"Don't Let an Unwelcome Guest Take Advantage of a Total Lack of Awareness"
February 2004
How should we as Americans live our lives
in this new reality of global terrorism? What are the threat conditions? How
do we recognize them? What do we do at home an at work to ensure that we are
safe? These issues and others are discussed.
by David
W. Nicastro
Secure Source,
Inc.
The FBI defines terrorism as, "the unlawful use of force or violence against
persons or property to intimidate or coerce a Government, the civilian population,
or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives." It
is foolhardy and dangerous to believe that America has conquered terrorism.
Threat Condition Discussion
In response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, President George
W. Bush created the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Shortly thereafter,
in order to better specify the response by America's infrastructure industries,
the FBI initiated "InfraGard" and asked industry partners to create several
security task groups. As a result of the work done by these groups, Homeland
Security and the FBI issued draft guidelines for what are considered critical
facilities. The draft guidelines also specified the following five-level threat
condition system:
Homeland Security Exhibit
At the time of this article, the threat condition had gone from threat condition
Orange, the High risk of terrorist attack, to threat condition Yellow, the Elevated
threat condition, where it remains today.
It is recognized that the level of risk varies from city to city and country
to country. As we have seen, levels of risk can change very rapidly. Prior to
September 11, the United States was considered by experts to be a low-risk country
relative to terrorism, and chemical plants and airlines were considered low-risk
targets.
Currently, the FBI has issued broad warnings and the United States is being
treated as a country that is at "significant threat of terrorist attacks." Accordingly,
business and industry should increase protective measures in order to mitigate
risk and be prepared for the unexpected. No one is certain how long the current
terrorist warning will be in effect. Regardless, September 11 changed the course
of American thinking and old paradigms regarding security need to be changed
to meet these new threats.
Action Plan
Government needs to continue its fight in the war on terrorism militarily
and through aggressive national security controls. The U.S. Department of Homeland
Security has done a commendable job at improving communications and sharing
information among law enforcement agencies and to "critical infrastructure businesses."
But what about the rest of us? Since we all can't just pack up and move to some
small rural town in Kansas, how should we live our lives in this new reality
of global terrorism? What can the average American do to reduce the level of
threat in his or her life? The following are several recommended practices.
Trust your instincts and report unusual incidents. In other words, if something doesn't look right, it probably isn't. Do not hesitate
to notify law enforcement or appropriate security personnel. Don't assume the
authorities are aware of abandoned or unfamiliar vehicles in your parking garage
or office building. Always report unknown or suspicious people in your workplace.
The best information comes to law enforcement through ordinary citizens.
Be alert and prepared to act. Whether you're
at a grocery store, hotel, or airport, in a restaurant or at a major sporting
event, take a moment to think about the unexpected and ask, "How would I get
out of a potentially harmful situation?"
If you have no confidence in the security at your
workplace, voice your concerns. Too often security is overlooked until
something bad happens. As an employee, you know where the gaps are.
There are other proactive measures you can take to protect your loved ones
and yourself. Don't live in a state of total lack of awareness (TLOA). Every
American must take responsibility for their personal security and be prepared
to take action. When the U.S. Department of Homeland Security says we are under
an elevated or higher alert status, cooperate and be patient with security officials
at airports, sporting events, and the like. During the highest level of alert,
consider limiting the amount of time spent in public places. Always have a personal
or family security plan and explain it to your kids.
Corporations have work to do, too. As mentioned previously, the insurance
industry needs to take its head out of the sand and reward its customers for
investing in systems and processes that mitigate terrorism risk by offering
lower premiums to those companies that do it right when it comes to security
and crisis planning. In addition, CEOs and risk managers should be taking the
lead by asking tough questions of operations mangers. These questions include
the following.
- Are you confident in the systems and processes that protect your organization's
employees, facilities, and proprietary assets?
- What is your company's risk portfolio relative to terrorism-related
risks and have you quantified those risks?
- When was the last time your organization conducted an assessment of
physical, technical, and operational security systems and processes?
- Does your organization have a crisis management plan and has it been
tested to validate newly applied risk management techniques, procedures,
and response capabilities?
- Given the knowledge that you and your internal operations experts have
about your business/industry, what are the worst-case scenarios that deserve
management attention? What have you done to mitigate those risks?
If you are not satisfied with the answers to these questions, then you should
take immediate action to adequately protect employees, critical assets, and
the communities you serve. Failure to do so is an all-too common error. Organizations
frequently neglect to properly plan, educate employees, and organize security
resources that identify and counteract security risks prior to experiencing
an acute crisis. After a crisis happens, companies are thrown into a state of
shock, causing them to overreact. As a result, uninformed decisions are made
and precious time and resources are wasted. In other words, the key to good
security is planning and communication.
