Terrorism Communications- Discussion Paper.
Terrorism is a global disease, but the United States has been the key target for various terrorist activities for a variety of reasons. As the US marked the 17th anniversary of the September 11 terror attack, the deadliest terror attack on US soil responsible for close to 3,000 deaths, the government reported trends among terrorists who are strategizing on crippling the country all over again. A survey from New America reports that terrorism has been on the retreat for the past four years around the globe. Terrorism Communications- Discussion Paper.However, the US is showing a rising trend of terrorism as also reported by the Global Terrorism Database, a docket of the University of Maryland. In 2017 alone, US registered a total of 65 different types of terror attacks including Islamic extremism, antisemitism, white supremacy, environmental terrorism, left-wing, and right-wing among others. Hamm and Spaaij (2015), by studying these increasing trends, note that America could experience similar incidence to the 9/11 in the future if no proper counter terrorism measures are adopted by the people and parties involved. Terrorism Communications- Discussion Paper.
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A terrorist has a tendency of selecting a target that would result in most possible deaths and destruction with the least amount of effort. Austin Write (2013) believes the most populated areas or places with the most valuable structures attract terrorists. New York is one of the most populated states in the US with approximately 20 million residents as of 2018 – making it the fourth most populous state. New York performs impressively well economically grossing $1.55 trillion in products. Economists argue if New York were an independent nation, it would rank as the 11th largest economy in the world. It boasts of hubs such as the Silicon Alley, Tech Valley, Wall Street, and more. For these and more reasons, New York is one of the most targeted states with New York City, with a population of about 8 million residents, being an ideal choice for terrorists. Terrorism Communications- Discussion Paper. The city has a population density of 28,500 people per square mile which means, an attack with as much magnitude as the 9/11 would result in more deaths of civilians. New York City needs a strong and up-to-date risk and hazard management and response strategy owing to its vulnerability to attacks.
Reasons to Prioritize Terrorism in New York
Although the US government has taken multiple credits for prevention of attacks and defeat of some of the terrorist organizations, especially in recent case where President Trump took credit for defeat of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) capitals in Iraq, Syria, Mosul, and Raqqa, there is still a sense of refrain from declaring overall victory over terrorism. As long as the ideology of Salafi-jihadism continues to exist, terrorism will never end; terrorist organizations might fall, but others will rise up to fill the gap. In addition to this, Wright (2013) argues, terrorism is not only linked to Islam alone, but there are also numerous terrorist attacks the US, and the world at large have experienced that are outside Islam as a religion – some acts of violence are politically and socially motivated.
Terrorism in New York City is a risk considered a top priority for many reasons. Owing to past acts of terror, the implications they can have on a city are sometimes beyond measure. Apart from death and destruction of property, a perfectly plotted and executed act of terror can affect the political and economic outlook of a state or a country in negative ways. It also psychologically affects people and organizations who continue to live in fear of such events (Beekarry, 2013). A single strike can cripple a nation for a considerably long time. Although there are measures in place to curb terrorism, terrorist tactics continue to evolve thus requiring institutions responsible for protecting the lives of civilians and property to keep up with the changes.
The New York City Subway continues to be a key target for terrorists. It is the most sort after rapid transit system in the whole of New York serving a capacity of between three to six million ridership on a daily basis. It has about 472 busy stations the consistently cater for the transport needs of people of New York. As such, an attack on one of the busiest stations or the entire subway system would affect not only New York but America as a whole for weeks, or even months. The suitability of the New York subway system for terrorists has been proven severally owing to reported failed attempts on the system. However, terrorists are known to be persistent, and an attack can come from anywhere making it important for New Yorkers to be conscious of possible terror attacks on the system.
Mitigating the Risk
The New York City Transit Police introduced a policy in 2005 aimed at preventing terrorism on the subway. The policy involved conducting random searches on bags and possessions of passengers at the turnstiles. In 2008, another effort to pump up security was implemented that saw risk and hazard response trucks placed strategically in cases of bioterrorism or chemical attacks. Other safety and security measures include wayside block signaling and communications-based train control systems among others. Although these methods have been helpful so far, they are not enough to successfully prevent different forms of terrorism other than chemical, bioterrorism, and explosives.
Having dodged several terror plots, the New York subway system needs to learn and take cues from other local and subway systems that have survived or recovered from the attacks. Apart from the mechanisms aimed at detecting terrorist activities and illegal substances and weapons at the stations and various points of the system, there is the need to employ technology for purposes of identifying communications of potential terrorists and also introduce preventative programs that will protect the system from cyber attacks. According to Richard Jackson (2018), terrorism is taking a new wave that does not involve the criminals engaging in violent activities – the new wave is called the cyberterrorism. This type of terrorism causes as much damage as the conventional methods of terror.
