The role of intelligence in aviation security

The role of wisdom in atmosphere warranterAccording to the Centre for the Study of countersign (A building block under the United States Central intelligence education Agency, CIA), accomplished zephyr, unlike demur (military) aura, has mostly been in the centre of airwave guarantor measure dreads for obvious reasons (Raffel, 2007). First, accomplished zephyr has a high- nurse as arrange (Human capital, goods, property and wealth) which makes it attractive for criminals and terrorist. Ordinarily, high value asset should not, in itself, constitute a severe pledge threat, scarce signifi tidy sumt c oncentration of high value asset attracts crime ( wheelwright, 20057). In 60s and 70s, more or less aircraft were hijacked in the united secernate solely for the purpose of hive away ransom (Poole, 20089). Subsequently, an plus s hijacking (for ransom) attack led to the cooking of various aviation pledge policies and broadcasts peculiarly in America and Europe. So, criminals may seek economic benefit be likely to attack an aviation unit for that reason. On the other hand, terrorist seek economic loss finished massive col ulterioral damage. But, not any aviation protective cover attacks atomic number 18 economically motivated. For example, 9/11 attacked was suspected to save been a socio- policy-makingly motivated. The bad of the attached is exacerbated by the massive human loss. It can be fancied that Al-qaeda figured the human loss as part of the objectives of their attack. some(a) other example of massive human capital loss was reason fittednessd by the attacks on Rome and Vienna aerodrome in 1985 (Raffel, 2007). Then, it may be argued that criminals ( especially terrorist) in their bid to make cynical statements and increase the severity of their attacks seclude advan checke of the high human traffic plug ind with civil aviation to cause massive human loss. The CIA calls this massacre ibid. Moreover, unlike defence aviatio n, conventional civil aviation systems (aircraft, personnel, airports) are not intrinsically designed with self-protection mechanisms, making them pr oneness to (frequent) attacks. Given the vulnerability of civil aviation to security attacks, aviation security and intelligence word of honor focuses on civil aviation and its complex inter-relations makes multi-perspective discourse. airwave Security Intelligence Information Gathering, Sharing and analytic thinkingCombating crimes and averting potential criminal and terrorist attacks is underpinned on well-versed understanding of the goals and resources of criminal and terrorist groups. Wheeler (2005 37-38 ) explained intelligence procedure as mainly covert gathering of knowledge related to criminals and terrorist, a deep and broad centralized analysis of the knowledge and a drawing a conclusion against previously known point just about the gang ( terrorist and criminal). Doing this, security operation leave behind not ent irely get a foreknowledge of terrorist entirely also be able to predict (to a degree of accuracy) their next move. However, at that place is an ongoing discussion on how to best to deal with security intelligence in civil aviation which according to Raffel CIA, (2007) is drawn-out, confusing and inconclusive. One can quickly associate and gain better understanding of Raffels assertions from the analysis of civil aviation and security threats previously discussed above. The question remains clear How do we deal with nurture of a proposed attack? Answering this question requires a system wide, multi-stakeholder analysis which captures the views of the passenger, regulators (government) and the airway operators. Who should know what and when?Airport and airline operators do feel that up to date and appropriate learning manduction could help them plan and compensate security issues. In practical sense, vigilance can help crop (if not eliminate) security gambles. But in reali ty, most airline and airport operator do not have get to to consummate, meticulously tranquil and analyzed information. Mostly, the lendable information or intelligence are also broad that they very difficult (perhaps, impossible) to employ in a particular airport or scheduled flight. This set-back is a flaw of the information capturing emergence selective information is acquired on an informal basis preferably of an organized, process driven regularity (Raffel, 2007). Be posts the incongruity of available information and intelligence, there is a caveat on the source of such(prenominal) information. Technology has make all kind of information readily available and as such the accuracy of information and credibility of the source cannot be ordinarily ascertained. This is a dilemma for information analyst, including airport security analyst. Emphasis is placed on the source general information on the public domain and mysterious and sensitive intelligence which stealthy s ourced and accumulated. As expected, sort out intelligence are restricted, seldom available for open propagation. Security agencies control the dissemination of such information and place a strict need-to know requirement. In a separate argument, Wheeler (2005 33) described the inhibition of information sharing as a culture, a phenomenon which characterized every human attack. How then would airport and airline operator be able access the much needed information (intelligence) given the strict rules on the availability? The absence of an information sharing framework is a potential risk agent in aviation security intelligence.The con scrutiny about secretiveness is other(prenominal) issue with aviation security. In 2004, National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States an inquiry on 9/11 attacks recommended that the US president determines the guideline for information sharing among government agencies, protect the privacy of the individual of whom they share i nformation about (Wheeler 2005 132). Perhaps, this recommendation may have been suggested by the Classified Information Procedures playact (CIPA) of 1980 which ensures the protection of protecting national security while also protecting the rights of