Issue: 2019/Vol.29/No.4, Pages 53-93
SPECIAL VERSUS GENERAL PROTECTION AND ATTACK OF TWO ASSETS
Kjell Hausken
Cite as: K. Hausken. Special versus general protection and attack of two assets. Operations Research and Decisions 2019: 29(4), 53-93. DOI 10.37190/ord190404
Abstract
Two independent assets are analysed, being subject to special and general protection and attack, supplementing earlier research on individual and overarching protection and attack. Sixteen analytical solutions are developed to examine how a defender and attacker choose either two special efforts, one general effort, or one special effort and one general effort. The latter occurs when the special unit effort cost for one asset is lower than that of the other asset and the general unit effort cost. The article provides a tool for each player to realise which of these three options it should choose when facing an opponent who also chooses between these three options. The solutions are explained and illustrated with examples. The article focuses on specialization versus generalization of effort which is of paramount importance.
Keywords: special effort, general effort, protection, defence, attack, reliability, vulnerability, independent assets, safety, security, terrorism
Received: 10 June 2019 Accepted: 8 January 2020