Systems Evaluation
Whether we are dealing with an information system, a system for distributing medications and vaccines, a biodetection system, or a system for deploying first responders, our systems evaluations typically involve a requirements analysis or assessment of the system's goals and objectives, the development of evaluation criteria or performance measures, and a determination of how well the system performs against those measures. Evaluation methods include mathematical simulations, physical testing and simulation, and a variety of statistical analysis techniques.
Example Projects
Red Team Assessment of Biodefenses
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has the primary responsibility for the evaluation and deployment of systems for the early detection of a biological attack on our cities. Although there are several systems used in biological defense, these detection systems rely on only a few specific molecular techniques. When used on pure samples of biological material, these systems are generally robust, and can be used reliably on any pathogen. However, biological agents are rarely expressed into the environment as pure microbes and are often adulterated with materials to enhance their dispersal or survival in the environment. These materials, although not added for this purpose, could potentially interfere with these detection techniques or make the agent resistant to collection from the environment. Of higher concern, a terrorist, cognizant of the nature of biological agent detection schemes, could intentionally add materials to their agent mixtures for the express purpose of making the attack undetectable. Currently, it is unknown what technology is accessible to terrorists to make their biological agents "invisible" to current detection schemes. In order to fully evaluate the robustness of our current defensive systems and to anticipate future science and technology needs, the following information is needed:
- What technologies (or release strategies) could be used in the production of a biological agent to make it evade detection?
- What information would be available to terrorists without access to classified information and how could they use this information to answer the question above?
- How can current detection systems be improved to counter the possibility of a "stealthy" biological weapon?
To execute this project, we divided it into several tasks as follows:
- Determine what a terrorist can learn about our biological defenses
- Determine what compounds have historically been added in the formulation process of making a biological weapon that could adversely affect biological defenses
- Determine what a terrorist can learn from the scientific literature about intentionally disguising, cloaking or confounding collection of BW agents
- Based on these findings, make suggestions on improvements of current biological defenses To accomplish these goals we used the following techniques:
- Red-team analysis to analyze defense systems from a terrorist-point of view
- Analysis in biochemistry, microbiology and molecular biology to determine the efficacy of scientific schemes to defeat detection assays and systems.
- Modeling to estimate the detection efficiency of the system and the likelihood that an attack would go undetected.
Evaluating Strategies to Distribute Vaccines and Therapeutics
For the Department of Homeland Security through a contract to Abt Associates from MIT's Lincoln Laboratory, Rocco Casagrande, then an employee of Abt Associates, modeled the cost of efficacy of several strategies to distribute medication and vaccines to millions of people. To estimate the efficacy of each system, we modeled the casualties that would occur in the aftermath of attacks with contagious and non-contagious pathogens in the presence or absence of various medical response systems.
Support for the Science and Technology Directorate
Gryphon Scientific has been selected by name for a series of studies with the Department of Homeland Securitys Science and Technology Directorate. Under these studies, we have reviewed, critiqued and assessed of research results, analyses and reports developed by the National Laboratories. We have developed threat scenarios with which to assess WMD-defense systems. We are currently in the process of performing an end-to-end analysis of attacks with antibiotic resistant biological agents. This study includes the development of threat scenarios, attack and response timelines, production process assessment, response strategy assessment and gap assessment.
Enhancing Security in Agriculture
For the Iowa Department of Public Defense, Homeland Security and Emergency Management (IHLSEM), Gryphon Scientific assisted the Multi-State Partnership for Security in Agriculture (Partnership) in designing a surveillance system for the protection of the food and agricultural sectors. In this project, our team researched and evaluated existing animal health and public health surveillance systems and then conducted interviews with stakeholders in each Partnership state to identify their priorities and needs relative to agriculture surveillance. close window