Book excerpt: Much worldwide cargo, from raw materials to finished products, travels via containerized shipping. For the shippers, the main concern has always been losses from theft or accident. But shipping containers are as attractive to terrorists as they are to thieves and smugglers. New security measures have therefore proliferated. This report defines a framework for assessing the effects of these measures, reviews the balance of current container security risk-reduction efforts, and lays out directions for further research.