Digital Barriers: Creating Hostile Environments

At present, the most significant threat to our security comes not from state-to-state conflict, but from international and domestic terrorism, specifically attacks on crowded public spaces, high-profile targets and the critical national infrastructure. To protect these locations effectively, we must ensure that they appear hostile to a potential terrorist attack. With target- and time-specific intelligence, we can create such environments by deploying lines of armed police. However, without this intelligence, without unlimited resources, and given the need for proportionality, we must develop solutions that deliver the same results but in a sustainable, cost-effective and unobtrusive manner.

Digital Security and Surveillance, now in the midst of a generational shift in technology innovation across image capture and analysis, identity assurance, perimeter protection and computer network defence, is the most effective and affordable way to achieve this. However, because the last decade has seen large, relatively indiscriminate investments in surveillance, from blanket CCTV coverage to government-sponsored ‘big data’ programmes, there is increasing political and public intolerance towards the more pervasive and intrusive elements of ‘the surveillance society’. This, combined with current economic realities, means more focused, proportionate and cost-effective solutions are needed.

Digital Barriers has been formed by the team behind Detica Group plc, a FTSE250 specialist consultancy acquired by BAE Systems in 2008. Its objective is to develop a mid-market specialist in the Digital Security and Surveillance sector that can work into the most senior levels of the end-customer and prime system integrator communities.

To read more about using technology to create environments that are hostile to terrorist attack, please click here to download our most recent white paper.