Risk Assessment Techniques for Civil Aviation Security

Following the 9/11 terrorists attacks a strong economical effort was made to improve and adapt aviation security, both in infrastructures as in airplanes. National and international guidelines were promptly developed with the objective of creating a security management system able to supervise the identification of risks and the definition and optimisation of control measures. Risk assessment techniques are thus crucial in the above process, since an incorrect risk identification and quantification can strongly affect both the security level as the investments needed to reach it. The paper proposes a set of methodologies to qualitatively and quantitatively assess the risk in the security of civil aviation and the risk assessment process based on the threats, criticality and vulnerabilities concepts, highlighting their correlation in determining the level of risk. RAMS techniques are applied to the airport security system in order to analyse the protection equipment for critical facilities located in air-side, allowing also the estimation of the importance of the security improving measures vs. their effectiveness

A novel compliant surgical robot: Preliminary design analysis

A robotic surgical system capable of performing minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is proposed in this paper. Based on the requirements of MIS, a compliant, seven- degrees of freedom (7-DOF) pneumatically actuated mechanism is designed. A remote center of motion (RCM) as a parallelogram mechanism for holding the laparoscopic camera is also developed. The operating workspace of robotic surgical system is determined considering the physical constraints imposed by mechanical joints. The simulation results show that the robotic system meets the design requirement. This research will lay a good foundation for the development of a compliant surgical robot to assist in MIS

Some Issues Regarding Collection and Exchange of Passenger Name Record Data

Autori u članku istražuju razvoj prikupljanja podataka o putnicima u zračnom prometu (engl. Passenger Name Record – PNR) te probleme kod njihove uporabe i razmjene za sigurnosne i kriminalističke potrebe. Analiziraju sporna pitanja koja su se javljala u pravnim okvirima Europske unije te istražuju međuodnos temeljnih prava građana, učinkovitosti uporabe prikupljanih podataka i perspektive razvoja. Američko poticanje razmjene podataka rezultiralo je donošenjem sporazuma o PNR-u između SAD-a i EU-a nakon čega je uslijedila dugogodišnja bitka subjekata EU-a oko potrebe donošenja pravnog akta koji bi uspostavio i regulirao sustav PNR za države članice. Nakon iscrpnih analiza i prijedloga, a kao ubrzana reakcija i politički odgovor na terorističke napade u Parizu, godine 2016. na snagu je stupila Direktiva 2016/681 o uporabi podataka radi sprečavanja, otkrivanja, istrage i kaznenog progona kaznenih djela terorizma i teških kaznenih djela. Nakon implementacije, države članice osnovale su svoje odjele za informacije o putnicima. Uz osvrt na suprotstavljena stajališta o uvođenju jednoga opsežnog informacijskog sustava za prikupljanje osobnih podataka, na kraju članka prikazano je i trenutačno stanje u Hrvatskoj.The authors conducted the research on the development of data collection on passenger name record (PNR) data and problems regarding their use and exchange for security and criminal investigation purposes. They analyzed the controversial issues that have occurred within the legal framework of the European Union and conducted the research on the interrelation of citizens\u27 fundamental rights and data collection efficiency. The US instigation for the exchange of information has resulted in the adoption of a PNR agreement between the US and the EU, followed by the EU\u27s longstanding battle over the need for a legal act to establish and regulate the PNR system for Member States. After thorough analysis, proposals and unsuccessful attempts by science and profession, and as a rapid reaction and political response to terrorist attacks in Paris, Directive 2016/681 on the use of passenger name record (PNR) data for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offences and serious crime came into force on 27 April 2016. After implementation, Member States have established their passenger information units (PIUs). With a review on the opposing views of the establishment of a large-scale information system for collection and processing of personal data, at the end of the article the current situation in Croatia is also presented

US-Mexico Border: Building a Smarter Wall through Strategic Security Measure Allocation

We offer a quantitative construct for optimizing security measure investments, to achieve the most costeffective deterrence and detection capabilities for the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). We constructed a large-scale multiple-objective portfolio optimization integer program that rapidly returns good Pareto optimal results. The model incorporates the utility of each measure and the probability of success, along with multiple other objectives. To the best of our knowledge, our work presents the first mathematical model that optimizes security strategies for the CBP and is the first to introduce a utility factor to emphasize deterrence and detection impact. The model accommodates different resources, constraints, and various types of objectives. The solution methodologies being put in place are complex, current state-of-the-art, and very effective

