15 March 2005. A good introduction to building and landscape security:

Building Security: Handbook for Architectural Planning and Design, Barbara A. Nadel, McGraw-Hill, New York, 2004.

What remains lacking in building security is experience with military-grade (terrorist) attacks and defenses, along with a deficiency in depth of field understanding of structures and landscape. For this information military documents are essential, although the best are classified.

Bear in mind that most building design professionals are trained to work with documents not facilities, and they practice at a legally-mandated distance from physical structures. Indeed, in order to avoid liability for physical failure most do get involved in construction, maintenance and security of facilities and grounds, and professional design contracts specifically exclude such responsibility. Moreover, the rise of the construction manager, who also knows construction contract documents not actual construction and facilities, has further distanced professionals from knowledge of facilities and landscape hazards and threats which can come only from direct, frequent contact with the physical environment.

Note in the Building Security handbook the fragmentation among some 120 professional groups for comprehensive building and landscape security, and there are few if any professionals who knows them all. This is true of building design and construction in which there are dozens of specialities involved, ostensibly working under the supervision of project architects and/or engineers, but by and large working independently. The gaps between professional responsibilities, as well as lack of oversight in depth, that creates vulnerabilities in building and landscape security -- a hard lesson learned from fragmented and complacent national security which led to the 9/11 disaster.

Building and landscape security would benefit from more Red Team testing by those who have no stake in concealing known-but-secret vulnerabilities. Public safety and security is put at risk by adopting the national security rationale that exposure of weakenesses would aid the enemy.

Cryptome will soon offer a series on red teaming building and landscape security with examples in New York City region based on our architectural firm's experience with design and field survey of over 400 buildings and sites over 30 years. This will expand on the Eyeball Series and other red team reports of security deficiencies published here.

Examples from elsewhere around the world are invited. Send to jya@pipeline.com