The June 2017 Issue contains an essay which analyzes and critiques current critical infrastructure protection policy as it relates to the threat from terrorist attacks, and a research article which explores the impact of ‘smart device’ technology and social media on crisis management efforts. In “The Cold War on Terrorism: Reevaluating Critical Infrastructure Facilities as Targets…
Unpacking and Exploring the Relationship between Crisis Management and Social Media in the Era of ‘Smart Devices’
by Eric K. Stern Abstract The rise of social media and the broad diffusion of ‘smart devices’ in contemporary society have profound implications for crisis management. The emergence of social media and smart devices pose both major challenges and major opportunities to crisis managers (c.f. Palen, 2008; Veil et 2011). These social practices and technologies…
The Cold War on Terrorism: Reevaluating Critical Infrastructure Facilities as Targets for Terrorist Attacks
by David Riedman Portions of this article are excerpted from the author’s Center for Homeland Defense and Security master’s degree thesis “How Critical is Critical Infrastructure?” The full document is available in the Homeland Security Digital Library.1 Countries are inverted pyramids that rest precariously on their strategic innards–their leadership, communications, key production, infrastructure, and population.…
Cognitive Defense: Influencing the Target Choices of Less Sophisticated Threat Actors
by Jesse Wasson & Christopher Bluesteen Abstract With the emergence of non-state threats and new operating environments since the end of the Cold War, the relevance of deterrence as a security tool has repeatedly been called into doubt. Modern adversaries often lack territory, militaries, economies, or even identities to threaten and retaliate against. Their motivations are…
Coordination in Crises: Implementation of the National Incident Management System by Surface Transportation Agencies
by Nicholas B. Hambridge, Arnold M. Howitt, & David W. Giles Abstract For more than a decade, the National Incident Management System (NIMS) has served in the United States as the mandated framework for coordinated organization, operational command, and implementation of response to emergencies nationwide. This article examines whether surface transportation agencies are developing the capabilities…
What Comes Around, Goes Around (and Around and Around): Reviving the Lost History of FEMA and its Importance to Future Disasters
by H. Quinton Lucie Abstract The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) lacks a coherent historical record. Often this results in the agency repeating the mistakes of its past. By creating a comprehensive public record of FEMA and national emergency management efforts over the last half century, FEMA can break its cycle of repeating past failures and…
When Guns and Drugs are Democratized: Potential Technical Solutions to Counter the Negative Consequences of Three Dimensional Printing
by Jonathan Percy Abstract 3-D printer technology will have negative consequences in the form of weapons that cannot be traced, illicit drug manufacture, sabotage, and intellectual property theft. This article poses the following questions. How will society be affected by these changes? How will border security organizations accomplish their missions when illicit guns and drugs no longer…
Tiered Response Pyramid: A System-Wide Approach to Build Response Capability and Surge Capacity
by Joseph W. Pfeifer and Ophelia Roman Abstract Today’s expanding disaster landscape demands crisis managers to configure their organizations to handle a wider range of extreme events. This requires more varied capabilities, capacity and delivery of services. The article proposes that crisis managers must move away from organization-centered planning to a system-wide approach for preparedness.…
Apples to Apples: RAMCAP and Emerging Threats to Lifeline Infrastructure
by Richard White, Randy George, Terrance Boult, and C. Edward Chow Abstract The search for a uniform risk analysis for critical infrastructure protection prompted a look at RAMCAP to see if it accommodates emerging threats from climate change, aging infrastructure, and cybersecurity. This article examines the role of Reference Scenarios in guiding RAMCAP estimations of…
A History of Violence: A Quantitative Analysis of the History of Terrorism in New York City
By Matthew Quinn Abstract In a recent quantitative analysis of the past 40 years of terrorist activity in New York City, the FDNY’s Center for Terrorism and Disaster Preparedness identified several trends in terrorist activity that may have value to future policy formation, both in New York City and in similar municipalities elsewhere. This article…
More Options for Quantifying Deterrence and Reducing Critical Infrastructure Risk: Cognitive Biases
By Eric F. Taquechel & Ted G. Lewis Abstract We expand on the application of quantifiable deterrence to critical infrastructure/key resource protection by considering cognitive biases. These biases include what we call “information obfuscation bias” and “prospect bias”, the latter inspired by Kahneman and Tversky’s Prospect Theory. We show how quantifiable deterrence effectiveness and resulting…
Opportunities in Crisis and Catastrophe: The Issue-Attention Cycle and Political Reality
