| Kroll CEO says America still woefully unprepared for terrorism The United States is no safer today than it was two years ago, according to Mike Cherkasky, president and CEO of Kroll Inc. Cherkasky, who supervised the Joint Terrorist Task Force after the World Trade Center bombing in 1993 and now heads the risk consulting company, said that the nation and its corporations have made little progress in protecting against terrorism since September 11, 2001. According to Cherkasky, progress has been hampered by political infighting and financial concerns. "Politicians have been unwilling to confront difficult issues such as the lack of cooperation between the CIA and the FBI, and corporations have been unwilling to make the financial investment in security," he said. "Overall, there has been a return to complacency and a failure to recognise the seriousness of the terrorist threat to Western society." He said that successfully fighting terrorism requires greater cooperation between the government and the private sector, which now controls approximately 80 percent of the nation's critical infrastructure. Oil pipelines, nuclear power plants, and public transportation systems are all prime targets for terrorism, yet are inadequately protected, said Cherkasky. "We are always fighting the last war's battle," he said. "We've spent millions on checking passengers at airline terminals, but have done little comparatively to enhance security on the cargo side of the airline industry, or to increase screening of either passengers or cargo transported by sea or rail. Some 20 million cargo containers enter US ports every year, while only 2 percent of them are ever inspected." "While some corporations realistically face little risk of a terrorist attack, companies in the infrastructure and transportation industries can no longer consider security an option to be dropped during tough economic times," Cherkasky said. He noted in the initial six months after 9/11, companies in major metropolitan areas put security on the top of their agendas, but interest and spending on security have since waned. In fact, according to a July 2003 Conference Board study, sponsored by ASIS International, there has been a median increase of only 4 percent in security spending since September 2001. On both a corporate and a national level, Cherkasky said, spending on security solutions must match the level of threat. "At the airports, for example, we cannot successfully screen 100 percent of the people 100 percent of the time," he said. "We need to identify and focus our attention on the individuals who offer the real threats, not the 70-year-old lady going to visit her grandchildren." Cherkasky ardently advocates a system of rules-based, biometric national identification cards, under which the Department of Homeland Security would oversee the creation of a central database that would store specific security-related information about the cardholder. He points out that an ID card is really no different than a social security card and that progressive, democratic nations, such as Denmark and Finland, have already instituted similar systems. "The potential value of the background information and tracking capabilities gained from these cards is high enough to offset the minimal cost in loss of privacy," he said.
•Date:
11th September 2003 • Region: N.America •Type:
Article •Topic: Terrorism
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