This infrastructure expands the terrorists' options regarding targets. In at least one recent instance, terrorists cancelled plans to attack a U.S. embassy because they concluded that the security measures they observed there were too formidable to overcome. Terrorists can be expected to make similar calculations about targets in the private sector, and with a target that is less symbolically significant than an embassy, they are more likely to be deterred by even a moderate level of security. It is important to recognize that measures need not be extreme. Simple practices such as varying the times and routes used by company vehicles and avoiding choke points can make a big difference.
Visibility is also an issue.
But they can expect to be advised of any information, even if it originated with a classified source, about possible terrorist threats to their companies in particular. It should, instead, reflect more general appraisals of threat levels in particular regions or countries, as well as the fact that some amount of terrorist threat follows Americans wherever they go overseas. Pillar also calls on U.S. firms operating in other countries to convey to the governments of the countries in which they operate a consistent message about terrorism. Countering it requires the concerted attention of all those who are affected by it and who stand to lose if it goes unchecked. He is a member of the ASIS Standing Committee on Global Terrorism, Political Instability, and International Crime.