Terrorist Threats to Food and Water Supplies

Concern that terrorists might target the U.S. water supply, food supply, or both predates the Global War on Terror (Karaca, 2012). However, since September 11, 2001, concern over threats to food and water infrastructure security, transportation security, and security at the point of purchase have increased. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has stated,

Violent extremists have expressed aspirational interest in contaminating unspecified water supplies, and as recently as July 2011 specifically raised backpressure as a means of contamination. Minimal technical expertise or equipment is needed to introduce contaminants into the water system, and general information on backpressure processes is available to the public.

At the same time, there have been reports of interest from terrorist groups in disrupting or corrupting the food supply. To that end, ...

  • Loading...
locked icon

Sign in to access this content

Get a 30 day FREE TRIAL

  • Watch videos from a variety of sources bringing classroom topics to life
  • Read modern, diverse business cases
  • Explore hundreds of books and reference titles