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One of the unintended consequences of technological innovation is that it can promote opportunities for crime. These opportunities not only have the potential to generate significant financial costs but can also have wider social consequences. This article considers the development of technologies designed to enable customer convenience in the retail sector, and focuses specifically on the potential of mobile scan and payment systems to generate opportunities for crime. Through interviews with retailers, store observations and analysis of shrinkage data both the potential opportunities for crime and impact on loss are identified. The wider potential criminogenic impact of such innovation is also considered and whether large businesses have a social and moral responsibility to mitigate for any negative effects of such developments.

This study investigated how retail loss prevention training practices and techniques influence the behavior and performance of loss prevention officers. Thirty semi-structured interviews were conducted with loss prevention officers from two major retailers located within the United States. The purpose of the interviews was to examine how specific elements of Social Learning Theory guided or informed loss prevention officer behavior. The results suggest that peer-trainers have the greatest influence on an officer’s decision to conform or deviate from their company policy. From this data, evidence-based practices can be developed for retailers to avoid costly litigation stemming from inappropriate officer behavior.

To mitigate risks inherent in sharing sensitive cyber-security information, recent research has examined anonymizing systems (ANS) that hide the identities of participants and decouple data from their originators. ANS are particularly compelling as a potential support to cyber-security information sharing because the cost of implementation is relatively low, and the more organizations and nations that participate, the more everyone benefits. Although such systems are promising to both developing and mature cyber-infrastructures, they still have not been widely adopted for use in sharing cyber-security information. Relatively little prior research has investigated the perception and adoption of these systems, despite their potential value for organizations and nations in supporting the battle against cyber-crime. Given these opportunities, this study tries to better understand the factors that foster adoption of ANS. Accordingly, we present a theoretical model intended to explain the trust process involved in user adoption of ANS. We theorize that users’ beliefs regarding trust in the information provided by the system and the risks associated with using the system, as well as beliefs in the system’s anonymizing capability, will lead to greater levels of adoption. Further, perceptions of system quality are theorized to contribute to user trusting beliefs. The results of a free-simulation experiment largely validate the proposed model. These results should help inform the next generation of ANS development and deployment.

This article evaluates the role of trust in a specific area of security activity, sensitive information sharing. It begins by exploring the nature of trust, and then moves on to highlight on the one hand some of the security benefits when trust is evident, and on the other the risks that can accrue when trust is misplaced. It then moves on to report the findings from an empirical study by discussing how three key elements: process issues, people issues and technology can, when done well improve the security of information sharing, indeed, it can create additional security opportunities, and when done badly can undermine it. In conclusion the article asserts that the generation of trust is fundamental to effective sensitive information exchange but this poses real challenges including in deciding how much trust is appropriate.

Many organizations are implementing threat management approaches to identify and respond to potentially threatening behaviors, threats and acts of violence. Threat management teams bring together different types of expertise throughout a company to assess, investigate, respond to, monitor and mitigate situations. This article presents a conceptual model for threat management and tests the model using tabletop scenarios with a large multinational company’s threat management team training program. The tabletop training using the model assisted teams in assessing the incident to determine the risk level, identifying investigative steps, and using expertise and resources of the different team members. Pre-post tests indicated that the training significantly increased team member’s confidence in the threat management process.

Cyberspace and cyberpower are terms that are increasingly used in common parlance, but are notoriously difficult to define and measure. This article builds on previous work defining the properties of cyberspace in terms of vertical layers, which when combined with a representation of distance presents a three-dimensional model. The unique attributes of cyberspace can be harnessed for power projection, the aim of which is ultimately to alter the behaviour of individuals. Although cyberspace has yet to be used as a medium to demonstrate conventional hard power of coercion and threats supported by physical force, it does present a suitable medium for the projection of soft power of attraction and imitation. These are defined within the context of the online environment and by drawing on the techniques used to optimise Web-based commerce, potential methods of implementing and measuring the success of a campaign of cyberpower projection are proposed.

Following the 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech, colleges and universities nationwide sought to install new emergency notification systems or overhaul existing systems to alert students in the event a similar incident took place on their campus. While researchers have begun to explore the effectiveness of such systems and how they are being employed, a noticeable gap exists in the literature in respect to how this technology is being utilized by members of the campus community. The present study, conducted at a large southwestern university, sought to fill this void by examining the perceptions and employment of the system by universities’ largest segment of users – students. The findings provide continued support for the use of multimodal systems, but also indicate that more education and advertising is needed to increase student engagement with these systems. Limitations of the study, directions for future research, and related policy implications for universities also are discussed.

