Anti-terrorist protection of public facilities and critical infrastructure against attacks with motor vehicles

Abstract

The use of vehicles as tools for terrorist attacks, which has been occurring over the past few years, has led to the increasing use of anti-terrorist blockades around critical infrastructure buildings and in public spaces. This process has progressed as awareness and knowledge of the existence of this type of threat has increased among decision-makers. The variety of devices used to protect against attacks and their selection is not obvious and easy to implement. In this article, the author attempts to describe the occurrence of risks to critical infrastructure facilities from road vehicles used as weapons to carry out attacks. He describes the possibilities of preventing this type of event and recommends solutions to help in the design and implementation of external building security systems. The guidelines contained in the article can be a source of knowledge for those responsible for the security of facilities, but in addition to the theoretical basis in the design of external security of facilities, it is necessary in each case to carry out a specialised risk assessment, carried out by a qualified consultant.