PortSecurityArticlefromSecurityManagement

Criminal Justice
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Port Security Article from Security Management
Three items/points that surprised me in the article.
According to the author, Lilly Chapa, before a container is loaded onto a vessel in the U.S ports, the list of the cargo in the container is handed over to the ports authorities. The container is then scanned, and the risk score for the container is allocated automatically. The container may or may not undergo another scanning depending on the targeted port of arrival. This surprises me because the content of the container is not checked physically (Chapa, 2015). Therefore, there are high chances of allowing illegal goods into the country.
Lilly Chapa says that in the year 2011, hackers were able to hack into the computer systems of the Port of Antwerp and they were able to access the information for two containers and they were able to track the two vessels. This surprised me because the maritime cybersecurity should be very strong that criminals are not able to hack into the system as this allows them to divert the containers and avoid being screened before leaving the port (Chapa, 2015).
The immigration officials are also not well trained due to CBP reorganization and budget cuts. Therefore the services at the port are always not professional, and there are possibilities of illegal goods to be imported into the country due to inadequate training or experience.
Two things that I did not understand in the article.

Lilly Chapa says that international privacy does not allow sharing of the screening information. I don’t understand why there should be such regulation because the government of different countries should work together in the international trade to do away with illegal trade.
I don’t understand why the budget that caters for the security at the port should be cut because the port is vital for the safety of the nation and there should be much money allocated for the port security and trained personnel to perform their work effectively and prevent importation of any illegal good into the country.
Finally, my question to the author is that why should some international privacy laws prevent sharing of the screening information on the content of the container with the targeted port?
Reference
Chapa, L. (2015). Port Protection. Security Management, a Publication of ASIS International.