Transportation Security

commentary

Why AV Safety and Cybersecurity Need to Be Pursued in Tandem

Safety and cybersecurity are generally pursued by separate teams within autonomous vehicle companies. A joint approach to standards could optimize safety and cybersecurity and reduce overall risks to autonomous vehicle operation.

Marjory S. Blumenthal @MarjorySB

commentary

Shutdown Could Provide Opening for Adversaries to Corrupt Those Protecting the U.S. Homeland

Every day that the government shutdown continues prolongs the financial hardship for those on the front lines protecting the United States and gives cartels and transnational criminal organizations an opening to try to corrupt the DHS ranks. As negotiations continue to stall, the Trump administration and Congress should consider taking steps to guard against this vulnerability.

Ryan Consaul

commentary

How to Harden America's Soft Targets

The U.S. government must choose where to apply limited resources to defend soft targets. But it could expand its information-sharing efforts with other governments and local law enforcement. Broad intelligence sharing and more training could help identify potential attackers before they can execute their plans.

Colin P. Clarke, Chad C. Serena

essay

Election 2016: The Domestic Issues

RAND offers a unique take on the big domestic issues facing America: research that is independent, reliable, and rigorously nonpartisan.

commentary

Terrorism Shouldn't Affect Travel Plans

Evidence suggests that the threat of terrorism need not affect individuals' behavior and travel decisions, not even in the wake of attacks such as those in Brussels and Paris.

Henry H. Willis @HenryHWillis, Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

commentary

Out of Line: How to Better Protect Airports from Terrorist Attacks

In airport security, it's not the size of a potential terrorist bomb that matters most, it's where it detonates. Fortunately, new technologies may present opportunities to get travelers out of line and keep them safe.

Henry H. Willis @HenryHWillis, Michael A. Brown

commentary

The Police Could Be Controlling Your Self-Driving Car

As self-driving cars become widespread, one of the biggest issues will be the rules under which public infrastructures and public safety officers may be empowered to override how autonomous vehicles are controlled.

Martin C. Libicki

commentary

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Internet of Things

Late last month, Fiat Chrysler recalled 1.4 million cars to fix a defect that allowed hackers to imperil drivers from afar. In essence, what was considered a huge threat was converted into a solved or at least solvable problem.

Martin C. Libicki

commentary

Tunisia in the Crosshairs

The open-ended nature of the Islamic State group's threat against Tunisair suggests that it intends to target Tunisia for the long haul. The United States should counter the threats with steadfast and sustained cooperation and assistance.

Michael D. Rich @michaeldrich, K. Jack Riley

commentary

TSA Flunked Its Security Test Big Time — Now What?

We have to accept that humans, no matter how well-trained they are or how dedicated they are to their mission, are just not very good at maintaining laser-like focus while performing repetitive tasks. That does not mean airport security can ever be completely given over to machines.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

commentary

Are Airport Security Screeners Looking for the Wrong Things?

An investigation revealed that the TSA has failed in contraband testing, at a 95 percent rate. This shouldn't be perceived as an indictment of TSA workers. But it may be an indictment of the particular assignments they've been given.

K. Jack Riley

commentary

Improving Domestic Security to Combat Today's Terrorist Threats

Today, the U.S. confronts a multilayered terrorist threat and the recent spate of attacks in Europe underscores the necessity for ensuring that intelligence keeps up with it. Intelligence services must continue to prevent terrorist assaults dispatched from abroad, head off new shoe and underwear bombers, intercept individuals returning from jihadist fronts with terrorist intentions, while at the same time uncovering and thwarting homegrown plots.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

commentary

TSA's Cellphone Rule Part of Deadly Race

While placing explosives inside a cellphone is plausible, it is almost impossible to do so with iPhones without rendering them non-functional, which is why the TSA is now checking cell phones are actually working.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

commentary

Sounding the Car Alarm on Hackers

Security protections on vehicles have not kept pace with systems that control safety features, navigation capabilities, and wireless communication functions. Onboard computer networks will likely become much more attractive to hackers, whether their aim is to steal a car, eavesdrop on a conversation, stalk a potential victim, or cause a devastating traffic accident.

Isaac R. Porche III, Timothy M. Bonds

commentary

The Breach of Security at San Jose's Airport Raises Broader Issues

Those charged with security must think in terms of 360-degree security—not only screening passengers coming through the terminal, but also preventing unauthorized access to the aircraft from the air operations side of airport.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

commentary

Experts Are Working to Develop Evidence-Based Ways to Measure Anti-Terrorism Efforts

The effects of security measures ought not to be measured solely in terms of prevention. Different types of countermeasures produce different effects, such as deterrence, making it easier for security to intervene during an attempted attack, and providing visible security that reassures the public.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

commentary

Why Did Terrorists Attack Volgograd?