the suspected individual. (Berman and Flint, 20033)Wheeler (200532) identified a missing link amidst information gathering and information sharing which can cause a drawback in effective policing. The covert method of gathering and analyzing intelligence requires that these dickens phases (information gathering and sharing) makes this interconnection necessary. Terrorist and criminals can capitalize on the difference among knowledge centres in while planning for and executing attacks on their targets. Inquiries into phratry 11 showed that the incidence can be blamed on the intelligence failure the government failed to make good use of prior information it had gathered and failed to utilize available information sharing framework. Misguided targeting is another weak point of intelligence gathering. Accumulating vast amount of information (of which some could be irrelevant) without exclusive suspicion will not catch terrorists and criminals instead it could make worse this Berman and Flint ( 20032)Critique of Aviation Security Intelligence ProgramsBefore September 11, 2001, aviation security intelligence was cantered around standgage concealment (Poole, 2008 17 Raffel 2007). But the 9/11 attack has set up a new atmosphere The need to identify trembling passengers (on a flight) and persons (within the perimeters of an airport) so as to nip potential attack in the bud before they are hatched. Before now, there have doubts on the effectiveness of these intelligence program (British Medical Journal 2010), increasing the telephone call after the failed Christmas mean solar day bombing attack. The question is how did the terrorist (Abdul Mutallab) pass done the walls of application? Clearly, terrorist organiz ations are keenly abreast of the trends of aviation security and they are in a relentlessly pursuit to circumvent it. KhaleejTimes.com (2010) claimed that the little success of Christmas day attack should be blamed on failure of human side of intelligence, suggesting the need to revisit the framework of intelligence program, if they will ever prosper.figurer Assisted passengers Pre-screening System (CAPPS )CAPPS (also Computer Assisted Passengers Screening CAPS) was first introduced in 1996, by an airline, as temporary measure to assist in passengers bag screening for explosives. Over clock, it was reviewed. The later version (CAPPS II) was modified to classify all passengers into various class according to a risk sound judgment take in allotted to the passenger. CAPPS II, depending on experimental data algorithm from various database (government and commercial), has a double sided central focus scrutinizing high-risk passengers at the same time as reducing the harassment of low risk (innocent) passengers. Like the hang US Defences Total Information Awareness program, it is designed at profile innocent great deal. Should the TSA endow so much on pen (innocent) people who do not pose any security threat? In addition to initial public scepticism about the effectiveness of this indite program, there is a growing debate over the appropriateness and the privacy and security risks of such systems (EPIC 2007a). In 2003, TSA started the Aviation Security Records (ASSR) an information database containing fiscal and transactional data as well as almost limitless data from other public and private information centre which the TSA said it will allow government, public and private entities to access the records. The unrestricted access to the database raises concern about the privacy and the security of the database. Is it possible for criminals and terrorist to obtain seemingly classified information, under false pretence? How passengers can contest and redress risk score is another missing details in the program.Secure leakage Program and the Terrorist Watch amountSoon after the TSA discarded the later version Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-screening System (CAPPS II) in imperious 2004, it started the Secured Flight Program which was aimed to match up passengers information contained in the Passenger Name Record (PNR) data by fork outd by passenger and the state maintained watch list. The program transcended beyond simply matching call on two list to a complex system of profiling persons in order to estimate the security risk which they pose (DHS, 2004). Although TSA performed test for the Secure Flight Program, the program faced some criticism which ternary to its temporary suspension. According to GAO (2006), at point when the secure flight program was scheduled to commence in September 2005, it was daubed with an inconclusive risk assessment and 144 known vulnerabilities.TSA has a United State legislation back mandate to kee p a watch list of creates of persons say to constitute a risk of air piracy or terrorist act or a threat to airlines or passenger safety. The agencys watch list is categorized into two no fly and selectee lists (EPIC, 2007). The airlines collaborate with TSA on this in that when a passenger checks in for a flight, they match the passengers identity with the record. Should the passengers name matches any on the no fly list, he or she is mark a threat, and is refused to embark on the flight. Not only that, TSA is notified at once and a law enforcement officer is called to detain and interrogate the person. In causal agency the persons identity is matches any name on the select list, the person is tag S and he or she receives stricter security screening. But, what if there is a fortune of mistaken identity when a person name is mistakenly matched with those on the watch list? Would an innocent passenger be disallowed from boarding a flight despite his constitution guaranteed rig ht to travel? There are Tens of thousands of application of persons seeking redress for been wrongly mismatched (EPIC, 2007b)Multi-perspective Evaluation of Aviation Security intelligence ProgramThis section will onslaught to provide an analytic and multi-dimensional view of the role of security intelligence in aviation, exploring the economic, technical and social perspectives leaving out the legal and human right issues. sparing ( furrow) perspectivesCivil aviation cannot be