Beyond a series of security nets: Applying STAMP & STPA to port security

Journal Article · Tue Nov 17 00:00:00 EST 2015 · Journal of Transportation Security

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s12198-015-0161-y· OSTI ID:1238582

Williams, Adam D. ^[1]

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1. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)

Port security is an increasing concern considering the significant role of ports in global commerce and today’s increasingly complex threat environment. Current approaches to port security mirror traditional models of accident causality -- ‘a series of security nets’ based on component reliability and probabilistic assumptions. Traditional port security frameworks result in isolated and inconsistent improvement strategies. Recent work in engineered safety combines the ideas of hierarchy, emergence, control and communication into a new paradigm for understanding port security as an emergent complex system property. The ‘System-Theoretic Accident Model and Process (STAMP)’ is a new model of causality based on systems and control theory. The associated analysis process -- System Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) -- identifies specific technical or procedural security requirements designed to work in coordination with (and be traceable to) overall port objectives. This process yields port security design specifications that can mitigate (if not eliminate) port security vulnerabilities related to an emphasis on component reliability, lack of coordination between port security stakeholders or economic pressures endemic in the maritime industry. As a result, this article aims to demonstrate how STAMP’s broader view of causality and complexity can better address the dynamic and interactive behaviors of social, organizational and technical components of port security.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000
• OSTI ID: 1238582
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1331657
• Report Number(s): SAND--2015-7409J; PII: 161
• Journal Information: Journal of Transportation Security, Journal Name: Journal of Transportation Security Journal Issue: 3-4 Vol. 8; ISSN 1938-7741
• Publisher: Springer
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING
STAMP
STPA
complex system
port security
ports
security
systems theory