Transportation, Terrorism and Crime: Deterrence, Disruption and Resilience

Abstract: Terrorists likely have adopted vehicle ramming as a tactic because it can be carried out by an individual (or “lone wolf terrorist”), and because the skills required are minimal (e.g. the ability to drive a car and determine locations for creating maximum carnage). Studies of terrorist activities against transportation assets have been conducted to help law enforcement agencies prepare their communities, create mitigation measures, conduct effective surveillance and respond quickly to attacks. This study reviews current research on terrorist tactics against transportation assets, with an emphasis on vehicle ramming attacks. It evaluates some of the current attack strategies, and the possible mitigation or response tactics that may be effective in deterring attacks or saving lives in the event of an attack. It includes case studies that can be used as educational tools for understanding terrorist methodologies, as well as ordinary emergencies that might become a terrorist’s blueprint

Security risk assessment and protection in the chemical and process industry

This article describes a security risk assessment and protection methodology that was developed for use in the chemical- and process industry in Belgium. The approach of the method follows a risk-based approach that follows desing principles for chemical safety. That approach is beneficial for workers in the chemical industry because they recognize the steps in this model from familiar safety models .The model combines the rings-of-protection approach with generic security practices including: management and procedures, security technology (e.g. CCTV, fences, and access control), and human interactions (pro-active as well as re-active). The method is illustrated in a case-study where a practical protection plan was developed for an existing chemical company. This chapter demonstrates that the method is useful for similar chemical- and process industrial activities far beyond the Belgian borders, as well as for cross-industrial security protection. This chapter offers an insight into how the chemical sector protects itself on the one hand, and an insight into how security risk management can be practiced on the other hand

Ensuring Cyber-Security in Smart Railway Surveillance with SHIELD

Modern railways feature increasingly complex embedded computing systems for surveillance, that are moving towards fully wireless smart-sensors. Those systems are aimed at monitoring system status from a physical-security viewpoint, in order to detect intrusions and other environmental anomalies. However, the same systems used for physical-security surveillance are vulnerable to cyber-security threats, since they feature distributed hardware and software architectures often interconnected by ‘open networks’, like wireless channels and the Internet. In this paper, we show how the integrated approach to Security, Privacy and Dependability (SPD) in embedded systems provided by the SHIELD framework (developed within the EU funded pSHIELD and nSHIELD research projects) can be applied to railway surveillance systems in order to measure and improve their SPD level. SHIELD implements a layered architecture (node, network, middleware and overlay) and orchestrates SPD mechanisms based on ontology models, appropriate metrics and composability. The results of prototypical application to a real-world demonstrator show the effectiveness of SHIELD and justify its practical applicability in industrial settings

Physical Protection System, Corrective Actions, and Weaknesses Identification Based on Nuclear Security Series: The Hypothetical Atomic Research Institute (HARI) Case

The paper is an attempt, based on the IAEA’s Nuclear Security Series (NSS), to identify any unacceptable dysfunction of Physical Protection System (PPS) of the Material Test Reactor (MTR) facility in a Hypothetical Atomic Research Institute (HARI). The evaluation of an existing or a proposed PPS requires a methodical approach whereby the ability of the security system to meet defined protection goals as the safeguard against possibility of sabotage and theft should be measured. Without such kind of careful assessment, the PPS might waste valuable resources on unnecessary protection or, worse yet, fail to provide adequate protection at critical points of the facility. In this work, an assessment of the PPS weaknesses for a hypothetical facility against malicious acts is presented. Hence, those weaknesses are founded during the examination of the site to build a 3D computerized simulation to simulate force engagement to evaluate the physical protection system effectiveness. Based on the IAEA nuclear security series publications, the paper proposes a new layout to correct the vulnerabilities, and another analysis of the changes made for the MTR wall thicknesses access control and the redesigned building plan

Framework for integrated oil pipeline monitoring and incident mitigation systems

Wireless Sensor Nodes (motes) have witnessed rapid development in the last two decades. Though the design considerations for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have been widely discussed in the literature, limited investigation has been done for their application in pipeline surveillance. Given the increasing number of pipeline incidents across the globe, there is an urgent need for innovative and effective solutions for deterring the incessant pipeline incidents and attacks. WSN pose as a suitable candidate for such solutions, since they can be used to measure, detect and provide actionable information on pipeline physical characteristics such as temperature, pressure, video, oil and gas motion and environmental parameters. This paper presents specifications of motes for pipeline surveillance based on integrated systems architecture. The proposed architecture utilizes a Multi-Agent System (MAS) for the realization of an Integrated Oil Pipeline Monitoring and Incident Mitigation System (IOPMIMS) that can effectively monitor and provide actionable information for pipelines. The requirements and components of motes, different threats to pipelines and ways of detecting such threats presented in this paper will enable better deployment of pipeline surveillance systems for incident mitigation. It was identified that the shortcomings of the existing wireless sensor nodes as regards their application to pipeline surveillance are not effective for surveillance systems. The resulting specifications provide a framework for designing a cost-effective system, cognizant of the design considerations for wireless sensor motes used in pipeline surveillance

Small unmanned airborne systems to support oil and gas pipeline monitoring and mapping

Acknowledgments We thank Johan Havelaar, Aeryon Labs Inc., AeronVironment Inc. and Aeronautics Inc. for kindly permitting the use of materials in Fig. 1.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Creating stand of CCTV for training specialists in security at nuclear facilities

Решению задач по обеспечению физической защиты ядерных материалов и режима нераспространения в наши дни уделяется пристальное внимание в ядерной энергетике. Подготовка специалистов в области безопасности является важнейшей задачей. Поскольку подготовку специалистов на самом ядерном объекте осуществлять невозможно по некоторым причинам, для выполнения этой задачи удобным является использование стендов. Целью работы являлось создание стенда видеонаблюдения