Infosec-Technologies

INFOSEC Technologies, LLC
Counter-Terrorism/Counter-Espionage and Information Assurance Consulting

WMDS

Biological, Chemical, Nuclear, Radiological, IEDS, & VBIEDS

Biological – 3 Types

Bacteria – Cause disease and can multiply beyond the initial attack.
Toxin – Poisonous substances that are not contagious.
Virus – Cause disease and can multiply beyond the initial attack.

Governments found that using these weapons on the battlefield are unsatisfactory. This is because they are difficult to use with efficient effectiveness. They don’t take effect immediately. They are however attractive to terrorists because they do have the ability to cause casualties.

Bacterial and viral attacks have the ability to go undetected for a period of time that corresponds with their incubation period, which can last from hours to weeks. Toxins on the other hand have a much faster reaction time.

Biological Online Sources:

WMD Courses from MediaLab, Inc.

Biological Book Sources:

D Evers, M Miller and T Glover, Pocket Partner, Sequoia Printing, 2005.

See: The Pocket Partner

Broad, W. Engelberg, S., & Miller, J. (2001). Germs: Biological Weapons and America’s Secret War. New York: Touchstone.
Davis, J, A., & Schneider, B, R. (Eds.). (2004). The Gethering Biological Warfare Storm. Praeger Publishers.
Alibek, K., & Handelman, S. (1999). Biohazard: The Chilling True Story of the Larges Covert Biological Weapons Program in the World—Told from Inside by the Man Who Ran It. New York: Dell Publishing

Biological Videos:

Biological Warfare

Chemical – 5 Types

Blister – Also known as vesicants or mustard agents. Causes skin to blister, serious damage to the eyes and internal organs. Reaction time to this type may be delayed so the victim may not know they are contaminated.
Blood – This type attacks the bloods ability to transport oxygen through out the body. Causes death by suffocation.

Chocking – This type attacks the lungs, which causes them to fill with liquid and causes death by asphyxiation.

Nerve – This type is considered the most lethal. It attacks the nervous system of the victim.

Riot Control – Also know as “Tear Gas,” which are relatively harmless and have a short-term incapacitating effect. Those who have a preexisting medical condition may suffer fatal effects.

Bs = Blister, Bl = Blood Agent, Ch = Choking Agents, Ne = Nerve Agents, Ri = Riot Control Agents.

Chemical Online Sources:

Chemical Weapons Book Sources:

D Evers, M Miller and T Glover, Pocket Partner, Sequoia Printing, 2005.

See: The Pocket Partner

Haru, E. & Thakur, R. (Eds.). (2006). The Chemical Weapons Convention: Implementation, Challenges And Opportunities. United Nations University.

Nuclear

Radioactive material is the main explosive in nuclear weapons. Most damage is caused by its thermal radiation and blast wave. Negative health effects occur through radioactive fallout.

Nuclear weapons are the least likely to get into the hands of terrorists, but not impossible. This is due in part that the Uranium needed to build a nuclear weapon is very heavily guarded. A probable source for terrorist to get radioactive material is spent fuel rods from a nuclear reactor. These also pose a very high threat. They are very heavy and very hot and would probably kill the person trying to build the bomb. So building it would be more of a challenge than obtaining the material.

The possibility of a terrorist organization building a nuclear device is probably slim to none. The possibility exists that a terrorist may purchase one on the black market or steal one from a country, which has very relaxed security measures. Once they obtain one, getting to detonate is also a difficult task that must be overcome. The U.S. and Russia have very secure fail-safe mechanisms to prevent accidental detonation. .

Nuclear power plants are a prime target for terrorists. Conventional and unconventional weapons could be used to attack a nuclear power plant. The facilities that house the nuclear material were designed to withstand hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes. They were not designed to withstand a direct hit from large commercial aircraft, but a recent study by the Nuclear Energy Institute found that they could withstand a direct hit by a commercial airliner.

Nuclear Online Sources:

Nuclear Book Sources:

D Evers, M Miller and T Glover, Pocket Partner, Sequoia Printing, 2005.

See: The Pocket Partner

Davis, J, A., & Schneider, B, R. (Eds.). (2006). Avoiding the Abyss: Progress, Shortfalls, and the Way Ahead in Combating the WMD Threat. Praeger Security International General Interest-Cloth.
Schneider, B, R. (2004). Middle East Security Issues: In The Shadow Of Weapons Of Mass Destruction Proliferation. University Press of the Pacific.

