High-Tech HNC to use data scanning to flush out terrorists

Cubic Subsidiary Wins Two Transit Contracts

San Diego-based HNC Software Inc. says it wants to harness its fraud-spotting technology to comb through airline reservation data and spot potential terrorists.

The company announced Oct. 4 it would work with Houston-based Pros Revenue Management Inc. on the project.

In a separate announcement that day, publicly traded HNC warned its earnings would fall below analyst expectations. The company will announce third quarter earnings Oct. 17.

The company said it expects operating earnings per share in the range of 13 cents to 15 cents. That compares with an analysts’ consensus of 18 cents a share. The analysts had been polled by Thomson financial/First Call.

HNC software already catches credit card and insurance fraud.

The company’s joint project with Pros would apply the software’s scanning power to millions of airline reservations to detect subtle patterns.

In an interview with Reuters, HNC Chief Executive Officer John Mutch gave the example of the software spotting five people of the same origin traveling together, using a certain kind of payment, falling between the ages of 25 and 40, and having limited credit history.

Bottom line, if an airline finds a disturbing pattern in its bookings, it could investigate further.

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Going Places:

Shifting the scene from the airport to buses and rapid transit, Cubic Corp. subsidiary Cubic Transportation Systems announced two wins in September and October. The company was awarded a $15 million contract to add its smart card fare collection system to bus networks serving Washington, D.C., suburbs in Virginia and Maryland. It also scored a $5.5 million contract for fare collection equipment for the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District, or BART.

Taking The Reins:

Since starting at Palomar Technologies, Inc. in 1997, Kevin Conlon has been vice president of sales and marketing. He has also been COO.

Now he is president of the Vista company. Palomar’s former president, Gary Gist, made the announcement. Gist keeps his job as board chairman.

The company makes machinery for assembling optoelectronic and radio-frequency wireless hardware.

In unrelated news, EdMin.com of San Diego is shuffling leadership following a merger.

Last month the company announced it was buying the Web portal Education World of Connecticut. Now the portal’s president, Thomas Jandris, has been named EdMin’s president.

EdMin provides Web-based services to teachers, school administrators and parents.

Jandris succeeds Clayton Hoyle in the job. Hoyle, an EdMin cofounder and its president for more than a decade, remains on the company board and will be active in communications and business development.

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In Good Repute:

The Service