The remarkable growth of private security has re-shaped New Zealand’s policing landscape. However, despite its growth, little is known about its professional standards and service delivery or indeed the licencing system designed to ‘police’ and improve them. Notwithstanding the burgeoning security governance literature, there is a limited amount of research that captures practitioner perceptions of their own industry. This article makes an important contribution to that limited research by presenting the findings of two New Zealand-focused studies that together throw much needed light onto an industry on which so many New Zealanders now rely. Drawing on the perceptions and practical experience of those at the front-line of service delivery, the first provides a first-hand ‘insider’ view of industry standards and professionalism. The second examined industry standards through an analysis of all 2011 security licence applications and approvals. In combination the studies highlight the challenges faced by the new regulatory framework in raising standards and reducing risk.

Between 2000 and 2007, 255 individuals comprising 59 groups were prosecuted in US federal courts for providing material support to known terrorist organizations, a violation of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. In collaboration with the American Terrorism Study, data were collected from federal court records on the prosecution of these individuals. Patterns in the data were observed and these offenders were categorized into four groups. Logistic regression models were used to compare these offenders with conventional, violent terrorists. Results show significant differences (in regards to both demographic and legal variables) between those offenders providing material support and those carrying out violent actions. Implications of the data and results are discussed.

A cardinal belief in airport security is that workers’ training has a direct impact on actual rule compliance behavior and thereby assuring optimal security. Given the complex social and organizational nature of airports, however, it is not surprising that substantial proportions of security employees, including screeners, security guards and ground personnel bend, break or ignore rules and protocols, bringing into question the effectiveness of training. In a comprehensive study of airports across Europe, the impact of security training on security-related decisions was examined in detail. As airports are complex high-reliability organizations, their security levels are based on regulations that require both initial and refresher courses annually. We hypothesized that those more trained would comply more with the protocols and rules than those with less training. In addition, we contend and test the hypothesis that the robustness of the training process is modified as it becomes enmeshed in the reality of an airport’s organizational processes. Our results confirmed both general observations but also led us to discover that training itself is constrained in its ability to determine security decision behavior primarily because of an employee’s experience of actual threats. We then suggest a solution that incorporates a scenario simulation to bridge the gap between rule compliance and reality.

Employee theft is one of the most harmful crimes committed against small businesses. In response the owners of victimized businesses can be expected to make organizational changes intended to prevent future victimizations. This study uses grounded theory techniques to analyze data obtained from interviews with small business owners regarding their experiences with employee theft. Results indicate that the decision to address employee theft was based on the owner’s perception of the severity of the theft, their perception that something could be done about the theft, and an assessment of organizational weaknesses and opportunities of future employee thefts. When theft was perceived to be significant, small business owners responded by making changes to the organization that fit with traditionally established techniques of situational crime prevention. However, the choice of techniques(s) was not random, but rather reflected a desire to achieve functional redundancy.

Following the deployment of strong biometric systems in forensic science (for example, finger/palmprints or DNA), additional weaker biometric data such as facial information, ear or gait, are making their way into police practices and judicial systems. Their introduction is not going without presenting new challenges because of their lower discrimination power (that is, their efficiency at distinguishing individuals). Current biometric systems are designed and deployed as stand-alone applications (operating on their own merit, detached from any other investigative information) and are not fit for purpose when dealing with less discriminating modalities such as faces. We posit in this article that, for these emergent modalities, a different framework, integrated with the policing strategy, is required. The proposed framework is designed to maximize the payoff of these modalities for investigation or intelligence purposes. The number of facial images of non-identified individuals of interest available to police forces is increasing. Their sources go from surveillance cameras, cameras from automated teller machine, personal devices and so on. We analyzed, between 2009 and 2013, data from a regional intelligence platform, used by the crime intelligence units and, show using real case examples, the potential of facial images for crime investigation and crime intelligence.

Detecting and understanding organised forms of crime involved in the manufacture, diffusion and/or use of false identity and travel documents is a complex challenge. It is postulated that a monitoring approach rooted in the systematic examination and profiling of counterfeit and forged documents using forensic science methods shall provide novel, relevant and useful crime intelligence. A method has been developed to process, manage and compare systematically features of false identity documents. The method enables the detection and monitoring of patterns, trends and links between cases. Their interpretation through different forms of analysis points to potential crime groups, prolific offenders and prominent modus operandi. This article highlights how such forensic intelligence may support the elicitation of hypotheses and contribute to the understanding of crime markets and criminal networks. Such a systematic and scientific processing of any forensic science data can foster a more phenomenological and traceological approach to crime and security.

