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4 Science and Technology to Counter Terrorism in Critical Areas
Pages 69-94

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From page 69...
... Mukkamala then described the international online marketplace for exploits and personal information. There are individuals and illicit businesses whose business model is to sell the capability to exploit software vulnerabilities in other people's computer systems and enable the purchaser to misuse the information or the system.
From page 70...
... India is a source of a significant amount of spam and it also has a large number of botnets, which may be used in an attack, but India is not the source of attacks. A participant asked if there are efforts parallel to those in the life sciences to establish norms of behavior.
From page 71...
... GLOBAL HEALTH SECURITY AND STRENGTHENING PUBLIC HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURES The Anthrax Letters: Lessons for Leaders David Franz began by noting that he would discuss the anthrax letters that were sent to politicians and prominent members of the media in October 2001, and his underlying approach is preserving the good of powerful science in a dangerous world. Franz first provided a very brief overview of biology in the 21st century and a short history of safety and security.
From page 72...
... The anthrax letters killed five people.4 Atomic bombs dropped on Japan during World War II killed an estimated 250,000 people.5 Experts believe that about 10,000,000 to several million people died worldwide in the 1918 flu pandemic.6 Another data point on a potential scale is the 1965 New York City subway trial in which researchers released a simulant of anthrax.7 They estimated that in one day approximately a million people could be infected with anthrax spores.8 Fortunately, there have not been any intentional, high-impact events. In thinking through how to scope the bioterrorism prospect, Franz referred to John Vitko, who led the biosecurity program at DHS in the science and technology (S&T)
From page 73...
... Science and Technolo to Counter Terrorism in C e ogy r Critical Areas 73 FIGUR 4-1 John Vitk coined what he called a "Vi RE ko itko unit." If an event kills 10,0 000 people or costs $1 million, that is one Vitko unit, and a event above that unit should be o V any d addresse by the Depa ed artment of Hom meland Security, Science and T , Technology Dir rectorate. NOTE: The 1918 flu graph cont N tained within th figure is set t the height of the his to "y" axis of the larger fig s gure.
From page 74...
... Franz recounted that he was giving a talk shortly thereafter, and he had first made a slide that said "the insider threat is more serious than I thought," but he quickly changed that slide to read, "the insider threat is more difficult than I thought." The insider threat is a really tough challenge. As Joshua Lederberg said about biological warfare in general, there is no technical solution to this problem.
From page 75...
... Therefore, that program was ended. It is easier to account for chemicals and radiological and nuclear materials than for some biological agents.
From page 76...
... Department of Health and Human Services funding decisions regarding highly pathogenic H5N1 14 Fouchier, R., et al. "Airborne Transmission of Influenza A/H5N1 Virus Between Ferrets." Science, June 22, 2012, vol.
From page 77...
... Everywhere You Look: Select Agent Pathogens.Countries in which naturally occurring disease outbreaks caused by select agent pathogens were observed, January 1, 2009 through October 31, 2010. Available at http://www.upmchealth security.org/diseasemap/index.html; accessed September 21, 2014.
From page 78...
... "Bat Nipah Virus, Thailand." Emerging Infectious Diseases.
From page 79...
... We cannot just regulate these potential threats away. We need enlightened leadership, a culture of personal and corporate responsibility, and leaders who are willing to take responsibility to develop thoughtful regulation and safe and sustainable practices, and maintain freedom for scientists to explore so that we can make progress for all people in the life sciences.
From page 80...
... The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) of the government of India, where Bansal is a member of the leadership, is deeply concerned about bioterrorism and has formulated national guidelines for biological disaster management, including bioterrorism.
From page 81...
... The third set of recommendations focused on rapid response by developing mechanisms for multisector response. As an overview of global health security in India, Bansal listed the primary organizations and agencies involved: NDMA, National Crisis Management Group, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, State and District Health Department, Primary Health Care System, government and private medical institutions, research institutes such as the Indian Council of Medical research, Defense Research Development Organization, and agencies related to the health care sectors such as those involved with water supply, hygiene, and international organizations.
