Today, as the enemies of the World Economic Consortium become ever more organized and dangerous, it has become increasingly incumbent on the administrators of key financial or strategic sites to look to the security of their own facilities.
This is certainly not a case of the Security Cartel or the other military and police resources of the WEC telling its administrators, "Look out for yourself, we can't help you." Far from it! The WEC pledges to bring all its resources to bear to protect its facilities from armed terrorists of all stripes.
However, such support is, be necessity, external and reactive. That is, it originates outside of the threatened facility, and therefore it can only be brought fully to bear after an imminent threat of violence has become obvious. Far better, at least as a first line of defense, is security that is internal and proactive. That is, security that originates on-site and is brought to bear before the threat becomes overt.
This document exists as an introduction, in the most general terms, to the principles of effective site security. It does not have all the answers, but it will allow site administrators to focus on the security need of their installation, and give them a general idea where to go for more information and assistance on both internal and external security resources.
THE ENEMY
This is by no means a comprehensive list of all possible violent threats to site security, but it does describe a few of the most prominent terrorist organizations, as well as other general categories of violent criminals that may pose a security threat to your site.
THE RESISTANCE
By far the most visible and numerous terrorist organization, as well as the best armed, trained and funded, the so-called "Resistance" offers the most effective, if perhaps not the most likely threat to your facility. The Resistance is a revolutionary movement dedicated to the violent overthrow of the WEC and the systematic destruction of orderly, lawful civilization.
Although the Resistance terrorists display a reckless disregard for human life, they consider themselves in a war for the hearts and minds of the WEC citizens; therefore, they seldom make direct attacks against the populace. Instead, they prefer to assault highly visible bastions of WEC authority, i.e., facilities like yours. If the assault can also impede WEC security or financial performance, so much the better.
There are two primary modes of attack used by the Resistance. The first is infiltration and sabotage, where a Resistance operative is inserted into the facility as an employee, from which position he takes whatever opportunities present themselves to impede the efficiency and morale of the site. This mode of attack is covered more fully in Security Cartel publication #SC-39P-447D, "Organizational Security and Personnel Screening."
The other primary vehicle for Resistance terrorism -- and the one more directly concerned with the topic of this document -- is a direct-armed assault. The Resistance seldom attacks frontally, in large groups. Instead, it usually prefers to send in a single individual, or at most small teams, approach from hiding, and strike as quickly as possible at a single vulnerable point. Often the Resistance force's goal is the theft of sensitive information or technology, or the abduction or murder of certain key personnel. Even on such specific missions, however, the Resistance teams will always do as much general damage to the site a possible, if for no other reason than to cover their tracks and confuse pursuit
REFUSENIKS
"Refusenik" is a general term for those radicals who reject the benefits of WEC citizenship and refuse to register their identity with the Registration Division of the Human Resources Cartel. They take this action for reasons ranging from religion to politics to a simple desire for anonymity as a cover for criminal activity. The original Refuseniks purged themselves from WEC databases or paid other to purge them, or staged their own "deaths." Today, thanks to enhanced data security, it is virtually impossible for a citizen to access and alter his own records; therefore the majority of modern refuseniks are second-generation undocumenteds.
While the notion of organized anarchists may seem nonsensical, refuseniks do tend to band together for mutual protection and support. Although less politically overt then they were a few decades ago (when they routinely organized anti-WEC riots among the populace), refuseniks can still represent a palpable threat to site security. An ongoing pattern of petty theft and vandalism at your facility is good evidence of an active refusenik group operating in the area.
RIOTERS
In you parents' time, riots among the general population were a fairly common occurrence. Such social upheavals were a natural by-product of the massive reforms enacted by the nascent WEC. Today, thanks to decades of prosperity and efficiency, such spontaneous violence among the people is virtually extinct.
