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| Counter Terror Expo 2014 will also feature a co-located event, AMBITION 2014 |
Key to the success of Counter Terror Expo, which has grown year-on-year to become the largest international counter terrorism and security event of its kind, is its responsiveness to real world events. This responsiveness will be fully reflected in the themes of the centrepiece conference at Counter Terror Expo, 29 - 30 April 2014, Olympia, London.
Global counter terrorism
The threat from international terrorism remains at a significantly high level and those with the desire, intent and means to do harm continue to demonstrate that they are both highly determined and persistent. Any doubts about that were clearly dispelled by the head of the UK’s domestic security agency, MI5, who recently revealed that since the July 7 attacks in London in 2005, there have been 34 plots disrupted in the UK alone, some of which were deliberately planned to create mass casualties. This keynote stream will feature a number of leading government, police and security figureheads discussing the evolving international security threat over the next 12 months.
Risk, resilience & security – protecting national infrastructure
As nations become ever more dependent on their critical national infrastructure so it becomes an ever higher priority that such vital assets are protected from the risk of terrorist attack. That risk was brought to mind in January 2013 when terrorists launched an attack in Algeria on the Tigantourine gas facility, operated jointly by the Algerian state oil company Sonatrach, BP and the Norwegian firm Statoil. Delegates will discover what threats, both UK and international, face their businesses and how best to protect assets, both personnel and property.
Securing public spaces
The vulnerability of public spaces was highlighted dramatically in April and again in September 2013. In the first instance, two bombs were detonated near the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon, killing at least 3 people and leaving more than 180 others injured. In the second, terrorists entered the Westgate Shopping Mall in the Kenyan capital Nairobi and caused multiple deaths and injuries in a sustained gun and grenade attack. This stream will bring together those responsible for protecting public spaces in order to discuss and debate best practice and the development of the most effective strategies to keep the public safe from harm.
Emergency services
How prepared are we for another mass casualty event on the scale of the 7/7 tube bombings or a possible CBRN attack? In this conference stream, delegates will be examining the key issues, including emergency services training, the equipment needs of first responders and the response protocols currently in place. Counter Terror Expo 2014 will also feature a co-located event, AMBITION 2014, with a focus on excellence in pre-hospital care, resilience and interoperability across the emergency response sector.
Cyber security & electronic terrorism
Counter Terror Expo 2014 will help to address critical need by focusing in its conference themes on the nature of the specific threats that have emerged, or are emerging, and how best to counter them |
Cyber attacks from hostile nations, activist groups and criminal gangs continued to grow throughout 2013, aimed at a wide range of targets across the globe. In March, computer networks at three major South Korean banks, as well as two TV broadcasters, crashed simultaneously, putting cash machines and online banking systems out of action across the country for several hours. Two months later, in May, the Twitter account of The Associated Press was hacked and a tweet sent claiming there had been two explosions at the White House and that President Barack Obama was injured, causing temporary turmoil on the stock market. This highly topical conference stream will once again analyse current and future threats and how best to protect critical national infrastructure, Government departments, the police and other organisations from cyber attack by terrorists.
Future policing & border security
Incidents of illegal border crossing attempts abounded throughout 2013, raising new challenges for effective future policing as ever more inventive ways of evading border security are employed. Participants in this conference stream will be considering how we protect our borders – both at points of entry and while potential terrorists are still in transit – and how effectively we track those who may already have passed through those borders.
As all of the above examples show (and they are just examples – serious terrorist attacks have taken place several times a month throughout 2013 in various parts of the world) there is a critical need for an evolving counter terrorism and security response to match the evolving international threat. Counter Terror Expo 2014 will help to address that need by focusing in its conference themes on the nature of the specific threats that have emerged, or are emerging, and how best to counter them.