The Volgograd attacks have brought renewed world attention to the unresolved conflict in the turbulent Caucasus. The bombings no doubt have rattled Russian nerves. While Umarov's reputation among extremists will rise, President Putin's reputation as defender of Russia is at stake.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

commentary

Want to Create Problems? Arm the TSA

With its current 47,000 screeners, an armed TSA would become the federal government's largest armed entity outside of the military. In the eyes of many, arming TSA screeners would change the image of the organization from a service aimed at guaranteeing safe air travel to an unwanted imposition of federal authority.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

commentary

Airport Violence—Not a New Phenomenon

Shootings at airports are nothing new, writes Brian Michael Jenkins. In fact, they have regularly occurred worldwide in recent years. The motives have included terrorism, crime, and mental illness.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

commentary

More Secure or Less Free?

It is thus not surprising that people report a willingness to trade convenience, money, and liberty for security. Legal precedent reinforces that decreased civil liberties may be accepted when confronting existential threats with demonstrably effective security—to a point, writes Henry H. Willis.

Henry H. Willis @HenryHWillis

commentary

Fake Boarding Pass Fears Inflated

Instead of ratcheting back the PreCheck program because of manufactured fears about security lapses, TSA should be encouraged to expand this program to more airlines, more airports and more infrequent travelers, write Jack Riley and Lily Ablon.

K. Jack Riley, Lillian Ablon

commentary

TSA Procedures Need to Be Remade from Scratch

It is time for a new approach to meeting America's next-generation aviation security needs, one that dodges the influence of politics and bureaucracies and relies instead on the resources and objectivity of independent researchers operating from a clean slate, writes Brian Michael Jenkins.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

commentary

Three Ways to Improve Airport Screening

The TSA's pilot “Pre-check” program that pre-screens travelers who volunteer for it is an overdue advance in security, but it does not address some larger issues surrounding America's airports, writes K. Jack Riley.

K. Jack Riley

commentary

The Unmentionable Costs of Airline Security

For most of the past decade, the U.S. has pursued policies with very little regard to the costs they impose on travelers or the net reduction in risk that they generate, writes K. Jack Riley.

K. Jack Riley

commentary

Is it Time to Consider a New Approach to Airline Security?

It may be possible that the development and deployment of improved security technologies and reconfigurations of security checkpoints will keep security one step ahead of terrorist adversaries, but it also may be an appropriate time to explore fundamentally new approaches, writes Brian Michael Jenkins.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

commentary

Quake a Disaster 'Drill' D.C. Flunked

Fortunately for the nation's capitol, Hurricane Irene and the East Coast earthquake proved to be relatively minor events, as far as disasters go. But before everyone breathes a sigh of relief, it would be wise to reflect on how people responded to what were essentially dress rehearsals for much bigger events, write Lynn E. Davis and Arthur L. Kellermann.

Lynn E. Davis, Arthur L. Kellermann

commentary

Why Terrorists Attack Airports

Attacks on airports give terrorists the symbolic value they seek and guarantee the attention of the international news media, writes Brian Michael Jenkins.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

commentary

What We Can Learn from the Christmas Day Bombing Attempt

President Obama's nominee to lead the Transportation Security Administration said he would like U.S. airport screening to more closely resemble Israel's. Perhaps attention is turning to what really matters about the attempted bombing of Northwest Flight 253: what it can teach us about aviation security, write

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins, Bruce Butterworth, et al.

commentary

Racial Profiling Won't Stop Terror

Logical as it may seem to a fearful traveling public, a profiling policy focusing on people who appear to be “flying while Muslim” would be extraordinarily difficult to implement and counterproductive. There are more than 1 billion Muslims in the world and only a tiny fraction are members of a terrorist group.

K. Jack Riley, Greg Ridgeway

commentary

Speed Low-Risk Travelers Through Increased Security

Published commentary by RAND staff: Speed Low-Risk Travelers Through Increased Security, in Los Angeles Business Journal.

K. Jack Riley, Henry H. Willis @HenryHWillis

commentary

Tighten Up Mass-Transit Security

Published commentary by RAND staff: Tighten Up Mass-Transit Security, in Newsday.

Peter Chalk

commentary

Selecting for Security

The recent decision to conduct random searches of backpacks and packages carried by passengers on New York and Boston subways, commuter trains, and buses has provoked controversy. Americans want better security, but remain wary about how it is provided.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

commentary

Trains, Buses and Terror

Published commentary by RAND staff.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

commentary

Breach of Airline Security Is Nothing to Panic About

The arrest of Nathaniel T. Heatwole on charges of smuggling box cutters, bleach and matches aboard two commercial airliners reminds us that, despite significant improvements since Sept. 11, our security systems are not perfect. They never will be.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

commentary

Fliers Have Reason to Jettison Jitters

Published commentary by RAND staff.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

commentary

Get Used to It: Our Airports Are Vulnerable to Terrorism

Published commentary by RAND staff.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

commentary

Safeguarding the Skies

Published commentary by RAND staff.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

commentary

Terror's Aftermath: A Counterterrorism Policy for Yesterday's Threat

Published commentary by RAND staff.

Bruce Hoffman