Nonetheless, in isolated instances, it is still possible for small violent demonstrations to erupt. Such upheavals are particularly likely when a temporary downturn in social stability or economic progress leaves the general population open to propaganda from Resistance agitators. For such emergencies, the Security Cartel maintains a highly trained force of riot troops, and riot units stand ready at all times to deploy at any point on Earth within 30 minutes.
ORGANIZED CRIME
"Organized crime," in the sense of the vast, organized and mysterious international syndicates so beloved by the popular media is a thing decades in the past in the WEC era.
However, local gangs of thieves, black marketers or simply restless juvenile delinquents, still exist and probably always will. Depending on their resources and leadership, the danger posed by such local gangs can range from a minor annoyance to a major threat to installation security.
DISGRUNTLED PERSONNEL
A chronic threat to security of WEC facilities has always been disgruntled personnel -- individuals discharge, demoted, or simply passed over for advancement by their production administration. Although these individuals unusually work alone, and their crimes are often a result of mental illness or the influence of controlled substances, their intimate first-hand knowledge of the facility, together with their sheer desperation, can often make them extremely dangerous to life and property. Once again, Security Cartel maintains special teams highly trained to deal with such irrational criminals with a minimum of risk to Consortium economic or human resources.
Perhaps the most dangerous sort of dissatisfied worker is the highly educated academic -- scientists, theorists, writers, etc. -- who may harbor secret political dissatisfaction with the WEC. Unlike blue-collar workers, whose acts are usually a spontaneous expression of rage, white-collar radicals are capable of meticulously planning elaborate schemes of potentially great damage to WEC operations. For this reason, "intellectuals" must be carefully screened and monitored at all sites.
YOUR ASSETS
Although the threats to your facility's security are numerous, you also have access to the resources of the World Economic Consortium for security and protection. This section lists those WEC resources that can be bought into service to protect your site.
SECURITY CARTEL
Your first and last resort for anti-terrorist security should always be the Security Cartel branch office in your region. As a last resort, the Cartel can provide guards -- or even mobilize MilOps Cartel troops -- to physically protect against a known and overt threat of violence, investigators to track down and bring to justice perpetrators, and facilities to physically secure key assets and personnel deemed to be "at risk." The armed forces of the Security and MilOps Cartels, from local conscripts to the Silencer Corps, itself stand ever ready to respond to any violence or threat of violence directed against WEC assets and personnel.
Even more important, however, is the Security Cartel's function as your first resort against terrorist. Counselors at every Security Cartel office worldwide are waiting to help you maximize the effectiveness of your security budget. A Security Cartel consultant should be requested any time your facility rebuilds and remodels and your site should be inspected and reviewed for security program is built. Consulting with Security Cartel before you remodel your site or reorganize your personnel can help you keep a realistic assessment of your facility's security needs, which will not allow you to get the best security for your situation, but will also help you avoid over-spending on unnecessary or inappropriate security resources.
LOCAL SECURITY ORGANIZATIONS
Even if you don�t qualify for direct assignment of Security Cartel personnel to your facility, you may still have a legitimate need for an on-site, human security presence. Because of this need, the WEC allows its citizen/partners to organize private, local security concerns. These security firms are administered through the Enterprise Cartel under Security Cartel oversight, and in most areas can provide both armed and unarmed guards for site, vehicular or personal security.
Another option, usually reserved for ongoing emergency conditions, is a local volunteer community watch program. Such organizations can provide effective external security for WEC facilities, particularly those with few or no access restrictions. Such community efforts should always be organized under Security Cartel oversight, and coordinated through Security Cartel facilities. Site administrators are strongly encouraged to support and cooperate with all such officially sanctioned, local volunteer security efforts.
YOUR PERSONNEL
It must never be forgotten that every WEC facility has the potential for an efficient, effective, completely exclusive anti-terrorist force -- its own personnel. A citizen/partner does not have to be an armed soldier to be an effective anti-terrorist asset, often it is enough to simply know where the correct alarms are located and what the proper emergency lockdown and evacuation procedures are. If every worker at a given facility can be counted on to respond to an emergency in a disciplined, efficient fashion, it will greatly reduce the threat to your resources, human and otherwise, in the event of terrorist attack.
