Intelligence Report

Intelligence Report

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This intelligence report is about a possible violent crime threat by  Buy America Direct towards Boxing Station Entertainment Inc. BAD seeks to destroy the BSE premises using explosives and network hacks due the latter’s refusal to cease importation of Box Stations from China. The case covers terrorist activities from 2019-11-01 to the current date 2020-2-23, falling under the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Investigations. The report compilation is by Agent “Students Name”, Department of Homeland Security.

1. ADVERSARY, MOTIVATION, AND JURISDICTION

1. Summary of SARS

The Suspicious Activity Reports give an account of a possible violent threat to Box Station Entertainment by a criminal organization dubbed Buy American Direct.

On 2019-001, Box Station Entertainment received a letter from Buy American Direct, threatening it to cease its operations of importation of Box Stations from China, failure to which they would destroy all the distribution warehouses in the United States.  The management personnel and senior executives dismissed it.

2019-002. Deputy Sheriff James Fuller observed a suspicious vehicle parked at an empty street in the direction of the premises of Box Station Entertainment. The occupants identified themselves as Richard Parsons and Robert Jackson. A run on the National Identification Systems revealed that Parsons had an extensive criminal record of robbery, assault, inter alia.

2019-003 three boats were stolen from Wilson Marine. Wilson arrived at 6.30 and found the two boats worth 84000 dollars missing.

2019-004 A bar owner, Mr. Pedro Sanchez of Middlesex, Massachusetts, reported to the City Police Department that there two people in his bar that were enquiring about the internal operations of BSE.

2019-005 An interview of Officer Steve Ward, State Fish, and Wildlife Enforcement Division revealed sightings of decoy fishers along the BSE perimeter.

On 2019-12-01, a month later, after the recipient of the letter, the General Manager of Box Station Entertainment, Mr. David Smith, reported that he received information from the security that people were trying to circumvent the security perimeter of the firm. Furthermore, he received complaints from employees that there were suspicious vehicles whose occupants had binoculars, stationed outside the firm entrance gates at specific times of the day. Reports by

On 2020-2-02, Larry Johnson, the system administrator of BSE, reported that three network encryption access cards of employees had been stolen. Furthermore, he noticed that there had been numerous notifications of unauthorized network access. He noted that all the information about the company, including locations and shipping lines, were located on their network.

2020-003 Trooper Michelle Smith confiscated 2000 tons of TNT explosives and apprehended the driver who did not have any identification on him.

All these suspicious activities point to a threat by Buy America Direct.

1. Adversary

A comprehensive study of the SARs identifies the aggressor as Buy American Direct. The FBI assessment is that BAD as an extremist organization founded in 2002, with a membership of approximately 10,000 persons. Half of the membership portfolio comprises holders of advanced degrees in courses like accounting and Information Technology, inter alia. Additionally, a significant percentage of the members are convicted felons of explosives, narcotics, assault, firearms, robbery with violence, among others. Confirmed suspects identified by the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) Interstate Identification Index (III) are Richard S. Parsons and Robert N. Jackson. The group employs violence to assert their authority.  Funding comes from the wide range of wealthy and high placed contacts and income from the growth and distribution of marijuana across the United States.

1. Range of Adversary operations

As per the SARs, Buy American Direct operations cut across all states. BAD operates through extremist groups emphasizing on the sole consumption of American products. Currently, the group’s plan is the destruction of imported Chinese products, with specific target emphasis on the distribution warehouse of Box Station Entertainment.  Assumptions based on the SARs indicate that the Box Station Entertainment other distribution warehouses in various parts of the country have not yet experienced any threats. Theft of the boats from a different location further signifies the group’s wide range of activities and indicates that the extremist group knows the geographical areas in detail.

1. Motivation

The group’s name, Buying American Direct, blatantly portrays its agenda. The group seeks to curb the importation of foreign Chinese goods into the USA. Through their vast network of well-educated members, the group can strategically organize and delegate its duties in various parts. The enormous financial endowments grant it sufficient financial motivation and capability to sustain its operations. The concentration of threats in only one location signifies the likely colossal magnitude of the damage, which would cripple all the business operations.

1. Jurisdiction

The range of operations of Buying America Direct is multijurisdictional. The apprehension of a driver carrying explosives in Massachusetts Highway by Trooper Michelle Smith and the report by bar owner Mr. Pedro Sanchez to City Police Depart all involve different jurisdictions. Additionally, the State Police Cyber Investigation Unit got involved when BSE system administrator Larry Johnson reported several unauthorized attempted access into the company’s network. FBI, Department of Homeland Security and ATF have also been involved.

An analysis of the level of threats and activities places the threat it under the Jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The notable role of the FBI is to combat significant violent crime, national criminal enterprises, and organization and collaborate with state and local agencies to combat organized crime (FBI, 2020). The activities of BAD classify it as an organized criminal agency that employs violence and malicious damage of property to coerce victims into submitting to its agenda. As such, the FBI is the appropriate agency to deal with the criminal organization, and with support from local and state agencies, it could deal with the problematic organization effectively.

