The Science and Technology of Counterterrorism

The Science and Technology of Counterterrorism

by Carl Young
Released February 2014
Publisher(s): Butterworth-Heinemann
ISBN: 9780124200616

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Book description

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

Table of contents

  1. Cover image
  2. Title page
  3. Table of Contents
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Acknowledgments
  7. About the Author
  8. Preface
  9. Part I: Modeling Terrorism Risk
    1. Chapter 1: Terrorism Threats, Risk, and Risk Assessments
      1. 1.1 Introduction: Decisions and Risk
      2. 1.2 Threats and the Components of Risk
      3. 1.3 Risk Assessments
      4. 1.4 Security Risk Trade-Offs
      5. 1.5 Security Risk in Context
      6. 1.6 Risk Factors
      7. 1.7 Counterterrorism Controls
      8. 1.8 Counterterrorism Methods
      9. 1.9 Operational Requirements
      10. 1.10 Performance Specifications
      11. 1.11 Security Risk Assessment Frameworks, Security Standards, and Security Risk Metrics
      12. Summary
      13. Problems
    2. Chapter 2: Organizing and Assessing Terrorism Risk
      1. 2.1 A Taxonomy of Terrorism Threats
      2. 2.2 Counterterrorism Standards and Risk Metrics
      3. 2.3 The Cost of Risk Mitigation
      4. 2.4 Medical Analogies
      5. 2.5 Simple Risk Assessments
      6. 2.6 Security Theatre
      7. Summary
      8. Problems
    3. Chapter 3: Uncertainty and Terrorism
      1. 3.1 Introduction
      2. 3.2 Uncertainty, Entropy, and Randomness
      3. 3.3 The Normal Distribution
      4. 3.4 Uncertainty Applied to Terrorism
      5. Summary
      6. Problems
    4. Chapter 4: Physical Models of Terrorism
      1. 4.1 Introduction
      2. 4.2 Point Sources of Radiation
      3. 4.3 Exponential Growth and Decay
      4. 4.4 Harmonic Motion and the Single Degree of Freedom Model
      5. 4.5 Gaussian Plumes
      6. Summary
      7. Problems
      8. Supplementary Problems
    5. Chapter 5: Exploiting Terrorism Uncertainty
      1. 5.1 Introduction: Addressing Terrorism Risk Factors
      2. 5.2 Risk Factor-Related Incidents; Indirect Measurements of Security Risk
      3. 5.3 The “Probability of Protection” Method
      4. 5.4 The Probability of Protection Method Summary
      5. 5.5 Physical Access Control System Risk Statistics
      6. Summary
      7. Problems
  10. Part II: Measuring Terrorism Risk
    1. Chapter 6: Conventional Explosive Threats and Risk Mitigation
      1. 6.1 Introduction
      2. 6.2 Applying the Single Degree of Freedom Model
      3. 6.3 Explosive Overpressure and Impulse Parametric Scaling
      4. 6.4 Blast Effects: A Qualitative Description
      5. 6.5 The Effects of Distance and Payload
      6. 6.6 Vehicle-Borne Explosives
      7. 6.7 Vehicle-Borne Explosive Risk: A Simple Calculation
      8. 6.8 Barriers and Bollards
      9. 6.9 Assessing Bollard Effectiveness
      10. 6.10 Antiblast Film
      11. 6.11 Explosive Detection
      12. 6.12 X-Ray Inspection Technology
      13. 6.13 The Dangling Crane: Terror Without Terrorists
      14. Summary
      15. Problems
    2. Chapter 7: Nontraditional Terrorist Threats and Risk Mitigation
      1. 7.1 Introduction
      2. 7.2 Radiological Dispersion Devices (RDDs)
      3. 7.3 Biological Threats and Risk
      4. 7.4 Chemical Threats and Risk
      5. 7.5 Electromagnetic Pulse Threats and Risk
      6. Summary
      7. Problems
    3. Chapter 8: Electronic Terrorism Threats, Risk, and Risk Mitigation
      1. 8.1 Introduction to Electronic Security
      2. 8.2 Denial-of-Service (DoS) Attacks and Security Controls
      3. 8.3 Advanced Persistent Threats (APT)/Malware, Client-Side Exploits, and Security Controls