This does not mean, however, that workers are expected to take up arms and defend themselves physically in the event of a terrorist attack. The WEC does not expect its citizen/partners to place themselves at unnecessary risk. But if every worker knows what his job is in the event of an emergency, and does that job, then the worker and the site as a whole will be safer from the terrorist threat than if an "every man for himself" mentality is allowed to flourish.
Security Cartel counselors are available, on request, to help you formulate and emergency security and evacuation plan for your site, instruct your personnel in security procedures, and conduct drills to ensure readiness.
PHYSICAL RESOURCES
Although the most important security resources are always human, the proper tools and materials are also essential to an effective security program. Security Cartel cooperates with the Metalworking, Cybernetics and other manufacturing and production cartels to bring you a comprehensive line of secure building materials and security equipment. Depending on the assessed risk factor of your facility, Security Cartel subsidies are available for any of the security measures listed below.
ALARM SYSTEM
It is a WEC administrative regulation that all WEC facilities have an operative alarm system that registers unauthorized access through all doors, windows and other potential points of entry. This system must both sound an audible alarm through the facility, and be patched in to silent alarms at the nearest Security Cartel branch office. An alarm system is budgeted forever WEC-operated site, and the system must be tested monthly by on-site personnel and inspected annually by Security Cartel consultants. Failure to maintain a security system in good order could result in administrative or even civil penalties against the site administrator.
Alarms can be triggered by hand or automatically. Automatic triggers are usually electric eyes placed to monitor doorways, halls and other primary points of access.
It is important not only to maintain an efficient SOP for alarms within your site, but also to coordinate appropriate response protocols with your local Security Cartel office. If alarm procedures are coordinated properly it can, for example, be arranged so that when an alarm sounds in a given area, armed Security Cartel personnel will automatically be teleported on-site in particularly sensitive case, MilOps cartel troops can eve be teleported in if an alarm sounds.
SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM
Likewise, it is an administrative regulation that every WEC site has audio/visual surveillance cameras in good working order at all times. All such cameras must be monitorable from the nearest Security Cartel office, and in addition, any facility of over 2,000 square meters or employing more than 50 workers must maintain an on-site video monitoring station monitored at least 20 hours per day. Testing and inspection procedures are as explained earlier.
The advantages of a properly maintained surveillance system are three-fold. First, it allows monitors to spot intruders and potential threats before they can initiate violence. Second, it allows incoming reinforcements to evaluate a developing situation and respond accordingly. Third, it allows investigators to evaluate an incident after the fact, to assist with the apprehension of at-large terrorists and prevent similar occurrences in the future.
SECURE DATA TERMINALS
With "data-terrorism" -- the wholesale destruction or covert alteration of important computer files -- on the rise, the importance of data security should be obvious to all administrators. In addition to such concerns, data security is also a key component of physical site security. An unsecured data terminal can allow terrorists unrestricted access to all areas of the facility, or even allow invaders to take control of facility defenses and turn them against the defenders. For all the above reasons it is important that WEC facilities at all levels observe strict password protocols and keep all hardware and software in good repair and up to current Security Cartel standards
PLATE WALLS, BLAST DOORS AND FORCE FIELDS
Since the dawn of history, fortification has been the corner stone of effective site defense. This is no less true in our modern, high-tech era than it was to our ancestors millennia ago. If the enemy can't get inside your facility, he can't harm your facility.
All official WEC administrative and industrial facilities are built with outer walls composed of 1/2" polymer plates capable of withstanding a direct hit from a 300-mm mortar shell. Exterior doors are made of materials identical to those used for satellite airlock doors. The next result is that even ordinary offices and factories are capable of physically withstanding any attack short of an armored assault or artillery barrage. More sensitive installations, of course, may be even more heavily armored.