Security Assessment
Whether you do so in-house, or hire a third party, the basic elements of
a security assessment are as follows.
Don't overreact. Expensive security systems
aren't necessarily the solution. Building owners, arena managers, and CEOs everywhere
should require their organizations to conduct a thorough security assessment
before taking any major action or investing in any new equipment. There are
a number of companies that specialize in security penetration testing, writing
bid specifications for electronic systems, and making recommendations to implement
effective security policy and procedures.
Develop security measures and controls to improve
the security needed to protect employees, visitors and facilities. Like
a successful business, good security starts with a plan. A good security plan
takes a holistic approach to security threats and incorporates effective security
measures, procedures, training, and response. Evaluate both the human factors
of guard and employee procedures as well as the effectiveness of intrusion detection,
access control, and closed circuit television systems.
Once you develop a security program, test it. Conduct periodic simulation exercises and make improvements as needed.
Update crisis management and evacuation plans. Be proactive about security. New York City's response team has been heroic and
highly effective. It is not by chance—it is planned and it is practiced.
Conduct security awareness programs for employees. Training ranges from security for business travel to prevention of violence
in the workplace and terrorism.
Are We Safe?
Two years after September 11, many people in this country think we should
relax security procedures and return to a "state
of normalcy." It is incredible to me that some Americans do not fully support
the creation of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and other law enforcement
initiatives designed to combat terrorism. To them, I would point to the recent
events in Tyler, Texas, as an example of how important and effective these new
security measures are.
Following one of the most extensive investigations of domestic terrorism
since the Oklahoma City bombing, in November 2003 federal officials raided a
storage facility in Tyler, Texas, a small town 90 miles southeast of Dallas.
There, they found a weapon of mass destruction—a sodium cyanide bomb capable
of delivering a deadly gas cloud and causing significant casualties, according
to newspaper reports of the incident. As part of the raid, federal officials
seized 100 additional bombs, bomb parts, machine guns, a half a million rounds
of ammunition, and chemical agents. Despite the seizures and subsequent arrests
of three white supremacist and antigovernment extremists, federal officials
say they are still afraid that additional, potentially deadly cyanide bombs
are still in circulation.
The Tyler incident also serves as an example of how important it is for ordinary
Americans to be on alert for suspicious activity. Federal officials were able
to advance their investigation after one of the conspirators sent a package
of fake identification cards for the United Nations and the U.S. Defense Intelligence
Agency to a co-conspirator's home in New Jersey last year. The package, however,
was mistakenly sent to a Staten Island resident, who opened it and promptly
called the police.
Despite these heroic efforts, a big question remains looming in the minds
of many Americans: Two years after spending billions of dollars on security
and intense planning in an effort to protect our airports, seaports and infrastructure
critical businesses, are we safe? The answer to that question, of course, is
no. As part of our new reality, we will never be completely safe from attacks.
But we can prepare and, in being prepared, we increase our safety and give ourselves
some peace of mind. Today, the immediate challenge facing Americans is the need
to accept our new reality.
As a security expert, I know we are still extremely vulnerable to terrorism.
I know that a lot of the security improvements that have been made thus far
are cosmetic and that we are still in a precarious situation. I know that too
many American businesses are still TLOA when it comes to security, giving the
concept lip service as part of their efforts to reduce costs and stay profitable
in a down economy. I also know that we shouldn't take al-Qaida and other terrorist
organizations lightly. They obviously still have the means and the motive to
kill innocent Americans. They are dedicated, smart, well-trained and financially
solvent. Most important, they only have to be lucky once.
So how do we stop them? Think about it. The United States is the best place
on the planet to live—it's a free country. Unfortunately, that makes it a prime
target for terrorists. That means we have to be ready 24 hours a day, seven
days a week. In other words, we need to stay the course adopted after September
11 and continue to make security a high priority.
Of course, none of this means that Americans will have to relinquish their
liberties or live in a permanent state of paranoia. Americans have tremendous
resolve and that spirit will allow them to embrace the future. In order to do
that, however, we as Americans must be willing to accept the costs—additional
levels of security and some interruptions in our personal movements and activities.
During these challenging economic times, scarce resources must also be judiciously
used to anticipate and identify threats in order to implement adequate countermeasures.
Culturally, we must learn to expect the unexpected and build our security plan
around effective prevention, detection, and response strategies.
Most of all, we must resist the temptation to believe that we can return
to a state of normalcy. Everyone—government officials, industry leaders, corporate
executives, and U.S. citizens as a whole—will have to work together to reduce
risk in this new reality. If we don't, then we will be living in a TLOA—a total
lack of awareness. And that is a risk we simply cannot afford.
Opinions expressed in Expert Commentary articles are those of the author and are
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