The strategy involves adopting infrastructure and systems – computer infrastructure and network systems. Some systems and infrastructures weaponized terrorism, those that are the target and system that prevent cyberterrorism on an operational basis. The New York City Subway system is fully computerized and automated which means it relies on computer systems and networks to function. These system and networks are a target for cyber terrorists and are also highly vulnerable especially due to the fact that the system lacks strong infrastructures and systems designed to protect them from online attacks (Harries & Yellowlees, 2013). A successful cyber attack on the subway system would have catastrophic implications for New York as a state. Among other things, New York would lose trillions of dollars just because of the attack, people would lose the confidence of the legislation and law enforcement agencies of the state, several lives would be lost if the terrorists took over the trains, and New York would lose its reputation to the world and more.
The subway system, in conjunction with the New York state department of security, should implement predictive systems that virtually connect via billions of connections with anonymity as a defense on one side and layered defenses on the other. This is to mean; the connections need to transcend the borders of the state and even those of the country and the entire region to allow connections all across the world with terrorist hubs being the main targets for the connections. Through this, security personnel can monitor systems and detect threats as they emerge both locally and internationally. Such systems can also detect communications among terrorists who plot and organize attacks. (Kenney, 2015)
Organizations such as the Department of Homeland Security, an agency purposely established to curb local terrorism have been using computer networks and systems infrastructure in fighting terrorism on US soil. DHS, as well as the FBI, are perfect examples of how efficient and effective systems and networks can be used to prevent and respond to potential terror attacks. While designing and developing the systems, the department of New York security needs to learn or emulate systems adopted by these organizations. They can also learn from Hong Kong’s MTR system which was voted as the safest, the best and most envied metro system in the world. The transit system relies completely on systems and networks for its operations and security as well with minimal effort from human capital.
Cost Associated with the Strategy
To ensure the system and computer network are fully functioning, a lot of capital, resources, and support from various actors will have to be involved. The main requirement to get the project running are resources for infrastructure and systems. The local government in partnership with the subway system will have to procure computer software and hardware components sufficient to get the project rolling. Also, human capital will be required for the project to be successful. These systems will require people to design, develop and manage them at all times.
The support of all the key players, in this case, the management of the subway system, its employees, New York security department, the general public, the federal government, suppliers of the systems and infrastructures, and engineers among others will be required. This kind of support cannot be quantified, but it will ultimately benefit the implementation of the project. However, in getting systems in place, acquiring and equipping human capital with the necessary skills and knowledge, the entire project might cost around $200 million in implementation alone for the entire New York subway system. Terrorism Communications- Discussion Paper.
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Implications of the Project
Implementing the project will see New York benefit tremendously from improved security and safety from acts of terror especially on cyberspace aspects of the state, and more specifically, on the New York subway system. The state will be able to detect more of terror attempts on the subway system. The project will have an immense legal impact on New York regarding response and preparedness for terrorism. Law enforcement activities will improve both online and off the ground. The local government will monitor possible acts of violence both online and offline and make arrests where possible. For instance, the powerful anti-terrorism system infrastructures, the security agency and the internal security of the subway system will be able to enforce the following areas of protects: emergency response, system recovery, threat detection, modeling and simulation, testing and evaluation, training, and consequence management among others. Terrorism Communications- Discussion Paper.
The political implication of the project will also be felt at the state level. The subway system is the most guarded owing to the effects that might be suffered if an act of terror went through. Therefore, implementing the project will boost the confidence of the legislatures and policymakers regarding their responsibility of protecting the lives of New Yorkers (Hamm & Spaaij, 2015). This will also help shift focus from conducting the day-to-day manual operations of always inspecting the subway to leaving everything to be automated and unmanned systems and networks. Terrorism Communications- Discussion Paper.
Through these other developments can also be initiated and emphasized upon. Also, the reputation of the subway system and the state will also improve. This will see more people coming in and more investors setting up businesses in the state due to improved security. The primary objective of the project is to protect lives and guard properties by detecting and preventing terror attacks both on the online and offline platforms. The general community will ultimately benefit from this project — cases of loss of lives and injuries from acts of violence and other forms of terrorism. Also, cases of loss of properties will be reduced. Terrorism Communications- Discussion Paper.
There are possible harm New York might suffer in the event it fails to implement the project. Lack of powerful system and computerized infrastructure will expose the subway and the entire city to possibilities of cyber initiated attack. These attacks might include the complete shutdown of systems, hacking the train systems, causing a fire, introducing malware into the systems, and more (Oluwafemi, Adesuyi, & Shafi’i, 2013). This is largely due to the fact that there is a growing trend of incorporating information technology (IT) in terrorism, an innovation that is already defining modern acts of terror. The implications of some of these attacks are similar to any impacts of acts of terror where factors political, legal and community are negatively affected.
