Data-driven historical assessment of terrorist trends and metrics

This study applied advances in big data and visual data analytics to the field of protective design. A database of historical terrorist activities was analyzed using the Tableau visual data analytics software package to identify meaningful trends in historical data and demonstrate sensitivity of assets to particular types of terrorist attacks by non-state actors based on key geographic, socioeconomic, and contextual characteristics. The research will support improvements to existing terrorism risk methodologies leading to cost-effective, risk-informed decisions to identify the most vulnerable buildings in a large portfolio of buildings.