Coordinated defender strategies for border patrols

International audienceAn effective patrol of a large area can require the coordinated action of diverse security resources. In this work we formulate a Stackelberg Security game that coordinates such resources in a border patrol problem. In this security domain, resources from different precincts have to be paired to conduct patrols in the border due to logistic constraints. Given this structure the set of pure defender strategies is of exponential size. We describe the set of mixed strategies using a polynomial number of variables but exponentially many constraints that come from the matching polytope. We then include this description in a mixed integer formulation to compute the Strong Stackelberg Equilibrium efficiently with a branch and cut scheme. Since the optimal patrol solution is a probability distribution over the set of exponential size, we also introduce an efficient sampling method that can be used to deploy the security resources every shift. Our computational results evaluate the efficiency of the branch and cut scheme developed and the accuracy of the sampling method. We show the applicability of the methodology by solving a real world border patrol problem

Two-stage security screening strategies in the face of strategic applicants, congestions and screening errors

Abstract In a security screening system, a tighter screening policy not only increases the security level, but also causes congestion for normal people, which may deter their use and decrease the approver's payoff. Adapting to the screening policies, adversary and normal applicants choose whether to enter the screening system. Security managers could use screening policies to deter adversary applicants, but could also lose the benefits of admitting normal applicants when they are deterred, which generates a tradeoff. This paper analyzes the optimal screening policies in an imperfect two-stage screening system with potential screening errors at each stage, balancing security and congestion in the face of strategic normal and adversary applicants. We provide the optimal levels of screening strategies for the approver and the best-response application strategies for each type of applicant. This paper integrates game theory and queueing theory to study the optimal two-stage policies under discriminatory and non-discriminatory screening policies. We extend the basic model to the optimal allocation of total service rate to the assumed two types of applicants at the second stage and find that most of the total service rate are assigned to the service rate for the assumed "Bad" applicants. This paper provides some novel policy insights which may be useful for security screening practices

Risk analysis in biometric-based Border Inspection System

The main goal of a Border Inspection System is to prevent the entry of individuals who pose a threat to a country. The entry of just one of these persons could have severe consequences. Nevertheless, performing a lengthy border inspection is not possible, given that 240,737 international passengers enter the country in an average day [5]. For this reason, the primary inspection is performed using biometrics traits and information flow processes that have a low false acceptance rate and have a high throughput.;This thesis uses the analytic modeling tool called LQNS (Layered Queueing Network Solver) to solve open models for biometric-based border inspection system and cost curves to evaluate the risk. The contributions of the thesis include a performance model of a biometric-based border inspection using open workloads and a risk model of a biometric-based border inspection using cost curves. Further, we propose an original methodology for analyzing a combination of performance risk and security risk in the border inspection system

Risk based passenger screening in aviation security: implications and variants of a new paradigm.

In “Risk Based Passenger Screening in Aviation Security: Implications and Variants of a New Paradigm”, Sebastian Weydner-Volkmann describes the current paradigm shift from ‘traditional’ forms of screening to ‘risk based passenger screening’ (RBS) in aviation security. This paradigm shift is put in the context of the wider historical development of risk management approaches. Through a discussion of Michel Foucault, Herfried Münkler and Ulrich Beck, Weydner-Volkmann analyses the shortcomings of such approaches in public security policies, which become especially evident in the aviation security context. As he shows, the turn towards methods of RBS can be seen as an attempt to address a trade-off ‘trilemma’ between the effective provision of security, the implied costs for industry and passengers, and the ethical, legal and societal implications of the screening procedures. In order to analyse foreseeable outcomes of embracing RBS, he differentiates three prototypical variants of the new paradigm on the basis of their main referent and rationale. For each variant, he then subsequently assesses the implications for the ‘trilemma’, after having unveiled the criteria of analysis that will necessarily have to be followed within a serious appraisal of RBS methods

A Step toward Ending Long Airport Security Lines: The Modified Boarding Pass

Anyone who has traveled by air has most likely experienced long airport security lines. Yet not much is known about its cause because few have considered if passengers have created this problem for themselves. The present study attempts to fill this research gap by suggesting that when passengers are not well-prepared for security screening, they delay the process by making mistakes and not complying with procedures. This lack of preparedness can be attributed to several shortcomings of security signposts. This study proposes the use of a modified boarding pass as an alternative form of signage to help passengers better prepare for security screening. In a recall evaluation of the items to remove prior to security screening, the combination of the modified boarding pass and security signposts led to greater recall than when either stimuli were used alone. In an airport survey to gather public sentiment, three-quarters of the respondents saw value in the idea of the modified boarding pass. Although the majority of the respondents were receptive to it becoming an option for future travel, many also felt that the modified boarding pass would be more useful than security signposts or announcements at conveying helpful security screening information