Mitigating container security risk using real-time monitoring with active Radio Frequency Identification and sensors

Abstract

The global village in which we live enables increased trade and commerce across regions but also brings a complicated new set of challenges such as terrorist activity, human and drug smuggling and theft in foreign or domestic locations. Containers travel the globe, across all seven continents. In the wake of intensified security concerns since the September 11, 2001 attacks, tracking containers and their contents presents an increasing concern for those institutions and personnel charged with ensuring their security. This thesis analyzes the risks associated with global container transport. The concept of an e-container is set forth as a risk mitigation technology that uses real-time monitoring of a container's physical status acquired from an array of embedded RFID-enabled sensors. A framework is suggested that relates sensor-identified signatures and phenomena to behaviors representing breaches in container security. A theoretical model suggests which sensors are required to identify the individual breaches in order to mitigate container security risk.