The Science and Technology of Counterterrorism

Scientists with little or no background in security and security professionals with little or no background in science and technology often have difficulty communicating in order to implement the best counterterrorism strategies. The Science and Technology of Counterterrorism offers the necessary theoretical foundation to address real-world terrorism scenarios, effectively bridging the gap. It provides a powerful security assessment methodology, coupled with counterterrorism strategies that are applicable to all terrorism attack vectors. These include biological, chemical, radiological, electromagnetic, explosive, and electronic or cyber attacks. In addition to rigorous estimates of threat vulnerabilities and the effectiveness of risk mitigation, it provides meaningful terrorism risk metrics.

The Science and Technology of Counterterrorism teaches the reader how to think about terrorism risk, and evaluates terrorism scenarios and counterterrorism technologies with sophistication punctuated by humor. Both students and security professionals will significantly benefit from the risk assessment methodologies and guidance on appropriate counterterrorism measures contained within this book.

• Offers a simple but effective analytic framework to assess counterterrorism risk and realistic measures to address threats
• Provides the essential scientific principles and tools required for this analysis
• Explores the increasingly important relationship between physical and electronic risk in meaningful technical detail
• Evaluates technical security systems to illustrate specific risks using concrete examples
  

Security and counterterrorism practitioners; engineers and scientists in terrorism-related fields; students of security or security technologies

Dedication

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Preface

Part I: Modeling Terrorism Risk

Chapter 1: Terrorism Threats, Risk, and Risk Assessments

1.1 Introduction: Decisions and Risk

1.2 Threats and the Components of Risk

1.3 Risk Assessments

1.4 Security Risk Trade-Offs

1.5 Security Risk in Context

1.6 Risk Factors

1.7 Counterterrorism Controls

1.8 Counterterrorism Methods

1.9 Operational Requirements

1.10 Performance Specifications

1.11 Security Risk Assessment Frameworks, Security Standards, and Security Risk Metrics

Summary

Problems

Chapter 2: Organizing and Assessing Terrorism Risk

2.1 A Taxonomy of Terrorism Threats

2.2 Counterterrorism Standards and Risk Metrics

2.3 The Cost of Risk Mitigation

2.4 Medical Analogies

2.5 Simple Risk Assessments

2.6 Security Theatre

Summary

Problems

Chapter 3: Uncertainty and Terrorism

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Uncertainty, Entropy, and Randomness

3.3 The Normal Distribution

3.4 Uncertainty Applied to Terrorism

Summary

Problems

Chapter 4: Physical Models of Terrorism

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Point Sources of Radiation

4.3 Exponential Growth and Decay

4.4 Harmonic Motion and the Single Degree of Freedom Model

4.5 Gaussian Plumes

Summary

Problems

Supplementary Problems

Chapter 5: Exploiting Terrorism Uncertainty

5.1 Introduction: Addressing Terrorism Risk Factors

5.2 Risk Factor-Related Incidents; Indirect Measurements of Security Risk

5.3 The "Probability of Protection" Method

5.4 The Probability of Protection Method Summary

5.5 Physical Access Control System Risk Statistics

Summary

Problems

Part II: Measuring Terrorism Risk

Chapter 6: Conventional Explosive Threats and Risk Mitigation

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Applying the Single Degree of Freedom Model

6.3 Explosive Overpressure and Impulse Parametric Scaling

6.4 Blast Effects: A Qualitative Description

6.5 The Effects of Distance and Payload

6.6 Vehicle-Borne Explosives

6.7 Vehicle-Borne Explosive Risk: A Simple Calculation

6.8 Barriers and Bollards

6.9 Assessing Bollard Effectiveness

6.10 Antiblast Film

6.11 Explosive Detection

6.12 X-Ray Inspection Technology

6.13 The Dangling Crane: Terror Without Terrorists

Summary

Problems

Chapter 7: Nontraditional Terrorist Threats and Risk Mitigation

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Radiological Dispersion Devices (RDDs)

7.3 Biological Threats and Risk

7.4 Chemical Threats and Risk

7.5 Electromagnetic Pulse Threats and Risk

Summary

Problems

Chapter 8: Electronic Terrorism Threats, Risk, and Risk Mitigation

8.1 Introduction to Electronic Security

8.2 Denial-of-Service (DoS) Attacks and Security Controls

8.3 Advanced Persistent Threats (APT)/Malware, Client-Side Exploits, and Security Controls

Summary

Problems

Chapter 9: The Convergence of Electronic and Physical Security Risk

9.1 Introduction: Cultural and Organizational Drivers of Security

9.2 Electronic and Physical Security Vulnerabilities of a Physical Access Control System

9.3 Physical Security of Data Centers

9.4 An Indicative Data Center Physical Security Standard

9.5 Virtualized Environments and the Concentration of Information Security Risk

9.6 The Integration of Physical and Electronic Security within Active Directory

9.7 Physical Security Risk and Electronic Vulnerabilities

Summary

Problems

Part III: Counterterrorism Controls

Chapter 10: Authentication, Authorization, and Affiliation

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Organizational Affiliation

10.3 Background Investigations

10.4 Insider Threats and Risk Mitigation

10.5 A Mantra for Affiliation

10.6 Confirming Authorization for Access to Restricted Space

10.7 Physical Access Control IDs and Credentials

10.8 Contactless Smart Cards and Proximity Cards

10.9 Radiofrequency IDs (RFID)

10.10 The Security of Contactless Smart Cards Versus Magnetic Stripe Technologies

10.11 Multifactor Authentication of Identity

10.12 Biometric Authentication of Identity

Summary

Problems

Chapter 11: Closed Circuit Television

11.1 Introduction

11.2 Analog and IP CCTV Cameras

11.3 CCTV Cameras and Optics

11.4 Lighting

11.5 Focal Length and f-Number

11.6 Angle-of-View and Field-of-View

11.7 Depth-of-Field

11.8 Sensitivity

11.9 Signal-to-Noise (S/N) Ratio

11.10 CCTV Image Creation

11.11 CCTV Image Recording

11.12 CCTV Signal Bandwidth and Storage Requirements

11.13 CCTV Image Resolution

11.14 Resolution Requirements for Submegapixel CCTV Systems

11.15 Resolution Requirements for Megapixel CCTV Systems

11.16 CCTV Video Compression

11.17 CCTV and Security Systems Integration

11.18 CCTV Cabling

11.19 CCTV Signal Security

11.20 CCTV Operational Summary

11.21 Special CCTV System Requirements

11.22 CCTV System Performance Specifications

Summary

Chapter 12: Physical Access Restriction, Incident Detection, and Scenario Monitoring

12.1 Introduction

12.2 Electric Strikes and Magnetic Locks

12.3 Doors and Portals

12.4 The Ten Plus One Commandments of Physical Access

12.5 The Importance of Physical Access Control System Specifications

12.6 Physical Access Control System Architecture and Signaling

12.7 Physical Access Control System Specifications

12.8 Security Incident Monitoring and Detection

Summary

Problems

Epilogue

Appendix A: Linearity, Nonlinearity, and Parametric Scaling

Appendix B: Exponents, Logarithms, and Sensitivity to Change

Appendix C: The Exponential Functions ex and e− x

Appendix D: The Decibel (dB)

Appendix E: Parameters for Anti-Explosive and Bullet-Resistant Window Treatments

Appendix F: Half-Life

Appendix G: Near Fields from Radiated Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) Power Data

Deduction of M from the Radiated Power

Magnetic Field Magnitude in the Near Field

Index