Amanda Smith

Protection of Maritime Assets And Port Security Defending Against Surface and Subsurface Improvised Explosive Device Threats

By Stephen T. Makrinos Chief Scientist CA C! Technologies Inc. Eatontown. NeM' Jersey

The majority of anti-terror researehand development efforts since September 11, 2001, have foeused on land-based improvised explosive device (lED) threats related to military operations in the urban combat envi- ronment in Southwest Asia. Subsequent to the USS Cole and MT Limburg tanker incidents and due to the recent increase of pirate attacks in the South China Sea and near the Horn of Africa, the spotlight has focused on seaborne terrorist threats.

Surveillance above the waterline relies on closed-eircuit television (CCTV), forward-looking infrared (FLIR) and radar. Access control sensors have provided a limited measure of deterrence. Coping with underwater tlireats via ves- sel or seañoor-mounted sonar sensors has had very limited suc- cess due to the complexity of technical problems and cost. In spite of technological advances and the development of new sen- sors, what is lacking is a holistic approach to dealing with a prob- lem that encompasses a broad spectrum of domain awareness and post-ineident recovery and assessment. Also, organizational ehanges need to be itnplemented and a unified command structure established that will coordinate the activities of multiple federal, state and local antiterrorism offices and ageneies. This is essential to develop appropriate law enforcement and security

responses to the information, data and intelligence colleeted and assimilated from disparate sources and to efïec- tiveiy allocate resources for maximum effect.

A unified command structure would faeilitate the rapid transfer of intelli- gence information and provide action- able intelligence to strike forces for timely interdiction of potential threats to minimize losses and maintain conti- nuity of operations, whether tuilitary or civilian. The first challenge of a task foree established under this uni- fied command would be to locate and identify useful evidentiary, tactical information as input for a strategic analysis. Very large quantities of elee- tronic, printed and, in some cases, handwritten data must be searched electronically for content and informa-

tional value. Tlie next ehallenge would be to retrieve useful information., regardless of source or fonnat. and convert it for strategic analysis.

The U.S, government collects and proeesses a tremendous amount of threat-related intelligence infonnation., but it is scattered across an incredible number of unrelated data systems and databases. Much of the infomiation is duplicative, but unique data treasures still exist. Analysts need aecess to this data to mine the resources without duplicating the effort. The task force must therefore identify suites of tools that allow analysts to sift the large amounts of data in and out of comput- er-based systems. Technical imple- mentation of this goal must consider infonnation system standards for the federal government, the intelligence

Proposed unified command structure for a major U.S. port.

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community, the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security and the private sector.

Approach The asymmetric and inherently

unpredictable nature of the insurgent lED threat, whether encountered bv

the military in an urban combat envi- ronment, naval vessels at their ports of call or commercial vessels during nor- mal trade operations, demands a holis- tic full-spectrum approach. The Department of Defense Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization task force has defined a multifaceted strategy proceeding from prediction/preemption through pre- vention, detection, neutralization and mitigation. To encompass homeland defense and address the protection of

maritime assets, a task force has to be established under a uni- fied command structure that will provide a closed loop approach. Two additional ele- ments need to be added to those mentioned above to provide lED defense and countemiea- sures.

The first is broad-spectrum domain awareness (threats/vul- nerabilities, current situation and all-source fused intelli- gence), which is an enabler for defensive countermeasures. The second is post-incident recovery and assessment to ensure rapid capture of infor- mation and lessons leamed and

to keep awareness fully current. Developing counter-IED solutions

that implement this holistic strategy for the warflghter or for the protection of maritime assets and homeland defense in a timely, effective way demands an agile, quick-reaction life cycle approach. One significant char- acteristic of terrorists is their ability to rapidly adapt their tactics, techniques and procedures to counter the effects of countermeasures applied against their IEDs. The development of pre-

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Notional sensor deployment of sen- sors for ttie protection of maritime assets.

dictive techniques that utilize a variety of data collected from disparate sys- tems and sensors, as well as open- souree information that can be fused to provide actionable intelligence, is required.

Technology Thrusts Port security needs have been

addressed thus far primarily through

persistent surveillance teehniques that integrate CCTV and/or FLIR cameras in conjunction with radar systems to monitor surface traffic. These are aug- mented by the use of smart cards and retinal-scan cameras to protect sensi- tive port areas.

Until recently, very few efforts have been initiated to deal with subsurface threats.

Based on recent intelligence, how- ever, there appear to be efforts by al Qaeda to recruit trained scuba divers, which serve as a good indicator of their future intentions.

Sonardyne Internationa! (Yateley, England) has developed a sonar system called Sentinel, which they say provides reliable detection of underwater intruders at a depth of 10 to 20 meters and a range of 600 to 900 meters. Their automatic detection and tracking capability using Kaiman filtering teehniques provides a low probability of false alarms. Once a track for a target has been developed and geo-located, it is stored in the database. The track is updated during successive sonar transmission cycles. Behavioral rules and criteria are

applied to each target track, and if anomalous behavior is noted, an alarm is sent to the operator. Several Sentinel systems can be tied together to cover the entrance to a port or used individ- ually to protect vessels in speeifle har- bor areas.

