Aviation Security: Further Information

Newrisk Limited is available to advise organisations and governments on aviation security and Newrisk Limited and its principal adviser, Dr Leivesley, have previously provided media commentary, lectures and conferences and written publications on this topic, examples of which are set out below. To return to the overview of Newrisk Limited's aviation security expertise, please click here.

To request Newrisk Limited's assistance in connection with aviation security, please contact Newrisk Limited directly.

Media Commentary

Newrisk Limited's principal adviser, Dr Leivesley, has provided media commentary on aviation security, including:

• Profile and radicalisation of terrorist in Westminster Attack, for BBC Radio Scotland on 24 March 2017;
• Westminster Terror Attack Description for Channel 7 Sunrise (Australia) and Channel 9 Today (Australia) on 24 March 2017;
• Westminster Terror Attack and Citizen Aid App for ITV This Morning (England) on 24 March 2017: '"If families know you're not in that location that means the initial fear isn't there to start with." Sally said it's important to treat any unusual behavior as a threat rather than assuming it's an accident of some sort. She added: "Any unusual sounds and activities may be a terrorist attack and may save people's lives."'
• Aviation Laptop and other electronics banned from cabin baggage for some airlines and airports announced by USA and UK for ITV This Morning (England) and also for BBC Jeremy Vine Radio (England), BBC News at One (England) and Channel 4 News (England) on 22 March 2017;
• Aviation Laptop and Electronics Ban for BBC Today (England) on 22 March 2017: '"We have seen viable printer bombs in the hold' Dr Sally Leivesley, an aviation adviser to companies and governments, says the ban on electronic devices in the cabin of some planes is a smart move that is "probably overdue."' as also cited: 'Sally Leivesley, a security consultant, said that a bomb inside a printer had been intercepted in Britain but that it had almost slipped through the net. “On board were devices in printers that were so well disguised that even the bomb experts couldn’t initially find them because the printer ink had been replaced with explosive powder and a telephone circuit had been put next to the printer ink inside the printer, which would effectively then be the timing device to set it off, but it looked like a normal printer,” she told the BBC’s Today programme. “They’ve miniaturised this now into what looks like a normal laptop, and even the larger smartphones are an issue.”;
• Aviation Laptop and Electronics Ban for BBC World Service Newsday (England) on 21 March 2017;
• 'Air France plane diverted to Kenya and current terror issues' for ITV Good Morning Britain (England) on 22 December 2015;
• 'Air France hoax bomb threat', for ITV News at Ten (England) on 20 December 2015;
• Sharm el-Sheikh: Suspected Terror Attack on Russian airline Metrojet Flight 9268 for ITV This Morning on 2 and 5 November 2015;
• 'What threat do we face at our airports' for Channel 5 News  (England) on 3 July 2014;
• 'Without a Trace: Who is behind the mystery of flight MH370? Talk in Hanger-7' for Servus TV (Austria) on 5 June 2014;
• 'Flight 370: The Missing Links' for Discovery Channel in April 2014;
• 'The Plane that Vanished' panel interview by Donal MacIntyre on MAL MH370 plane disappearance and causation for Channel 5 on 14 March 2014;
• MAS Plane Disappearance for ITV Daybreak, Channel 5 News and ITV News on 10 March 2014;
• Sochi Olympic Threats and Russian Security Capability for Al Jazeera (English) on 2 January 2014;
• G8 Leader Options to Reduce World Terrorism, Conflict Resolution with Syria & Agreement not to pay Kidnap & Ransom Demands for BBC World NewsDay on 18 June 2013;
• Twitter threat to blow up airport found 'not menancing' following court appeal for BBC News on 27 July 2012;
• MI5 Director General's speech on terror threats for the Olympics & beyond for Channel 5 News (pre-record) on 26 June 2012;
• Underpants bomb plot in Yemen foiled for Sky News and Channel 5 News on 8 May 2012;
• Olympics defence exercise & Olympics security preparedness for Channel 5 News on 3 May 2012;
• Airport Profiling, Headscarves & Department of Transport Rules for BBC Breakfast on 28 February 2012;
• Yemen Cargo Terror Plot for Sky News on 1 November 2010, TF1 (France) on 1 November 2010, ZDF (Germany) on 1 November 2010, Al Jazeera on 1 November 2010, ITN News on 31 October 2010 and BBC News/BBC Breakfast on 30 October 2010;
• Airport Security for BBC Radio Four on 28 October 2010;
• Profiling Terrorists for Aviation Security Following Christmas Day Attempted Bombing for BBC Breakfast on 26 January 2010;
• Aviation Security Following Christmas Day Attempted Bombing for BBC Radio 5 Live on 9 January 2010;
• US Aviation Screening for Terrorists and Security Incident at Heathrow for Sky News on 4 and 8 January 2010;
• Slovakian Exercise: Explosives Planted on Airline Passenger for the CBC (Canada) on 7 January 2010 and Al Jazeera on 4 January 2010;
• Public Fears and Aviation Terror Counter-Measures for BBC Radio Five Live on 1 January 2010;
• PM Orders Airport Security Review for BBC Wales and BBC Radio Five Live on 1 January 2010;
• President Obama's Critique of Intelligence Following Christmas Day Attempted Bombing for Sky News on 30 December 2009;
• Aviation Bomb Security and Profiling Terrorists Following Christmas Day Attempted Bombing for BBC Radio Scotland on 29 December 2009;
• Aviation Bomb Security and Detection Security Systems for the BBC World Service on 28 December 2009;
• London Terror Connections with US Air Terror Attack for TV5 (France) on 27 December 2009;
• Christmas Day Bombing and Aviation Concerns for Al Jazeera on 27 December 2009, CBC (Canada) on 27 December 2009, ITN News on 26 December 2009, BBC News/BBC Radio Four/BBC Breakfast on 26 December 2009;
• Liquid Bomb Terror Verdicts and Risks Posed to Aviation for BBC News and BBC Breakfast on 8 and 9 September 2009;
• Building Construction and Terrorism, the Lord West's Review on Protective Security and Aviation Security for BBC World on 14 November 2007;
• Airline Terror Plots and the Threats to Airports for the BBC News/BBC Radio Scotland/BBC Radio Five Live and BBC Breakfast on 10-15 August 2006, CTV Television (Canada) on 11 August 2006, CBC (Canada) on 11 August 2006, Channel 7 (Australia) on 10 August 2006, ABC (Australia) on 10 August 2006 and ABC (America) on 10 August 2006; and
• Airline Anti-Terrorism Technology Innovations for the BBC News on 11 August 2006.