disconnected from business. This is self evident in that the industry is deregulated to encourage capitalists who seek profits. And the pursuit of profit is determined by the complexities of the aviation industry which admit the impact of the aviation security intelligence on industrys economics that cannot be underestimated. An instance is the aftermath of September 11 which led to a down turn of aviation business. The industry preserve a steep decline of passengers booking (of about seventy quadruplet pe rcent), several cancelled flights, reduction in route by some airline operator and consequently, loss of jobs, reduced share prices, and other business losses (Morrell and Alamdari, 20021). This change in the aviation business atmosphere was caused from the non-fly answer from passengers. Passengers reaction cannot be overlooked because it is an indication that passengers (like other consumers) are fitting of intelligence sourcing and sharing (Haugtvedt et al, 2004 283) and responding based on their analysis. Whether analysis of passenger is accurate is another subject entirely. Given the extent at which technology have increase the flow of information and the loop holes in information security, one cannot assume that sensitive security information cannot (would not) slip into the hand of the passenger (that is the set of air traveller) and the consequent passengers reaction and its ripple effect on aviation business (and industry in general) cannot be predicted. There is another dimension to this Terrorist knowing fully that passengers can react to fear factor just as they did after September 11 may explore this scenario and the weakness of alert information sharing framework to pursue an economic combat dodge simply by sparking panic within the system. other side of the economics of aviation security intelligence is the massive and unrevealed cost of pursing an intelligence system. Poole (20082) argued that similar to other similar human endeavour where choices are to be made based resource constraints, aviation security is faced with the challenge of making a finale on how to invest scares resource for maximum benefit. As anticipated, this makes decision making pretty difficult, and decision are characterized with frequent trade-offs. And if such trade -offs are not aright analyzed or hinged on wrong assumptions, the eventual decision may contribute to insecurity (KhaleejTimes.com, 2010). Based on this premise, Poole (20082) developed a risk assessmen t framework for making choices as related to aviation security. some other effect of classified information is that the actual cost of aviation strategy is difficult to determine, especially if the costing model is extended to account to include themes like cost benefit analysis (Poole, 20083).Social perspectivesPresent concentrate is emphasized on international flight overlooking (or disregarding the possibility) internally originated threats like those of London bombing. This leaves one to assume that some intelligence campaigns are based on prejudice and ostensible conclusions. Proponent of this view may not be entirely wrong may not fault the assumption that international flights poses higher degree of aviation risk. Social (racial, and religious) diversity concerns became more prominent when the United States government announced compulsory screening for all passenger from 14 countries (mostly Islamic) after the failed Christmas day bombing attempt (Zakaria, 2010). One can a rgue that intelligence efforts are socially biased (Persico, 20021472-73 Knowles and Hernandez-Murillo, 2004 959 -60)Political perspectivesPoole (20082) insists that changes in aviation security policies are motivated political imperatives to reassure frightened population of that the nations air space is still very safe. For example in the United State, through legislation, the government established the ecstasy Security Administration- an institution with complete responsibility for the nations transportation security but a huge part of its budget is committed to aviation security as directed by legislation. In a move to increase intelligence gathering, Attorney General Ashcroft approved security (FBI) agents to attend and observe political events and religious which might serve as hubs for terrorist activities Berman and Flint (2003 YY), demo the an interconnect but these themes Politics and Security Intelligence.Technological Issues Open access Information and Biometric Dat aThe debate on information sharing is fractional without examining the impact of technology. One of such argument is the openness of sensitive information to the public. For instance, Airport Law Enforcement Agencies Network (ALEAN) information-sharing groups supporting airports do make available information and open source material which is intended for aviation security personnel (Raffel CIA, 2007). Mindful the fact that terrorist and criminal can take favour of the easy and open accessibility of electronic information system, the reliability of this method remains shaky. In another campaign, there is an advocacy to leverage on technology to help strengthen the various passengers profiling program through the inclusion of biometric data (KhaleejTimes.com, 2010). Biometric data are so unique so much that incidence of identity mismatch is almost unlikely (if not impossible). Although, how this new method will be adopted remains on clear, but it shows a promise of resolving some of flaws in existing program.SummaryThe drawback in information sharing has rendered most aviation security intelligence initiatives less effective. The exhibit demands for intelligence is expected to increase can become more effective information sharing. In spite of the doubts that present regime of security intelligence on the effectiveness, they are building blocks for the emerging of aviation security). It remains unbeatable that intelligence affects the aviation security and the aviation industry in general, and that the various intelligences actions and inactions can shape the future. This review has attempt to identify various linkages between these arguments and highlight possible path for future discourse.