Despite the wealth of research that has been conducted on global terrorism over recent years, few empirical studies have addressed ‘single-issue’ terrorism, and little is known about the targeting strategies employed by these groups. This article examines the targeting in 247 bomb attacks carried out by violent animal rights and anti-abortion extremists worldwide between 1978 and 2008. Using non-metric multidimensional scaling (MDS) the empirical data are used to construct a model of targeting behaviour that shows four modes of attack; two of which are primarily designed to cause economic damage or fear, and two of which are potentially lethal to the target occupants. The model is then used to compare the tactics of extremists associated with the two different causes and the implications for prevention are discussed.

The adoption of an Internal Security Strategy (ISS) in the European Union (EU) in 2010 raised not only expectations but also a number of questions from EU scholars and practitioners. Where did it come from? Who was behind the strategy? What will be its effect on actual cooperation and policy outcomes? This article takes a historical perspective to help answer these questions. We examine the ISS from three perspectives – its origin, its formulation and its eventual content – and examine how these perspectives illuminate the likely impact of the ISS. Using some ‘ideal-type’ benefits attributed to strategies generally – including political-symbolic benefits, cohering effects and operational guidance – we assess whether the history of the ISS is likely to enable or constrain success. While further research is needed, our analysis of developments in the months after adoption of the ISS suggests that its history may serve to undermine its impact on both cooperation and policy.

A body of research has examined the nature of security work, legislative efforts and training requirements. Fewer studies, however, have explored security officers’ perceptions of the training they received to perform their duties effectively. Although effort has been made to explore how useful the extant of training regime is for security officers in Canada (Manzo, 2009), it is unclear whether such views would hold among security officers in the United States, as both countries have minimal standard requirements regarding training. Building from Manzo’s (2009) research, we use in-depth interviews with 19 US security officers to explore security officers’ perceptions of training and what, if any, additional training security officers perceive that they need to perform their job effectively. Similar to Manzo’s work, we found that some of the officers improvise the needs and demands of their jobs with experiences drawn from prior employment; however, unlike Manzo’s study, security officers perceived a lack of adequate training to perform their tasks effectively and strongly endorsed the importance of and need for systematic and standardized training.

The uniqueness of military supplies and their functions, and the existence of a limited number of producers, makes many Single Points of Failure. A reliable Defense Ammunition Industrial Base (DAIB) is essential to a Department of Defense (DOD) seeking to improve capabilities to fight and prevail in multiple, simultaneous conflicts. This critical aspect of DOD success is poorly addressed in the current DAIB, and threat evaluation methods for what should be a secure supply chain are often inadequate. With replacement alternatives limited, what recourse would the DOD have for acquiring material from one-of-a-kind or limited suppliers should DAIB facilities be destroyed or severely damaged by acts of terrorism or natural or man-made disasters? Ammunition is the lifeblood of the military, and the availability of appropriate types of ammunition in required quantities is essential to combat effectiveness. This article focuses on inherent risks to existing DAIB facilities due primarily to their current locations and vulnerabilities. Within this discussion, several possible solutions arise, with redundant DAIB capabilities being the most viable.

The growth in the number and scope of private information breaches of social networking (SN) websites subscribers’ has prompted researchers to focus on the utilization of privacy and security measures among SN users. Previous research suggests that users who engaged in risky online behaviors, such as adding strangers as friends, were more likely to be victimized online. The current study examines the role gender plays in the relationship between SN security and online interpersonal victimization (OIPV). Utilizing a probability sample of college students from a large Midwestern university, gender differences in online SN activity and security were found. Some factors (number of SN updates and adding strangers as friends) had a significantly different impact on OIPV among males and females.