Nuclear Videos:

http://www.atomicarchive.com/Movies/index_movies.shtml

Radiological

Uses conventional explosive to disperse radioactive material. The explosion is smaller and radioactive material is dispersed over a much smaller area than a nuclear attack.

Effects of a radiological attack depends on the type of radioactive material used, the type of explosives used and also the weather plays a factor. It is said that most immediate deaths would occur from the blast itself. Sources of radiological materials include the following:

Hospital Radiation Therapy
Food irradiation plants
Radio pharmaceuticals
Nuclear power plant fuel rods
Universities, laboratories, radiography and gauging

These are all sources of low-level radiation. There are about 21,000 organizations in the U.S. that are licensed to use radioactive material. The NRC says that they receive about 300 reports per year pertaining to lost or stolen radioactive material.

The energy that is released from radioactive material can take on one of three forms:

Gamma Rays – Most dangerous, can travel up to a mile at the speed of light and penetrate most materials.
Alpha Particles – These are the heaviest of the three forms. They can only travel up to six inches and cannot penetrate a person’s skin. If they are ingested or inhaled, they can do very heavy damage to the inside of a person’s body.
Beta Particles – Very small, can penetrate the skin, but usually not as far as the muscle tissue. Can cause radiation burns and cataracts.

Radiological Online Sources:

Radiological Book Sources:

D Evers, M Miller and T Glover, Pocket Partner, Sequoia Printing, 2005.

See: The Pocket Partner

Langford, E, R. (2004). Introduction to Weapons of Mass Destruction: Radiological, Chemical, and Biological. Hoboken New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
U.S. Army Medical Research. AFRRI's Medical Management of Radiological Casualties Handbook. First Edition

IEDs – Improvised Explosive Device

IEDs are the biggest threat to US Soldiers in Iraq. They kill and maim more soldiers than any other form of violence in Iraq. According to icasualties.org, more than 1235 US service members have been killed by IEDs in Iraq. See chart here: IED Casualties

IEDs – Online Sources

IED – Books

D Evers, M Miller and T Glover, Pocket Partner, Sequoia Printing, 2005.

See: The Pocket Partner

Buhrle, J. (2007). IED: A Son’s Journey to Iraq and Back. Lulu.com
Department of Defense. (2007). 2007 U.S. Military Documents: Convoy Survivability Training Support Package - Defense Against Attacks, Reaction to Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in Iraq. Progressive Management.

VBIEDs – Vehicle Born Improvised Explosive Devices

VBIEDs or Vehicle Born Improvised Explosive Devices are explosive devices that are delivered via some sort of vehicle. Everything from small compact cars to dump trucks and tractor trailers have been used is Iraq. According to the ATF, the explosive charges have included items such as mortar rounds, rocket motors, rocket warheads, PE4 explosives, and artillery rounds. In Iraq the insurgents use multiple VBIEDs. The first one to detonate is used as a decoy. When friendly forces get closer to inspect the area a second VBIED is then detonated. These are very difficult to defend against because any vehicle can be used to transport and use VBIEDs.

VBIEDs Online Sources

Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty [NPT]:

The five “nuclear-weapon states,” United States, United Kingdom, Russian Federation, France, and China agreed not to transfer nuclear weapons, nuclear devices, or the knowledge of how to assemble any type of nuclear weapon to non-nuclear states.

When the treaty came into effect on July 1st 1968 the United States, United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union along with 59 other countries (known as non-nuclear-weapon state parties) signed the NPT. China joined the NPT on March 9th 1992 and France joined on August 3rd 1992. The non-nuclear-weapon states agreed not to pursue nuclear weapons in any way.

NPT Online Sources:

NPT Book Sources:

Emergency Response to WMDs:

Online Sources:

Emergency Response Book Sources:

Cashman, J. (2000). Emergency Response to Chemical and Biological Agents. Lewis Publishers
Burke, R. (2007). (2nd ED). Counter-Terrorism for Emergency Responders. CRC Press
Schilling, W. A. (2002). Nontraditional Warfare: Twenty-First Century Threats and Responses. Brassey’s Inc.
Bolden, M. V., Raymer, G., & Whamond, J. O. (2001). Domestic Terrorism and Incident Management: Issues and Tactics. Charles C. Thomas
Carafano, J., & Sauter, M. (2005). Homeland Security: A Complete Guide To Understanding, Preventing, And Surviving Terrorism. McGraw-Hill

WMD Counter Measures:

Nuclear Threat Initiative: NTI is a group that is dedicated to the global reduction of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Ted Turner and Sam Nunn are the co-chairmen.

WMDs and Iraq:

Nagasaki, Hiroshima & WMDs: