testing marked items for qualities such as lot number and concentration (to test for dilution, for example). In particular, taggants are known to be widely used in plastic, sheet and flexible explosives.

A software taggant is a cryptographic signature added to software that enables positive origin identification and integrity of programs. Software taggants are using standard PKI techniques (see Public key infrastructure) and were introduced by the Industry Connections Security Group of IEEE in an attempt to control proliferation of malware obfuscated via executable compression.

Explosive taggants

There are two types of taggant which have been considered for use with explosives. One is to help detect the presence of a bomb in, for example, airport screening of luggage; and the other to assist the police in identifying the explosive after the detonation of such a bomb.

Detection taggants

These are volatile chemicals which will slowly evaporate from the explosive and can be detected in the atmosphere by either detection dogs or specialised machines. They are intended to enhance the detectability of the explosive by instruments or animals thus revealing the presence of a bomb containing the explosive to be detected. Although various technologies exist to detect untagged explosives, detection taggants help to increase their reliability. The inclusion of detection taggants in explosives is mandatory in some countries. Following the bombing of PanAm 103 over Scotland, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) was instrumental in effecting a world wide requirement for placing a detection taggant in plastic bonded explosives.

There is a choice between four possible detection taggant chemicals which must be added to plastic explosives under the 1991 International Civil Aviation Organization's Convention on the Marking of Plastic Explosives for the Purpose of Detection. In the United States the marker is always 2,3-dimethyl-2,3-dinitrobutane, usually called DMDNB or DMNB. Dogs are very sensitive to it and can detect as little as 0.5 parts per billion in the air, as can specialised ion mobility spectrometers. Other taggants in use are ethylene glycol dinitrate, known as EGDN and used to mark Semtex, ortho-mononitrotoluene (o-MNT), and para-mononitrotoluene (p-MNT).

Identification (or post detonation) taggants

These have been considered for introduction in industrial explosives so that the manufacturer and batch number can be determined if they are used illegally. The taggant must survive the detonation of the product and not be contaminated by the environment afterwards. Several different technologies have been considered, but the most common are microscopic polymer/metallic particles. Taggant evidence was crucial in the 1980 conviction of James L. McFillin in Maryland for the truck bombing murder of Nathan A. Allen, Sr.[1]

Testing programs and studies conducted by government agencies and industry have concluded that minimal benefit is realized by law enforcement agencies as compared to the cost to the consumer of the tagged product. A significant reason cited is that most terrorist attacks use homemade explosives (HME) which would not be tagged. For instance, in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and in the Oklahoma City and Omagh bombings. Contamination of the site is also cited as a problem, since countless different taggants might be present at a crime scene from, for example, explosives used to obtain the building materials.

Switzerland passed a law in 1980 requiring taggants in explosives manufactured there, and that the code must be changed every six months. So far it is the only country which requires identification taggants. Imported explosives must be tagged only if competing products are also manufactured in Switzerland.

Taggants for Brand Protection

When used as a chemical marker, taggants can be used for authentication of products and documents. Taggants are sometimes used by brand owners and governments to authenticate commonly counterfeited items. Taggants are integrated into the material of the item itself or into the packaging. Once integrated, the taggants can only be verified with specially engineered readers.

Common Taggant Anticounterfeiting Features of Taggants for Brand Protection

Common Taggant Anticounterfeiting Applications

References

  1. ↑ "UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. James L. McFILLIN, Appellant.". Retrieved October 29, 2014.

External links