Lectures and Conferences

Newrisk Limited and its principal adviser, Dr Leivesley, have provided lectures and conferences on aviation security, including:

• Discussing the Unexpected: Nuclear war and MH370, High Premium Group - Annual Conference 2023, London, 25th April 2023.
  
  
• 'Optimising Intelligent Systems for Competitive Advantage: Discussions on Singapore and an International Case Study of Systems Failures in Flight MH370'' - Key Note Lecture to the Chief Information Security Officers Conference in Singapore in November 2014;
  
  
• 'Strategic Threats in Cyber Space: Was MH370 the First Cyber Hijack?' - Key Note Lecture to the International Conference on Cloud Security and Management at the University of Reading (England) in October 2014;
  
  
• 'Cyber Hijack and other Emerging Threats: Strategies for Sustainability' - Key Note Lecture to the CEP (Corporate Executive Program) in Barcelona (Spain) in May 2014;
  
  
• 'CBRNE/Cyber Terrorism: Technical briefing for ‘Exercise London' - Lecture for the Ministry of Defence, Terrorism Causes, Trends and Responses, Knowledge Transfer Programme at the University of Bradford, School of Social and International Studies in April 2013;
  
  
• 'CBRNE/Cyber Terrorism & London in 2012' - Technical Briefing to Government sponsored students at the Department of Peace Studies, University of Bradford;
  
  
• 'Aviation Security: Managing the Threat of International Terrorism and Its Potential for Drastically Impacting Airline Profitability' - Paper to the 19th Annual Aircraft Finance Conference in Geneva (Switzerland) in February 2005;
  
  
• 'Aviation Business Guide to Terrorism to 2010: Winners and Losers' - Paper to the International Centre for Business Information Aircraft Finance Conference in Geneva (Switzerland) in February 2004;
  
  
• 'Site Risk Assessments: Fuel Air Explosion Case Study' - Paper to the Region VII International Training Conference and Exhibition for the International Association of Bomb Technicians and Investigators in Canberra (Australia) in November 1996.

