Vulnerable Areas of Industrial Security Essay Example for Free

Vulnerable Areas of Industrial Security Essay In the transportation industry such as airport, train, or ships there are many vulnerabilities that can be faced if security measures are not foreseen. These industries can be victims of sabotage, espionage, or lack of security process which would result in the industry loss of product. Sabotage such as terrorism will exist in transportation industries if the operations of the merchandise are not carried out to protocol. Espionage from competitor transportation industries can leak the company’s operations and be a risk for theft. Employee theft can be just as detrimental to the industry as outside theft. Some of the vulnerabilities and countermeasure will be mentioned in this review of different transportation industries. Sabotage can be issues related to terrorism in the sense that terrorist want to harm for political reasons or for profit (PWC, 2011). Sabotage can also be from competitors or employees not even realizing they contributed to sabotaging the process of transportation. According to California Highway Patrol Commercial Industry Education Program (n. d. â€Å"having a security plan in place will ensure your cargo reaches its destination safely, safe lives, avoid possible law suits, and prevent any accidental or intentional acts that could have serious consequences (page 4). To be aware of your surroundings will help prevent the threat of sabotage for transportation industries. Another way to avoid sabotage is to ensure workers are never alone. When employees are opening or closing the business there should always be more than one person with them to prevent an incident that would be harder to control if left alone (Hospitality 2008). Most industry losses occur due to lack of employee attention to their environment, which can lead to potential threats and espionage (Hospitality, 2008). Espionage is a sure way for the transportation industry to gain losses. People may secretly watch businesses to see when they open or close, or just how many employees are working at a certain time of day. According to Hospitality (2008), â€Å"Potential criminals do watch business operators patterns, so it is important to vary times for leaving and lockup†. Employees may release sensitive material just for his or her profit. Background checks are imperative to an industries success and safety. Avoiding hiring a potential employee with a chancy background can help to weed out some potential threats. Transportation industries can take this into consideration and implement this in their security routines. Almost all spy incidents have been deemed volunteers and not hired by foreign countries or Americans (Fischer, 2000). According to Fischer (2000), â€Å"security educators have promoted the theory that nearly all of these offenders did it for money for greed or because they were faced with overwhelming financial problems† (page 1). With the fallen economy, more transportation industries can expect incident for sabotage and espionage for other’s profit. One way to ensure maximum security is to enforce a security plan to prevent these incidents from occurring frequently. No security plan is always guaranteed to work but it will prevent a lot of transportation losses of merchandise by having one. Outsourcing a security company to evaluate the industry and implement a threat and vulnerability assessment will help in creating a plan for transportation industries (Mays, 2009). Having more security in secluded areas or areas not very well lit will ensure unauthorized persons from entering or roaming the surroundings (Hospitality, 2008). Up to date camera systems and checkpoints can safeguard a transportation industry from potential vulnerabilities and losses. The negligence of employees can be a huge cause for transportation industry losses. Educating the importance of being vigilant and aware of his or her surroundings can help an industries security (Hospitality, 2008). The transportation industries face much vulnerability in their everyday process. In order to prevent as much as possible is to first look at what are potential threat. Sabotage, espionage, and lack of employee attention are just a few that disrupt the security process. Ensuring there are an abundant amount of security professionals at location to prevent sabotage or notice espionage occurring. Background checks of employees will ensure hired employees are faithful to the industry, but not all security plans are ever guaranteed. Precautions should be taken especially when according to Mays, (2009) â€Å"transportation and logistics market is valued at about $250 billion with an estimated $18 billion in losses† (para. 1). In the hopes of building less lose and preservation of the transportation process, airport, train, and ship industries need to take consider outsourcing their security plan to evaluate the vulnerabilities and make action plans to prevent losses.