ABSTRACT
Facilities, structures, businesses, social establishments, educational facilities, and others types of locations have all been targeted by terrorists or other perpetrators. In addition to the use of some form of violence in the attacks, the commonality is that each target was considered “soft.” When discussing targets for potential attacks, a key element is the degree to which the target is considered soft as opposed to hard. This is primarily a vulnerability assessment according to various types of potential threats. Generally, a “harder” target is one that has been deemed more difficult to assail given a specific type of attack or threat. A facility that has few public entrances is harder to attack than one that has many points of entry. Locking entrances and limiting the number of keys or swipe cards to a building is an example of mitigating the location’s security vulnerability. Adding a security guard is an increased “hardening” measure, and so on.