From page 82...
... For response to a suspected bioterrorist attack, individuals or victims would be hospitalized first and then a message would be sent to the director of emergency response, who in turn would inform the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and sends a rapid response team for investigation, containment, and other tasks. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare then would request the involvement of the Ministry of Defense.
From page 83...
... It was attended by 62 delegates from 15 countries, including senior police officers, government representatives, and representatives of the health, scientific, and academic communities. The objectives of workshop were to provide information and training, to encourage the development of a response capability, to promote relations between and with regional, national and international organizations, and law enforcement agencies, to develop a draft plan of action on a regional, national and international basis, and to present the Bioterrorism Incident Pre-planning and Response Guide.
From page 84...
... The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare coordinated events, issued guidelines, and ensured that state health departments were in compliance with or in consonance with the guidelines issued by the ministry. Private practitioners, private hospitals, and nongovernmental organization, energized activities along with the District Disaster Management Authorities or District Health Departments.
From page 85...
... Bioterrorism will most likely be multinational, leading to a pandemic; therefore international cooperation will be of immense value for biodefense. Global disease surveillance, health intelligence, incorporation of WHO guidelines, quarantine at airports, utilization of global outbreak databases, and alert and response networks are the major components of pandemic preparedness plans and must be undertaken well in advance of an incident.
From page 86...
... By listening and responding, Franz believes a healthier culture is built, and there is a greater chance of finding an outlier and dealing with that outlier. Franz added that when he was at the lab, background checks were not performed, but after the anthrax letters, FBI background checks have been conducted on everyone.
From page 87...
... Bansal replied that the accuracy of biosensors is dependent on knowing the baseline of the biological agent naturally occurring in the background. Another question pertained to the availability of emergency equipment and medical supplies such as masks and antibiotics, for India's population of 1.2 billion people.
From page 88...
... report entitled, India-United States Cooperation on Global Security: Summary of a Workshop on Technical Aspects of Civilian Nuclear Materials Security.30 He noted that one of the primary goals of the workshop was to jointly develop proposals for cooperation on nuclear materials security among experts from India and the United States. This challenge is complex and requires a multidisciplinary approach.
From page 89...
... Another effort is the Nuclear Threat Initiative Nuclear Materials Security Index,31 and one gets the sense that people are looking at the issue of nuclear security differently by focusing on disarmament and the elimination of weapongrade materials. The way that this is viewed by some, however, may be a confirmation bias.
From page 90...
... The background for the workshop was the nuclear security summit of 2010 and one of the outcomes of that summit was a commitment by the Indian government to establish the GCNEP.33 32 The school's mission is "To impart training to security agencies on application of physical protection system and response procedure, to enhance physical security of nuclear facilities by developing and deploying most modern technological tools including information security and to provide facilities for test and evaluation of sensors and systems used for physical security." Government of India, Department of Atomic Energy, Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership, School of Nuclear Security Studies. Available at: http://www.gcnep.gov.in/schools/snss.html; accessed September 21, 2014.
From page 91...
... Insider threats are also a challenge because we do not have enough ideas about how to identify an insider and to act on this knowledge. There are technological solutions that need to be developed beyond Personnel Reliability Programs (PRP)
From page 92...
... The training deals with insider threats, identifying anomalies, engineering out potential vulnerabilities, recognizing insider threats, and addressing operational aspects of facilities. This is an area ripe for cooperation.
From page 93...
... What is the least important issue? How does one balance out chemical threats, biological threats, nuclear threats, cyber threats?
From page 94...
... He agreed that implementation is key. Whether it is for tackling national industrial disasters or emergencies or for terrorism response, which will reduce vulnerability, he thinks that using systems engineering designed for Six Sigma certification makes systems more reliable and robust.


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