With the increased potentiality of attacks due to the rejection of the project, New York would lose it highly regarded political reputation in the event terror occurs. The legal bodies would be blamed for not taking adequate measures in combating terrorism, and the general population would lose trust and confidence in authorities. More damage will be suffered if the state’s authorities choose to ignore to implement the project.
Response and Mitigation Actions
The first function of the project is to prevent any form of a terror attack. This objective is actualized with the incorporation of detection system incorporated into the project. Terrorism Communications- Discussion Paper.The system monitors and detects any signs of attack when taking place or at the plotting stage. It has mechanisms capable of sensing, artificial intelligence utilities, and video technologies for successful detection. With these components of the system infrastructures that are also in sync with the on the ground antiterrorism equipment, security agents will be not only able to detect a different form of attacks like chemical, biological, atomic, or cyber plots but also be able to identify and confirm an attack rapidly. For instance, the system incorporates artificial intelligence algorithms that can recognize patterns of motions and sounds that characterize panic situations. Also, such algorithms can sense suspicious activities on the internet and systems they are connected and initiate response actions.
The next phase happens when the system fails to detect signs of an attack, and it happens. In any attack, Wright (2013) suggests, certain decisions must be made rapidly with the two of them including how to gain control of the situation and how to end it. Equipment on the ground are designed to respond to atomic, chemical and biological attacks by controlling the areas of operations, that is, the stations and turnstiles and also to ensure there is as much minimal damage as possible. Computerized systems, on the other hand, are engineered to also respond to emergencies regarding terrorism. Terrorism Communications- Discussion Paper. For instance, in the case on a cyber attack, the system will shut down part of the system affected and turn on backup systems while the affected systems are still being fixed so as the operations can go on smoothly. (Jackson, 2018)
In addition to this, they also incorporate and apply available response options regarding the type of attack. For example, a station experiences an attack (biological, chemical or atomic), the systems prevent trains from approaching the affected stations in a move to prevent further possible damage. At the station, there are automated detoxification and fire extinguishing equipped that help in containing contaminated air. This equipment helps in putting out fires and cleaning air filled with a suit from fires. In cases of chemical attacks, sprinkler systems can also be used to clean up and detoxify the air so as the contaminated air does not make it to the general public. Terrorism Communications- Discussion Paper.
Challenges that Might be encountered
According to Oluwafemi, Adesuyi, and Shafi’I (2013), there is not a single project that lacks challenges and setbacks, and this particular project is no exception. The main obstacle likely to face faced in combating terrorism in New York would be insufficient support from local government. The local government may lack the necessary political will to put priority to the implementation of the project. This is to say, apart from not approving key actions and activities, weak funding framework is also an obstacle from the government. The government’s budgetary allocation for disaster prevention and management is nothing to write home about (Crenshaw, 2014). The state government is known to prioritize other sectors of the economy such as education, healthcare, and trade with disaster management being among the least prioritized sectors. As such, obtaining the resources to get the project going would be a challenge for the community and responders.
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Disaster management and response programs involve a lot of key players with some of them including security agencies, organizations, policymakers, the community, and the government and others (Hamm & Spaaij, 2015). Responding and managing disasters requires the cooperation of all these key players, and when a certain level of cooperation is not attained, it becomes a challenge fighting terrorism, especially from a public perspective. In most cases, terrorist individuals, groups, and organizations emerge from the general public and people responsible for the acts of violence are students, coworkers, neighbors, children, parents, and so on who are known to the general public. Therefore, a suitable degree of cooperation needs to be established with the general public in order to identify and weed out potential terrorists before it is too late. Terrorism Communications- Discussion Paper.
References
Beekarry, N. (2013). Combating Money Laundering and Terrorism Finance: Past and Current Challenges. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Crenshaw, M. (2014). Terrorism research: The record. International Interactions, 40(4), 556-567. Terrorism Communications- Discussion Paper.
Hamm, M., & Spaaij, R. (2015). Lone wolf terrorism in America: Using knowledge of radicalization pathways to forge prevention strategies. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
Harries, D., & Yellowlees, P. M. (2013). Cyberterrorism: Is the US healthcare system safe?. Telemedicine and e-Health, 19(1), 61-66.
Kenney, M. (2015). Cyber-terrorism is a post-Stuxnet world. Orbis, 59(1), 111-128.
Jackson, R. (2018). Writing the war on terrorism: Language, politics, and counter-terrorism.
Oluwafemi, O., Adesuyi, F. A., & Shafi’i, M. A. (2013). Combating terrorism with cybersecurity: The Nigerian perspective. World journal of computer application and technology, 1(4), 103-109.
Wright, A. L. (2013). Terrorism, ideology and target selection. Princeton, Nueva Jersey (Estados Unidos): Princeton University (Department of Politics). Terrorism Communications- Discussion Paper.