By Kristina Lorch
The devastating suicide attack that killed over 40 individuals and wounded hundreds more at Turkey’s Ataturk Airport last month was another in a growing string of atrocities carried out against airports and mass transit systems around the globe. While airport security organizations such as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) have introduced new measures to improve traveler safety, including passenger volume mitigation efforts, expanded canine explosive detection programs, and augmented staff training, threats remain. Although several airports, including Ataturk Airport, have already implemented preventive security measures, the June attack reveals that these protocols alone are unable to secure transportation centers.
To supplement these physical security measures and address security gaps that currently persist from the inability to efficiently and promptly fuse data from disparate sources into actionable intelligence, analysts well-versed in analytic technology platforms must play an active role in monitoring and assessing threats. Agile analysts who have access to comprehensive open source data streams can observe chatter, isolate potential threats, and prepare airport authorities for future threats and disruptions.
Praescient’s analysts, drawing on years of experience in law enforcement, intelligence, and security, specialize in this persistent threat analysis. Using a breadth of incoming data streams, such as news sources, RSS feeds, social media, and internal data provided by airports, Praescient’s analysts employ advanced tools to collect, assess, and produce intelligence for commercial and government clients.
Praescient analysts possess the analytic and technical capabilities to absorb and synthesize swaths of data to conduct real-time media observation, targeted data monitoring, and link analysis to bolster airport security. For example, Praescient’s media monitoring capabilities will allow analysts to develop real-time and future threat maps, integrated RSS and social media feeds, asset threat profiles, and threat scoring systems. Our analysts are also able to use social media and public records to develop threat scoring algorithms that help identify threatening signals in the larger noise while filtering those results directly to the customer. Furthermore, Praescient’s link analysis platforms can integrate social network analysis with other tools to provide actionable intelligence and necessary context.
Potential finished deliverables, including visually engaging geographic threat maps, airport threat profiles, passenger case studies, and social network analysis, can be tailored to an airport’s individual needs, representing the specialized threats they may encounter.
Praescient’s analysts excel in fusing advanced analysis and technology and have the technical expertise to carry out important security missions. Culling information from an array of sources and using several monitoring tools, our analysts can work with teams across offices and agencies to produce engaging products for clients, maintaining the safety of our transportation hubs and tangibly contributing to the public defense.
Image credit: Getty Images