Private security is a fragmented industry with tens of thousands of small- and medium-sized suppliers worldwide. However, with the arrival in the market of multinational brands such as Group 4 Securicor and Securitas, we are witnessing a McDonaldization of security commodities. This development signals the global introduction of recognizable logos and uniforms along with standardized services and products. After providing the latest statistics on the growth of private security in Europe, we give examples of how the McDonaldization of this industry is evolving throughout the continent. Our examples illustrate that, following the lead of traditional corporate customers, governments have also started to use contract guards and other private security services. This article also addresses the driving forces behind the rise of multinational security companies, and the opportunities and challenges they present to Western societies. © 2013 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

The transfer of power in the area of security provision from government to private companies raises the question of the right to exercise this power, as well as the legitimacy of Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs). Existing research has examined the different forms of power PMSCs inherit. This article explores various forms of legitimacy that can be attributed to PMSCs. It argues that because of the possession of different forms of power, a more sophisticated overarching approach towards understanding the multiple sources of legitimacy is necessary when addressing the privatization of security and the existence of PMSCs. The article then applies some of those different thoughts on legitimacy to the debate concerning PMSCs.

High-profile terrorist attacks in the new millennium have made counter-terrorism a priority for many governments. The abundance of open source intelligence available after the 9/11/2001 attack, for example, enabled a comprehensive analysis of that terrorist network. The opportunity, thus, is to collect valuable and cost-effective information during the pre-attack phase to aid in the prevention of such atrocities in the future. This article positions social network analysis as a key tool for this type of intelligence analysis, with emphasis on the automated extraction of data relevant to the structural organisation of its actors and the attributes of their relationships in the network by using data and text mining techniques on open sources. The processes outlined are viewed as a layer that could complement and help to populate a terrorist behavioural activity model such as where the recognition of pre-incident indicators are linked to the likelihood of terrorist events.

The literature on private security in a cross-national context has expanded over the last two decades. However, research on the Turkish private security industry has been limited. The current study explores various aspects of the Turkish private security industry, including growth trends, the latest regulations, officer demographics, and their perception of instructional sufficiency using Turkish National Police (TNP) statistics and a survey of Turkish private security officers. The findings suggest that Turkish private security is a rapidly growing industry relative to other countries in the world. Although the majority of Turkish private security officers felt that the level of training they received was sufficient to perform their duties, little connection was found among their demographic characteristics and their perception of training sufficiency.

In the United Kingdom (UK), private security contractors are taking on increasingly prominent roles, their market failures are becoming ever more controversial, and the public regulator responsible for controlling their activities – the Security Industry Authority (SIA) – is undergoing major restructuring. Now is therefore a good time to reflect on the successes, failures and prospects of UK security regulation. With this in mind, the article advances an up-to-date and comprehensive evaluation of the SIA's regulatory practices. Its headline findings are twofold. First, the picture is mixed: the SIA has succeeded in meeting its two core regulatory objectives – to reduce criminality and to raise standards – but only to a degree. Second, context matters: in order to understand SIA's performance, it is necessary to interpret its activities within the broader UK regulatory environment, in particular, the Better Regulation agenda.

The current state of the art and direction of research in computer vision aimed at automating the analysis of CCTV images is presented. This includes low level identification of objects within the field of view of cameras, following those objects over time and between cameras, and the interpretation of those objects’ appearance and movements with respect to models of behaviour (and therefore intentions inferred). The potential ethical problems (and some potential opportunities) such developments may pose if and when deployed in the real world are presented, and suggestions made as to the necessary new regulations which will be needed if such systems are not to further enhance the power of the surveillers against the surveilled.

This study reports the findings of a field survey asking more than 500 passengers at a large East Coast international airport about their experiences while going through airport security. Although existing research shows that metal detectors and baggage screening can be effective in reducing the likelihood of violence at airports and on planes, the fairness of such procedures has yet to be fully examined. While all passengers must be screened, there can also be discretion in airport security regarding whether passengers receive additional screening and how they perceive they are being treated. Findings indicate differences between racial groups and treatment, with nonwhites more likely to receive additional screening, have more items confiscated, feel embarrassed, and less likely to be provided an explanation for searches. Policy recommendations are suggested.

This study examines an intervention aimed at improving the detection rates of closed circuit television (CCTV) operators during real-time surveillance. The intervention consists of electronically inserting graphic objects (IGOs) into video stream with the intention of assisting operators in detecting actual significant events. It is based on threat image projection (TIP) that has been used to heighten the performance of X-ray baggage screeners. Seventy-three participants observed a 90-min CCTV video from an industrial plant, showing both normal work activity and significant events. The control group received no IGOs, one treatment group received generic IGOs, and the second treatment group received IGOs with small semantic distances to target behaviours. There were indications that the IGOs had positive effects on alertness and attention sets, but this was not statistically significant. Reasons for this are discussed in terms of differences between the CCTV and baggage screening or TIP contexts.

