The following is the foreward from my Holistic Security References and Internet Resources CD-ROM, just published in March 2005. It has over 1,500 security, terrorism and counter-terrorism published resources and web links on it. It is ideal for anyone interested in keeping up with the state of terrorism and security in today's world. The cost is $24.95 on CD_ROm and $14.95 as a downloadable Adobe PDF file. Contact me for details at info@tmcco.com.
Foreword
It should be common knowledge that a first step in protecting America’s infrastructure is to educate oneself and others -- that is, to gather public domain intelligence about the threat. The purpose is to understand the genesis of the problem. Simply, this is the philosophy of knowing your enemy (see binary diagram in the last section of this document). Secondly, information must be gathered about proactive and reactive security methods, procedures, planning, and firewalls at all levels and depths. Thirdly, the security of the infrastructure must be assessed and the technology for "holistically" protecting it must be tailored to the results of the assessment. For many large infrastructures, this has already been done (some mandated by federal law), or is at least an ongoing effort. However, for many of the smaller infrastructures, the security problem has not been seriously nor completely addressed. Furthermore, the planning and preparedness against terrorist activity for manufacturing and businesses are woefully lacking. About 85 percent of all privately-owned infrastructures have inadequate security and are vulnerable to attack. Most do not consider themselves as targets and are not willing to spend the money to implement and install the necessary safeguards. The rationale (safety in numbers) is that statistically they are not a target.
For the terrorist who takes the time to study, analyze, conduct surveillance, and plan, there are innumerable poorly-protected structural targets in the United States to attack. Even if security hardware and procedures are in place, there are usually weak links that can be exploited. If, for example, an infrastructure has all the minimum firewalls installed, it may not have an operable backup system, such as a portable generator for power. The infrastructure may have the fences, clear zones, alarms, motion detectors, bollards, cameras, locks, security guards, computer passwords, employee background checks, and so forth, as layers of security but lack both the backup systems and mutual aid agreements with other agencies as depth, and thirdly the critical ongoing intelligence-gathering as knowledge. These three components represent the essential holistic security triad. Not only must the asset be protected by layers of defense, it must be protected by layers that are well-maintained, regularly tested, and workable.
Although this compilation of information merely scratches the surface of available publications on aspects of security and water infrastructure vulnerabilities, it serves as that crucial first step toward understanding the scope of the many issues associated with holistic security against terrorism. The ongoing communication and dissemination of the types of information and its availability to appropriate individuals, offices, agencies, businesses, and cities, is the backbone of holistic security. Security weaknesses cannot be effectively addressed without the gathering and exchange of accurate data and technological information.
We present the compilation as a resource for multidisciplinary preparedness from personal survival, to the hardening of infrastructures, to risk and threat mitigation, and finally to lessons learned. We also assume a worst-case scenario for security-related incidents. The public must think about personal and family survivability, and businesses and infrastructures must place people as their number one asset to protect. The survivability of people is a higher priority than physical assets. Businesses, cities, agencies, and industry must think about preparedness for operational crises. The key to survival is the effective use of the most potent proactive and reactive weapon available – the human mind. Preparedness must certainly include both the mental and physical wherewithal. That is why psychology, emergency first aid, disaster planning, and the process of investigation are added elements in this compilation. Law enforcement recognizes the value of being able to read the mindset of persons they interview and interrogate with respect to the level of deception being encountered. Several references in this list even describe the theory and methodology in predicting terrorist attacks.
These references on security and terrorism focus on mostly contemporary subject matter and the issues raised since September 11th, 2001. The references range from the very general ("the easy read") to the very specific (the highly technical) and are not intended to be comprehensive nor overall politically biased. A "comprehensive" list could certainly include ten or a hundred times the number listed here and obviously the pool of samples continues to grow day by day. Some of the references are available online in html (hyper-text markup language) or PDF (Adobe Acrobat portable document file) formats. Adobe Acrobat can be obtained as free down-loadable software and is also made available on this CD. In some cases we have noted the World Wide Web (internet) sites where these references can be accessed. We have also included a separate section of internet sites in this document that can be mined for hundreds of additional valuable publications and documents. As such, this compilation is offered as a working document and will be periodically updated and modified as necessary.
Information in the following references is intended for use by the concerned and informed citizen to the individual patrol officer to the director of emergency services to public officials and beyond. It has been said and written that the first line of defense against terrorism is law enforcement; however, if security measures have been authorized and put into place by public officials, administrators, and the managers of industry, then a significant amount of responsibility can be shifted from law enforcement to other arenas. Actually, we believe that the informed citizen is the first line of defense against terrorist attacks. Law enforcement will probably not be the first sector of the population affected by a terrorist attack. By shear numbers, it is the suspicious citizens’ eyes and ears that will undoubtedly alert law enforcement to terrorist activities thereby helping to prevent or minimize the impact of an attack.
