Protecting Critical Infrastructure: Knowledge is Power
The effective operation of the finance and telecommunication sectors are crucial to a nation’s economy. Mike Dolamore examines the threats facing these vital components of Australia’s critical infrastructure.
On a global level, criminal networks and terrorists are realising that attacks on critical infrastructure can be just as devastating as attacks on any other target.
Over the past year, not a month went by without some form of incident directed towards telecoms or financial services providers.
It’s not difficult to see why these industries might be attractive targets for rebel activity. As integral elements of our critical infrastructure, their sabotage can lead to widespread disruption and devastation, particularly as business and social interaction relies so heavily on telecoms-based services.
Other motivations, such as financial gain or complex propaganda campaigns are also likely to play a role in an individual’s or group’s decision to target these sectors. A recent spate of bombings in South Africa has seen criminal gangs targeting ATMs with explosive devices.
Clearly, the level of threat needs to be kept in perspective. On a day-to-day basis, financial and telecoms firms don’t and shouldn’t live in fear of an imminent terrorist attack. However, the threat is real and it needs to be taken seriously.
Physical damage and loss
The potential long-term repercussions of a commercial criminal or terrorist incident go far beyond physical damage and loss. This was illustrated by the Marriott hotel group’s sustained slump in shareholder value after the suicide vehicle bombing of its hotel in Jakarta in August 2005.
In order to stay ahead of the game, security professionals and operations personnel need to be armed with knowledge. Keeping well informed about potential risks and threats, facilitates detailed planning and decision making. Open source data surrounding terror incidents can be a valuable tool enabling historical and predictive trend analysis on a sector basis.
In order to build up a clear picture in the absence of classified information, obtaining adequate depth and breadth of data is essential – seemingly insignificant events can be accurate indicators of future activity.
When investing in an intelligence-based product for security planning, the critical success factor is the ability to work in partnership with professionals who have a comprehensive analytical background and first hand experience in dealing with real terror incidents. Their skills enable information to be scrutinised and manipulated to detect trends and tactics; they can corroborate data to navigate through propaganda, identifying high, medium and low threats.
Minimise the risk
In addition, these professionals can advise on how knowledge should be applied to minimise the risk – identification is just the first step of the process.
Happily, Australia has not previously experienced a significant terror campaign on home territory, but the absence of current action does not preclude future activity. Although Bali bomber, Imam Samudra’s recent specific threat statements indicating that Australia will be the next major terrorist target, should not be taken at face value; there is never room for complacency.
Whatever the prospects are for a terrorist attack in Australia, business and government organisations in this country need to ensure their assets are secure from the growing menace posed by sophisticated criminal networks looking for soft targets.
About the author: Mike Dolamore is research and analysis director at HMS Ltd. The HMS’ TRITON database, established in 2000, is populated with over 2,500 terrorist and related incidents each month. It is continually updated by HMS analysts who identify, assess and input the key technical and tactical details derived from global open source reporting.