Publications

Newrisk Limited's principal adviser, Dr Leivesley, has written publications on aviation security, including:

• 'Aviation Risks from Al Qaeda: Continuity Solutions'  in Alert, the Journal of the Institute of Civil Defence and Disaster Studies (Winter 2003/2004) 5-7;
  
  
• 'Terrorism - Towards the Sydney 2000 Olympics' in RUSI Bulletin, Issue No. 4 (December 1996): "Australia's new international status through the Sydney 2000 Olympics is not identified as a cause of terrorism but the event may bring forward the timetable of terrorist growth within the country. Threats to airlines and aiport security are identified as having the greatest potential to disrupt the Sydney Olympic Games...Recommendations are made for an integrated counter-terrorism system, protection of airports and airlines through an upgrading of dogs in explosives detection and new human factor detection systems, review of legal processes and resources for police training."

Newrisk Limited's principal adviser, Dr Leivesley, has also been cited in publications on aviation security, including:

• How will the laptop ban affect airline passengers? by Joe Murphy (political editor) for Financial Times on 23 March 2017: Re Disparity between US and UK laptop travel curbs baffles experts: "...Leivesley says the US may have been less worried about problems with airport."
  
  
• Air passengers flying to UK face further security search at boarding gates over laptop ban by Joe Murphy (political editor) for Standard on 22 March 2017: 'British anti-terror advisor Dr Sally Leivesley said a laptop ban was needed because a small bomb in a cabin could punch a hole in the side of an aircraft causing “massive depressurisation” and “certain death for everyone on board”. Explosives had already been found in the ink capsules of printers carried in luggage, indicating the terrorist thinking. But she warned that the crackdown did not go far enough, saying there was evidence that the supposedly secure “airside” area  of airport terminals was in fact “porous”. This would mean terrorists who passed standard screening could be handed weapons by accomplices before boarding.'
  
• 'Gatwick Airport security breach as Mirror reporter stands unchallenged just YARDS from passenger plane' by Lewis Panther, Sunday Mirror, on 21 November 2015: "Security expert Dr Sally Leivesley said: 'You have identified the soft areas in airport perimeter security where under current conditions you would want to be reassured unauthorised persons would not get access.'"
  
  
• 'Is missing Malaysian jet the world’s first CYBER HIJACK? Chilling new theory claims hackers could use a mobile phone to take over the controls' by Wills Robinson, Daily Mail Online, 16 March 2014: "Dr Leivesley, who now prepares businesses and governments for potential terrorist attacks, told the Sunday Express: 'There appears to be an element of planning from someone with a very sophisticated systems engineering understanding. This is a very early version of what I would call a smart plane, a fly-by-wire aircraft controlled by electronic signals. She added that once the plane is air-side, you can insert a set of commands and codes which can begin a new set of processes."
  
  
• ''World's First Cyber Hijack: Was Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight Hacked with Mobile Phone' by James Fielding and Stuart Winter in the Sunday Express, 16 March 2014: "British anti-terror expert Dr Sally Leivesley said last night: “It might well be the world’s first cyber hijack."
  
  
• 'Passengers Relive Terror of Flight 253 as New Threat Emerges from Al-Qaeda' by Jamie Doward in The Observer, 27 December 2009: "...Terrorism expert Dr Leivesley said the incident suggested that terrorists were changing tack. 'This looks as though it is a first attempt of a new way to use the body to conceal explosives,' she said. 'In the past it was a can of liquid explosives. Now they may be concealing the explosives on the human body.'..."

To request Newrisk Limited's assistance in connection with aviation security, please contact Newrisk Limited directly.