• THREAT ASSESSMENT

1. Nature of threat

Overwhelming evidence indicates that the facilities and resources of Box Entertainment are under the imminent threat of violent destruction. Further, the lives and persons of its staff are threatened by assault. Buy American Direct is the identified apparent suspect to carry out the said threats.

The first threat would be actualized against the Warehouse 1 in Middlesex county, State of Massachusetts.  Subsequent attacks would be on other warehouses. The attackers could access the compound by breaching a part of the fence by the river, or violently the unarmed security personnel at the entrances.  They would then physically assault the employees occasioning grievous bodily harm or death and blow up the warehouse facilities like cranes and buildings using TNT explosives.

1. Intent

The active surveillance of Warehouse 1 for two months of signifies intent. The first letter sent by the group to BSE, followed by numerous incident of target surveying and intelligence gathering have been reported. The methods used to collect intelligence include the approach of informants among the public for information about the internal operations of the target, sightings of vehicles whose occupants have binoculars stalking the premises, and anchored decoy fishermen. The theft of explosives identity the weapons for perpetration. Additionally, the attempted network breaches and failed hacks of BSE through stolen Network Encryption Access Cards further prove intent beyond a reasonable doubt.

1. Vulnerabilities

Warehouse 1 core vulnerability is a breach of access to its compound. The attackers cannot cause any significant damage from outside. However, the fence surrounding the facility is easily breachable. Additionally, the security guards are unarmed and positioned far apart, hence they would be quickly immobilized. Authorities may be able to deter unauthorized access significantly, but the vast premises pose a practical challenge. With a successful breach, the adversary could destroy the buildings from outside using TNT explosives.

1. Current Level of Risk: 7

The current level of risk is considerably high despite the arrest of the dynamite transporter. The patrolling and stalking of the target location signify that all the plans were complete. The threat would have been actualized within a week, were it not for the confiscation of the dynamite. For now, the aggressors have first to seek an alternative source of explosives, which, once acquired, will be implemented swiftly. If the attack was successful, it would have destroyed all the office facilities and a significant portion of the merchandise on transit, including all on-site vehicles and forklift machinery. This would render the warehouse inoperable for an unknown time.

1. Countermeasures

The unprecedented delay on the part of the aggressor avails valuable time for BSE to strengthen its security. First, the firm could post more guards along the perimeter of its security fence (Mullen et al., 2006). To avoid alerting the aggressors, BSE could replace the unarmed guards with trained and armed security personnel. The firm could also inform the security departments that deal with organized crime.

1. INFORMATION SECURITY
2. Critical Information

A breach of the network systems of Box Station Entertainment would be highly detrimental to the target organization. Unauthorized access would reveal vital information such as shipping lines, locations, and merchandise delivery dates. Such information would assist BAD in the organization of synchronized multiple attacks, leaving little or no time for BSE to recuperate. Additionally, the employees’ and customers’ data would be exposed, leading to identity theft.

1. Adversary methods

Buy America Direct has been employing surveillance methods to obtain information on ways to breach the facility. As per the SARS and interviews, employees, civilians, and the police have already identified and spotted numerous surveillance vehicles and pretense fishermen. Furthermore, the suspects have been enquiring form the public about the internal operations of the company, such as the type of entrance ID cards.  A spot for entrance in the poorly secured fence may have already been identified. The numerous failed attempted logins into the company’s network systems using stolen employee network access cards signify that the IT experts of BAD have been using internet resources to obtain access.

1. Potential weaknesses

The biggest inherent vulnerability of the company’s network is that BAD may be able to compel any of the 13000 employees with authorized network access to log into the system using their NEAC card and their identification number.  After gaining access, the IT hackers can easily manipulate other frameworks of the network and subsequently lock out the other users.

1. Risk Assessment. High

On a balance of probabilities, it is very likely for the aggressors to obtain access credentials of any of the vast number of BSE employees. They would then proceed to destroy the company’s logistics to achieve an optimum negative financial and image impact on the firm.

1. Recommendations

The best security move that BSE should take to protect their security would be restricting and fragmenting its network systems. This would be done through introducing numerous encryption levels for its diverse employees (Wilson, 2003). This would ensure that each specific employee would only have access the data and information pertinent to their role in the company, hence more control of data which is detrimental to the firm. Only highly trusted managerial personnel would have access to all the data operations of the firm warehouse (Hindu & Kooi, 2013). Despite its perceived effectiveness, such a process is very capital intensive, thus costly.

References

FBI. (2020). Violent Crime | Federal Bureau of Investigation. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved from https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/violent-crime.

Mullen, Paul et al. “Assessing and managing the risks in the stalking situation”. Journal of the American Academy Of Psychiatry And The Law, 2006, http://jaapl.org/content/34/4/439.

Hinduja, S., & Kooi, B. (2013). Curtailing cyber and information security vulnerabilities through situational crime prevention. Security journal, 26(4), 383-402.

Wilson, C. (2003). Computer attack and cyber terrorism: vulnerabilities and policy issues for congress. Focus on Terrorism, 9(1), 1-42.