Interior walls in sensitive installations may also be made out of armored materials, to allow compartmentalization and isolation of high-security areas. Interior blast doors are often installed with mechanical or electronic triggers that cause them to seal alt the approach of unauthorized personnel.
Extremely sensitive areas may be sealed off by force fields, either routinely or in the event of an emergency. Although highly effective against virtually any kind of attack the force field is not a defensive cure-all. Its primary drawback is its extreme power requirements, which make the power supply of any force field its most vulnerable point.
AUTOMATED WEAPON EMPLACEMENTS AND BOOBY TRAPS
Extremely high-risk facilities may be fitted with static or automated weapon emplacements and anti-personnel booby traps. Weapons emplacements usually consist of a wall-mounted rifle with an arc of fire sealing off a key-point of egress or tactical bottleneck. Various targeting systems are available, from static line-of-fire emplacements, to automatically panning turrets and cybernetically controlled auto-targeting systems with infrared imaging.
Some facilities have floor mines that can be activated in an armed assault situation. Anti-personnel mines for interior use are of two general types, standard concussion mines and "Bouncing Betties."
Concussion mines are usually triggered by direct pressure immediately above them, while a remote trigger can deploy Bouncing Betties. A Bouncing Betty is a concealed, spring-loaded mine flinger, when activated, throws high-explosive micro grenades in a pre-set radius. It is, of course, imperative that security personnel defending an installation with defensive mine emplacements know the location and pattern of all mind areas.
Automated weapons emplacements and booby traps may not be requisitioned or installed without the express, written authorization of the Security Cartel.
SECURITY SERVOMECHS
With advances in cybernetics allowing servomechanical workers to supplement human labor to an ever-increasing extent, the Security Cartel and Cybernetics Cartel have combined resources to produce a line of servomechs with integral armament and advanced security programming. At the moment there are two general maintenance servomechs with security programming available for general requisition, and tow armored, anti-personnel weapons platforms available for authorized civilian use.
MS-40 Roaming Susan - The oldest, but still one of the most widespread security servomechs is the MS-40, a general purpose maintenance/custodial servomech with an enhanced processor for personnel recognition and security programming, and an internally-mounted .40 pistol for site defense. The MS-40's programming is extremely basic, and its armament is very light compared to most terrorists. Although MS-40s can be an effective component in an overall defensive strategy, they are not sufficient to constitute a defense by themselves.
MS-110 Android - The MS-110 android is a far more advanced, humanoid variation on the MS-40. The MS-110 has one of the most advanced cybernetic "brains" ever devised for a servomech. It is capable of being programmed for complex technological and laboratory tasks in addition to its security capabilities. The MS-110 is not primarily designed as a defensive weapon -- that is simply one of the many tasks it is suitable for. Due to the expense of the MS-110 and its relative offensive weakness, it is not efficient to use it primarily as a defensive asset, though it can be extremely useful in an emergency.
AP-4210 Thermatron - The AP-4210 was the first mobile anti-personnel weapons platform authorized for civilian requisition. It is designed to mount a variety of light-to-medium armaments while maximizing mobility and combat versatility. Anti-personnel weapons platforms may only be requisitioned with direct Security Cartel authorization. Unlike the MS series, the AP servomechs are primarily designed for offensive and defensive tactics against small unit ground forces. Because there are certain limits to even the most advanced machine AI, Security Cartel recommends a balanced force of human and mechanical defenders. With that caveat, the AP-4210 and its successor, the AP-4400, are excellent cornerstones on which to build your site defense.
AP-4400 Vetron - The AP-4400 is more advanced successor to the AP-4210. It is better armored, faster, able to mount more advanced and sophisticated weapons, and has more complex and flexible programming capabilities. Over the next five years the ASP-4210 will be phased out entirely and completely replaced by the AP-4400.
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