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), in collaboration with the U.S. Navy, is developing the Integrated Anti- Swimmer System. It provides a means of detecting, tracking, classifying. localizing, notifying, reporting and responding to underwater threats. It uses multiple sonar devices to detect

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the approaching target. Once the target is geo-located with the aetive sonar, a patrol boat is dispatched that uses a high-frequency imaging sonar for fur- ther target assessment. An underwater device known as the eLOUD is aeti- vated and is used to notify a diver that they have entered into a restricted area and should surface immediately. The USCG is also developing other non- lethal deterrent deviees for divers that fail to respond to the eLOUD. The Diver Interdiction System uses an acoustic impulse from an air gun that makes the diver very physically tincomfortable. forcing him to either suriace or leave the area.

The Naval Undersea Warfare Center. in conjunction with SunicWorks Inc. (Portsmouth, Rhode Island), is developing an undersea detection system that utilizes a bot- tom-mounted array of acoustic sensors located in critical areas. The system has the capability to listen to what is going on in the area of interest. It pro- vides the position, movement and direetion of a target and relays this information to a control station. The SonicWorks underwater security sys- tem—along with other deviees and systems, sueh as the Lockheed Martin

(Bethesda, Maryland) swimmer detec- tion system and Kongsberg Mesotech's (Port Coquitlam. Canada) underwater surveillance system- -uses a combination of active and passive sonar arrays for target detection, geo- location and tracking.

Integrating all of the infonnation collected from the various sensors above and below the surface, as well as other intelligence information pro- vided from external sources, requires that an open service-oriented architec- ture (SOA) be used in the emergency operations eenters (EOCs) of various port facilities. The center can be coto- cated or integrated as part of the city's EOC as the local authorities deem fea- sible or desirable. The implementation of a SOA architecture is critical so that legacy systems can be easily incorpo- rated. It also enables the upgrade and replacement of sensors and systems as technology evolves. As can be seen in the architecture, the systems integrator that will implement the overall securi- ty solution must be system agnostic, enabling the integration of sensors, systems, tools and capabilities from a variety of vendors and sources.

The unified command structure would bring a wealth of information

collected by each agency from a vari- ety of sensors and systems extant and under development at the loeal, state or federal level, intbnnation and data that each agency collects reside in a variety of databases, each havinjj; unique characteristics as well as secu- rity classification levels. To share and exchange infonnation, in addition to having the requisite permissions to enter the various databases, the ability to access and retrieve the required infonnation in near-real time will be needed. The Instaknow (South Plainfield, New Jersey) Aetive Collaboration Engine provides a unique capability that enables the operator to access, retrieve and exchange data from a variety of data- bases, irrespective of fomiat (HTML, XML. SQL or SOAP). The system enables collaboration using visually configured custom action logic with- out coding. It also provides automatic alerts to specific individuals or groups based on spécifie threat infonnation or on preestablished criteria for a specif- ic event.

Finally, the information provided by the various agencies, sensors and sys- tems that is shared and used for collab- oration and mission execution by the

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agents and operators in the field must be protected. In addition to the exter- nal hacker threat, the insider threat— even though infrequent—must be addressed, since lives may be at stake.

A commercial system being devel- oped may provide the solution to this critical problem. Vizomet Inc.'s (Fairfax, Virginia)Cryptsec"can man- age sensitive data on a multilevel security basis and, where necessary, work inside the envelope of military end-to-end link cryptosystems and provide infonnation security control not otherwise available. Cryptsec uses the Advanced Encryption Standard, a National Institute of Standards and Technology-standard secret key cryp- tography method that uses 128, 192 and 256-bit keys. It officially replaced the Triple Data Encryption Standard method in 2001.

The split-key management method- ology and nested architecture auto- mates and cryptographically enforces "need to know," thus preventing unau- thorized access—even if redistributed from a trusted souree. This is achieved with an encrypted positive identifica- tion that consists of an casy-to-memo- rizc but very secure pass phrase, as opposed to an alphanumeric password that could be broken with currently available software attack tools. If desired, the system could be secured using an ignition key similar to those used within military organizations.

No pass codes are stored on work- stations or data servers, nor are they available to the network engineers or administrators. The only person that has access to the codes is the security administrator.

Security is further enhanced by the positive unchangeable logging of all data access. Even if a hacker were able to penetrate the database, the system design prevents the intruder from cov- ering his tracks by changing the data that identities who entered the system, enabling him to be identified, traeked and discovered. The logging data can then be recovered and used for his prosecution.

The implementation of the Cryptsec security measure provides seamless

Stephen T. Makrinos is vice president and chief scientist of CA CI Technologies. He assumed ihii position after 32 years in government service.

integration with commercially avail- able plattbnns and software, with no degradation of local area, wide area or virtual private network performance.

Conclusions The IED threat, whether land-based

or waterbome, is a complex problem. It requires a holistic approach that encompasses a variety of military and civilian agencies and a wide array of disparate sensors and systems. It also requires the cooperation and collabo- ration of personnel across the spec-

trum. Technology is providing the means to address this problem. What is required, to some extent, is the fund- ing, but more so ihe political will to overcome differences among the agen- cies that hinder the exchange of infor- mation and collaboration for success- ful mission execution, /st/

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