Representative literature was selected from a wide array of publishers (big league and little league), including public, private, internet, academic, and government publishers, to give the user a "jump start" in the understanding of the many interrelated facets of security that include: politics, public policy and legal considerations, economics, law enforcement, private protective services, medical response to attacks, terrorist philosophy and strategy, counter-terrorist efforts, safety and survival mindset, and physical premises and cyber security. Although not excluded, the listing of even a cross-section of newspaper and popular magazine articles due to their shear volume goes well beyond the scope of this compilation. The reader can visit a multitude of websites, for example www.nytimes.com, and access the New York Times’ or other newspapers’ day-to-day coverage of terrorism-related articles. Another source of information, not emphasized here, is the conferences held by many of the security-related professional societies.
Any researcher on the subject of terrorism quickly finds that the theme of security branches out and touches many disciplines and knowledge bases. As can be seen in the following compilation, the reader will certainly grasp an appreciation for the wide array of sources promulgating terrorism-related and security-related publications. Let us assume, as an example, that there is a serious "security incident" (terrorist attack) that raises the national Homeland Security alert level to condition RED. Metaphorically speaking, shock waves will radiate three-dimensionally outward that impact the following private and public entities: the common man (John Q. Public) plus organized groups of citizens), law enforcement, private security, emergency medical services, fire departments, the news media, governments (local, state, federal), critical infrastructures, transportation systems (air, rail water, highway), businesses of all types, institutions, and the military. But, what are the knowledge bases that are invoked to respond to and understand the impact and significance. Where does the information originate that is used by the entities listed above. The shock waves reverberate through the following areas of knowledge that will be invoked at some time during the crisis and the ongoing response to it: personal survival, self-defense, psychology, forensics, criminology, workplace investigations, economics, politics, history, religion, law, threat and risk assessment, police procedures, technology of security, science (testing methods, biology, microbiology, chemistry, geology, hydrology, nuclear/radiation physics, environmental, etc.), emergency medicine (first responder, evacuation, etc.), crisis management, and so forth. In a sense, everything affects everything. One needs only to look at the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, to realize the global extent of who and what was touched.
We again state that the purpose of the reference list is to provide a cross-section of the available literature on these wide-ranging subjects, all of which can be linked by the common thread of security:
1) critical infrastructure physical security and protection (primarily water-supply systems),
2) sabotage prevention and investigations, including cyber-terrorism (workplace sabotage is a far more likely occurrence than an act of terrorism),
3) personal security and self-defense (physical and emotional survivability during and after a terrorist attack),
4) private and law enforcement investigations, including intelligence-gathering and employee background investigations,
5) political extremism,
6) terrorism in general and terrorism specifically by Islamic militants,
7) emergency planning, preparedness, and response, including crisis management,
8) risk mitigation and vulnerability assessments,
9) terrorism and the media,
10) psychological and legal issues caused by terrorism,
11) weapons of mass destruction which include biological-chemical-radiological scenarios (recognition, toxicity and response), and
12) the effect of terrorism on civil liberties.
The infrastructure emphasis in this compilation is on water-supply systems, but there is much crossover and duality of protection/security principles among the various infrastructure types. We recommend that any administrator’s library contain at least several books from each of these subject areas in order to facilitate better risk assessments and holistic "defense-in-depth" (3-dimensionally layered) security systems. Depending upon the reader’s individual position or specialty, s/he must obviously select the most appropriate entries. If you are in law enforcement, you may not be too interested in water testing methodology or the chemistry of toxic chemicals. If you are the mayor of a small town, you may care more about mass-casualty medical preparedness than about personal self-defense or the psychology of interrogations.
In the opinions of some readers, several of the references listed may be controversial either politically or socially. We have not evaluated whether or not each entry in this compilation is a "good" or "bad" example – that judgment is in the eye of the beholder, and furthermore, reviews can be found online at several internet sites.
Multiple copyright dates on some references usually reflect revised editions or reprints by new publishers. Page numbers are provided when known. In some cases they may be approximate and dependent upon how the publisher counts them and whether the particular edition is hardback or paperback. Many of the references accessed online do not have page numbers. All photographs were taken by William C. Butler in the Denver, Colorado area in February of 2005. Butler Research, LLC retains copyrights on all illustrations used in this document.
Title: Holistic Security References and Internet Resources
- ISBN: 1-893478-13-0
- Authors: William C. Butler PhD and H. Court Young
- Pages: 168
- Format: Adobe PDF file on CD-ROM with interactve links.
WEB Link: http://www.securitythrougheducation.com