      4. Summary
      5. Problems
    4. Chapter 9: The Convergence of Electronic and Physical Security Risk
      1. 9.1 Introduction: Cultural and Organizational Drivers of Security
      2. 9.2 Electronic and Physical Security Vulnerabilities of a Physical Access Control System
      3. 9.3 Physical Security of Data Centers
      4. 9.4 An Indicative Data Center Physical Security Standard
      5. 9.5 Virtualized Environments and the Concentration of Information Security Risk
      6. 9.6 The Integration of Physical and Electronic Security within Active Directory
      7. 9.7 Physical Security Risk and Electronic Vulnerabilities
      8. Summary
      9. Problems
  11. Part III: Counterterrorism Controls
    1. Chapter 10: Authentication, Authorization, and Affiliation
      1. 10.1 Introduction
      2. 10.2 Organizational Affiliation
      3. 10.3 Background Investigations
      4. 10.4 Insider Threats and Risk Mitigation
      5. 10.5 A Mantra for Affiliation
      6. 10.6 Confirming Authorization for Access to Restricted Space
      7. 10.7 Physical Access Control IDs and Credentials
      8. 10.8 Contactless Smart Cards and Proximity Cards
      9. 10.9 Radiofrequency IDs (RFID)
      10. 10.10 The Security of Contactless Smart Cards Versus Magnetic Stripe Technologies
      11. 10.11 Multifactor Authentication of Identity
      12. 10.12 Biometric Authentication of Identity
      13. Summary
      14. Problems
    2. Chapter 11: Closed Circuit Television
      1. 11.1 Introduction
      2. 11.2 Analog and IP CCTV Cameras
      3. 11.3 CCTV Cameras and Optics
      4. 11.4 Lighting
      5. 11.5 Focal Length and f-Number
      6. 11.6 Angle-of-View and Field-of-View
      7. 11.7 Depth-of-Field
      8. 11.8 Sensitivity
      9. 11.9 Signal-to-Noise (S/N) Ratio
      10. 11.10 CCTV Image Creation
      11. 11.11 CCTV Image Recording
      12. 11.12 CCTV Signal Bandwidth and Storage Requirements
      13. 11.13 CCTV Image Resolution
      14. 11.14 Resolution Requirements for Submegapixel CCTV Systems
      15. 11.15 Resolution Requirements for Megapixel CCTV Systems
      16. 11.16 CCTV Video Compression
      17. 11.17 CCTV and Security Systems Integration
      18. 11.18 CCTV Cabling
      19. 11.19 CCTV Signal Security
      20. 11.20 CCTV Operational Summary
      21. 11.21 Special CCTV System Requirements
      22. 11.22 CCTV System Performance Specifications
      23. Summary
    3. Chapter 12: Physical Access Restriction, Incident Detection, and Scenario Monitoring
      1. 12.1 Introduction
      2. 12.2 Electric Strikes and Magnetic Locks
      3. 12.3 Doors and Portals
      4. 12.4 The Ten Plus One Commandments of Physical Access
      5. 12.5 The Importance of Physical Access Control System Specifications
      6. 12.6 Physical Access Control System Architecture and Signaling
      7. 12.7 Physical Access Control System Specifications
      8. 12.8 Security Incident Monitoring and Detection
      9. Summary
      10. Problems
  12. Epilogue
  13. Appendix A: Linearity, Nonlinearity, and Parametric Scaling
  14. Appendix B: Exponents, Logarithms, and Sensitivity to Change
  15. Appendix C: The Exponential Functions ex and e− x
  16. Appendix D: The Decibel (dB)
  17. Appendix E: Parameters for Anti-Explosive and Bullet-Resistant Window Treatments
  18. Appendix F: Half-Life
  19. Appendix G: Near Fields from Radiated Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) Power Data
    1. Deduction of M from the Radiated Power
    2. Magnetic Field Magnitude in the Near Field
  20. Index

Product information

  • Title: The Science and Technology of Counterterrorism
  • Author(s): Carl Young
  • Release date: February 2014
  • Publisher(s): Butterworth-Heinemann
  • ISBN: 9780124200616