The role and significance of private security services have grown in many countries, since traditional tasks of security authorities are being outsourced. The goal of this study is to empirically evaluate the perceptions of the private security market in Finland. As a result, we identified three different future scenarios for the Finnish private security market, including (1) international success via innovations, (2) success via domestic markets, and (3) pessimistic success vision. It appeared that 75 per cent of respondents saw the future of the Finnish private security market as positive, while respondents with managerial job position were more optimistic than workers. Moreover, the importance of a high-quality national-level educational system was emphasised. The market is assumed to be characterised by the dominance of large companies, while the attitude towards multi-service activities is divided by the respondents. Owing to homogeneous service offerings, the industry is expected to face strong price competition. There are also some doubts regarding the private sector's ability to handle new duties transferred from the public sector. Finally, technology will be a new business enabler, yet it will attract new rivals from other industries and challenge traditional actors in the security sector field.

The aim of surveillance in the mall environment is to create a safe and secure place for customers, but it may hence work as an exclusionary tool for some. Armada, a shopping mall in Ankara, was chosen as the site for this research, where the purposes and impacts of surveillance related to safety and exclusion were analyzed from the points of view of mall users and staff. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 43 mall users and seven mall personnel. The results indicated that most of the users and staff perceived surveillance in the mall in relation to the security, safety and comfort of potential customers. Exclusion was considered as a probable and unavoidable outcome of surveillance and not challenged by the users. This finding raises the question of surveillance as a mechanism of intolerance against difference and variety in urban life.

The rapid proliferation of information and communications technologies has improved the means to record and transmit information. Not surprisingly, this digitized information can be exploited, corrupted, denied or destroyed electronically, resulting in digital information warfare (DIW). This article examines politically motivated cyberattacks in Eurasia to conduct DIW trend analyses. Document analysis is conducted on 86 documents dated from 1995 to 2011. The article goes beyond traditional DIW research on criminal organization and attack complexity by adding four new DIW components: division of labor, alliances, communication and physical elements. It generates a discussion of whether any of these components are connected, more prominent or exhibits a temporal order. The article also examines several factors that sustain and promote DIW, discusses practical lessons that can be learned from DIW in Eurasia, and offers suggestions for further research.

Social Network Analysis is a compilation of methods used to identify and analyze patterns in social network systems. This article serves as a primer on foundational social network concepts and analyses and builds a case study on the global Islamist terrorist network to illustrate the use and usefulness of these methods. The Islamist terrorist network is a system composed of multiple terrorist organizations that are socially connected and work toward the same goals. This research utilizes traditional social network, as well as small-world, and scale-free analyses to characterize this system on individual, network and systemic levels. Leaders in the network are identified based on their positions in the social network and the network structure is categorized. Finally, two vital nodes in the network are removed and this version of the network is compared with the previous version to make implications of strengths, weaknesses and vulnerabilities. The Islamist terrorist network structure is found to be a resilient and efficient structure, even with important social nodes removed. Implications for counterterrorism are given from the results of each analysis.

A non-monitored closed-circuit television (CCTV) pilot project commenced at the Scott Road Skytrain Station Park and Ride in Surrey, BC in August 2009. The pilot project was implemented by the City of Surrey and scheduled for 1 year. This article reports on an evaluation of the CCTV system with respect to its ability to reduce vehicle-related crime at the pilot site. Using police and insurance data, the evaluation considers the trends of vehicle-related crimes over several years in the City of Surrey and the northern district of the Corporation of Delta, BC. In general, there is little evidence of a significant drop in vehicle-related crime that can be attributed to the CCTV system. Moreover, we show that the results are dependent on the methods used for evaluation; this is critical because we show that a more commonly used method (that we consider inappropriate) indicates a significant drop in vehicle-related crime.

Owing to information security concerns, most Arab small and medium enterprises depend on traditional interactions and have not moved their operations online. The insufficient preparation for the information and communication technologies revolution led to few offering online transaction platforms, information security features and credit facilities. One of the security concerns is a lack of data validation. Data that are not validated or not properly validated is the main issue for serious security vulnerabilities affecting online banking applications. In this article, the influences of security issues on Arab banks will be discussed. A number of data validation methods will be also reviewed to date to provide a systematic summary to banking environment. On the basis of the advantages and disadvantages of each method, the IT developer will decide which is best suited to develop the systematic online banking application. From this analysis, a global view of the current and future tendencies of data validation will be obtained and therefore provision of possible recommendations for solving the security and privacy issues in the online banking in the Arab world.