Christopher M. Kimrey Abstract Emerging problems often surprise lawmakers and agency officials and result in rapid, reactive governance. The political attention an issue does receive may or may not be sufficient to resolve the emergent problem, and in many cases may be an overreactive auto-response dictated by public opinion and issue salience. This study examines…
The Ultra-Marathoners of Human Smuggling: How to Combat the Dark Networks that Can Move Terrorists over American Land Borders
Todd Bensman Abstract National legislation requires America’s homeland security agencies to disrupt transnational human smuggling organizations capable of transporting terrorist travelers to all U.S. borders. Federal agencies have responded with programs targeting extreme-distance human smuggling networks that transport higher-risk immigrants known as special interest aliens (SIAs) from some 35 “countries of interest” in the Middle…
Questioning the Criticality of Critical Infrastructure: A Case Study Analysis
David Riedman Abstract The Department of Homeland Security holds the statutory mission to protect the nation’s critical infrastructure which is composed of nationally significant systems and assets. The loss of this infrastructure would result in debilitating consequences to the safety and security of the United States. Based on a meta-analysis of government policies, the current…
Applying the Economic, Homeland and National Security Analysis Framework
by Bijan Karimi Abstract In “Security and Prosperity: Reexamining the Relationship between Economic, Homeland and National Security” I used an analytical framework to identify key components of the Economic, Homeland and National Security relationship, explore their connection in the literature and the real world, and then identify the impact of ‘metamorphic forces’ that further shaped…
What is NORAD’s Role in Military Cyber Attack Warning?
by Randall DeGering Abstract For more than fifty years, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has been responsible for conducting aerospace warning and control missions for the defense of North America. In accomplishing those operations, Commander NORAD is responsible for making the official warning to both the president of the United States and the prime…
The Fortress Problem
Jack Sheldon Anderson Abstract Fortresses do not usually fail well. When they rely on robustness or complication, positions of strength are only tolerant of stress up to a defined point or of a certain character. For a fortification that fails to adapt, centralization—even of strength—presents a surprising liability. Fortresses concentrate risk. This paper considers the…
Halting Global Pandemics via the Commercial Air Route Network
by Ted G. Lewis Abstract How can a pandemic like SARS be halted in the modern age of air travel? This article argues that the classical mathematical models of epidemics are inadequate for describing the impact of air travel on the spread of contagions like SARS. Instead, the author proposes a modern model that incorporates…
Note from the Editorial Committee
From the Editorial Committee: “Critical Infrastructure Protection: Can We Defend Against Terrorism” has been removed from the site. It contained derivative sections inadequately credited to previously published work.
Westerner Radicalization: Rethinking the Psychology of Terrorism
Vernon Pierson EXECUTIVE SUMMARY On June 12, 2016, Omar Mateen entered the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, and began shooting. During the attack, Mateen paused to call a local television station, make a call to 911, and pledge allegiance to ISIS (the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) on social media. During the calls, he…
From Third-Degree to Third-Generation Interrogation Methodologies: Putting Science into the Art of Criminal Interviewing
Desmond O’Neill EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Criminal interrogations are fundamentally designed to elicit confessions.[1] Beginning with the proliferation of physically abusive and aggressive tactics in the early 20th century—arguably the first generation of American interrogation strategies—law-enforcement agents employed what they deemed the most effective means for getting suspects to confess.[2] In the early 1940s, harsh “third-degree” interrogation…
Lawful Hacking: Toward a Middle Ground Solution to the Going Dark Problem
Hoaithi Nguyen EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Since the spring of 2013, when Edward Snowden leaked classified information regarding the National Security Agency’s (NSA) covert collection of telephony metadata from major communications providers, such Internet giants as Apple and Google have rolled out end-to-end encryption on their devices. End-to-end encryption means that “only the recipient of the message…
Bridging the Gap: To What Extent Do Socioeconomic Barriers Impede Response to Emerging Public Health Threats?
Don Neuert EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The basis for this thesis and research topic stems from certain local and state Public Health Emergency Preparedness grant activities—managed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)—focused on jurisdictions’ ability to dispense life-saving medications and medical supplies to 100 percent of an impacted population within 48 hours of a…