Every nation has an obligation to protect essential government, financial, energy, transportation, and other critical infrastructure operations against terrorist activities and natural disasters. RAND addresses homeland security and critical infrastructure needs through objective research that assists national, state, and local agencies in preventing and mitigating terrorist activities, as well as in improving disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.
Assesses to what extent the Council to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Response's Guidelines and associated Toolkit are reaching their intended users and achieving their intended goals.
Testimony presented before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats on March 21, 2013.
The U.S., while worried about a "9/11 in cyberspace," also ought to worry about what a "9/12 in cyberspace" would look like. The consequences of the reaction to a cyberattack could be more serious than the consequences of the original action itself.
Energy security strategies are needed because DoD installations rely on the U.S. commercial electricity grid which is vulnerable to disruption from natural hazards and actor-induced outages, such as physical or cyber attacks.
The Swedish Center for Asymmetric Threat Studies asked RAND to investigate cyber-security within national defence and security strategies. The report presents research findings and is of interest to cyber-security practitioners and policymakers.
The chances are growing that the United States will find itself in a crisis in cyberspace. Such crises can be managed by taking steps to reduce the incentives for other states to step into crisis, by controlling the narrative, understanding the stability parameters of the crises, and trying to manage escalation if conflicts arise from crises.
The U.S. Navy requires an agile, adaptable acquisition process that can field new IT capabilities and services quickly. Successful rapid acquisition programs in the Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps offer lessons for the Navy as it develops its own streamlined processes for computer network defense and similar program areas.
RAND Europe assessed the validity of preference profiles and associated weights used in the Dutch National Risk Assessment and offers recommendations to incorporate public values using scientifically validated methods.
Incremental operations and maintenance costs for new hurricane protection infrastructure vary considerably across Louisiana's levee districts, but most can cover costs for infrastructure within their boundaries. Stakeholders will need to determine an equitable cost allocation for infrastructure that spans district boundaries.
The Transportation Security Administration's RMAT has enabled a more sophisticated understanding of terrorism risks to the air transportation system, but TSA should not treat RMAT results as credible estimates. Rather, the results can help to inform the components of terrorism risk and possible influences of system changes on that risk.
Improving the security of the Gulf of Guinea's oil infrastructure would increase output and promote additional investment, to the benefit of oil importing nations. The U.S. Air Force has expertise that could help build local security capabilities.
RAND researchers developed an initial prototype tool to help determine capabilities and resources a locality will likely require during a disaster. The report also describes two social networking tools for local coordination of disaster preparedness.
Budgetary constraints, heavy passenger loads, and popular hostility toward screening procedures are all challenges to securing commercial aviation. After 40 years of focus on tactical measures, it is time for a sweeping review of aviation security.
The threat of terrorist attack on American aviation has made the system the focus of intense security efforts, but it is difficult to determine if the benefits outweigh their cost. Efficient security policy—a focus on getting the most security for the least cost—should be the priority in an era of fiscal austerity.
Energy purchases made by the U.S. DoD do not influence world oil prices, making cutting fuel use the only effective choice to reduce what the Pentagon spends on it. The U.S. military can continue to have an important role in promoting stability in major oil producing regions and by helping protect the flow of energy through major transit corridors and on the high seas.
Turkey aspires to become a key transit state for moving both natural gas and oil from the Caspian region and from the broader Middle East via pipelines crossing its territory. U.S.-Turkish cooperation on energy security issues offers a promising yet modest opportunity to strengthen the bilateral relationship.
Resilient communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural and man-made disasters. RAND experts offer expertise on evaluating and implementing community resilience–building activities throughout the world.
The partnership between China and Iran presents challenges to U.S. interests, including dissuading Iran from developing a nuclear weapons capability. An analysis of the factors driving Chinese-Iranian cooperation offers policy options for influencing this partnership to meet U.S. objectives.
After visiting EU high tech crime units, conducting interviews with stakeholders, and holding a scenario-based workshop, RAND Europe researchers determined that a European Cybercrime Centre hosted by Europol would bring together input from several different entities and drive a common approach to tackling cybercrime.
Pattern and trend analysis and systematic randomness can be used to position U.S. border security personnel and equipment effectively for interdiction, and in some circumstances the combined approach is competitive with perfect surveillance.
RAND® is a registered trademark. Copyright © 1994-2013 RAND Corporation.