The three main categories of Electromagnetic Security are as follows:
1. Emissions from nuclear explosions
2. Strong EMR attacks on facility
3. Information leaks via EMR.
Emissions from Nuclear Explosions
A nuclear explosion is an explosion that occurs as a result of the rapid release of energy from a high-speed nuclear reaction [1].
When nuclear explosion occurs, the electromagnetic radiations are transmitted to a very large scale radius around the explosion area. These radiations are harmful in the sense that they destroy the electrical and communication equipment and medium for the effected radius area. The radius area is usually much larger than the area where the physical security measures have been put in place. Therefore the explosion …show more content…
Two examples from practical life are listed below:
1. USS Forrestal was involved in one of the worst cases of electromagnetic interference (EMI) in 1967. A military air craft when exposed to a ship’s radar accidentally fired its munitions hitting a fully armed and fueled aircraft on the deck. This resulted in extensive damage and 134 deaths. The cause of the accident, later discovered, was a degraded cable shield termination on the landing aircraft. [3]
2. A heart attack victim, aged 93 died in the back of ambulance due to the interference of radio transmitter used in the vehicle with monitor and defibrillator. The interference caused the equipment to shut down. Later discovered that the roof of the ambulance made of metal fiberglass allowed high levels of radiated radio fields inside the patient. [3]
Information Leaks via EMR
EMR that is emitted contains information related to the device which is emitting the radiations. The information can be data stored, processed or transmitted by the device. Electromagnetic radiations that leak from devices can be captured and by using special equipment and techniques, these can be reconstructed on a different