Research

The reason our advice
is defensible.

Most security advice rests on the adviser's say-so. Ours rests on datasets we built, methods reviewed by people we've never met, and measurement that can be re-run. When our advice is questioned, this is what it stands on.

Publications

Our publications

Peer review is the difference between marketing and evidence. Core42's methods are published in Crime Science and Terrorism and Political Violence.

01 Classifying vehicle-as-a-weapon attacks: an inductive taxonomy and design implications Crime Science — peer-reviewed, February 2026 02 Vehicle-As-A-Weapon Threats in Cities: A Global Analysis of Attack Patterns Terrorism and Political Violence — peer-reviewed, 2026 03 The State of CPTED in NSW Pre-print — Research Square, 2026 04 The Open City, Exposed VAAW research publication — Core42 05 Security 2030 Industry survey report — Core42 06 Active Armed Offender Whitepaper Whitepaper — Core42

Active programmes

Five named research programmes

Each programme feeds directly into how the firm advises.

Published in Crime Science and Terrorism and Political Violence

Vehicle as a Weapon

The Crime Science study analysed 135 incidents from 2010 to April 2025 and identified six attack clusters for scenario planning.

The programme

Industry research paper, 2026

The State of CPTED in NSW

100 consultant CPTED reports coded against ISO 22341:2021, the first systematic look at what the practice actually produces.

The programme

Publication forthcoming

Protective Placemaking

52 Sydney residents rated 73 security interventions. An exploratory study of perceived safety and public-place design.

The programme

Validation study in progress

Security Culture

Adapting the safety-climate measurement tradition to security: an instrument in development to examine organisational security climate.

The programme

Survey published

Security 2030

Seventeen senior security leaders on where the profession is heading, and what that means for who buys security advice.

The programme

Speaking

The research travels

Selected international keynotes, conference sessions and podcasts drawing on the firm’s research and advisory practice.

Talks & appearances

Reference guides

What good looks like

What Good CPTED Looks Like

What a CPTED assessment should contain, what ISO 22341 requires, and how to tell a genuine risk tool from a compliance artifact.

Read the guide

Hostile Vehicle Mitigation

What project teams need to know before specifying barriers: from threat basis to design requirements, in defensible steps.

Read the guide

Security Risk Assessment

ISO 31000 and HB 167, SFAIRP, and how to tell whether your assessment is driving decisions or just documenting them.

Read the guide

Insights

From the research, in practice

Shorter pieces drawn from the publications and talks: the working layer between the journal article and the site visit.

01 The Security Tipping Point: What Community Research Reveals About Visible Protection in Public Space Primary research with 52 Sydney residents across 73 security interventions maps where visible security stops communicating safety and starts communicating threat — and why understanding that line changes how you specify security for public space. Mar 2026 02 When the Data and the Danger Diverge: Australia's Active Armed Offender Threat A planning note accompanying Core42’s 2024 active armed offender whitepaper: distinguish historical crime data, threat information and site-specific response arrangements. June 2024
All insights

Put the evidence to work.

If your board has never had a briefing on the physical threat environment, the research is where ours starts.

Request an executive briefing For organisations