302wk5rly

302wk5rly

Instructions:  Please respond to at least 2 other students. Responses should be a minimum of 150 words and include direct questions.

Responses Due: Sunday, by 11:55pm, ET 

David Villanueva(Jul 5, 2017 4:40 PM)- Read by: 2

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Last Edited By David Villanueva on Jul 6, 2017 5:47 PM

Last Edited By David Villanueva on Jul 5, 2017 4:41 PM

1. Define/describe critical infrastructure and its relevance to homeland security.    

Critical infrastructure would be building within the United States and its sovereign soil around the globe, that was my knowledge before this lesson.  Now, I know that there are actually three key components to critical infrastructure when dealing with homeland security and those are actual buildings, largely populated areas of commerce and gathering and finally the information highway as it pertains to America and its use of such a thing.  I was unaware so much was involved in critical infrastructure until the Homeland Security Presidential Directive 7 laid out the definition with specific details.  They include the “essential recourses and services providing the underpinning of American society” as well as “the incapacitation, exploitation and destruction of said items through a terrorist attack causing the debilitation of security and economic well-being in America.”  (Bush, 2003, p. 1)  This definition is relevant to homeland security because all three of these components create avenues of attack and a looming responsibility of security on all fronts at all times!  The job of homeland security is not only to protect the people of the United States but also its infrastructure and by this definition it would appear that homeland security has their hands full by and long shot.  Homeland security is the first line of defense against terrorist attack and using this definition will give them left and right limits to allocate personnel and resources for the best plan of protection possible at any given time. 

2. Offer a detailed means of attack upon one of the following critical infrastructure sectors. Use the links provided in the e-reserve to locate the sector specific plans for the following:

Water and Wastewater Systems Sector

Consider only 1/3 of those are used for major metropolitan areas such as New York, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, etc.  It would only take a terrorist cell of about 100 men to coordinate an attack on those major public water systems by way of contamination.  What about the filters, you say?  Well, just like there are (Caldwell, 2010, p. 8)I have, for many years, believed that our water is our most precious resource as humans and American and also our greatest weakness when it comes to non-combatant forms of terrorist attack.  Such an attack would not require extensive amounts of “troops” or specialized equipment utilized by highly trained individuals.  Attacking our water supply would have immediate, intermediate and long term affects against our country and its people!  We know that our nation has approximately 153,000 public water systems and that only 410 of them provided water for areas with 100,000 people or more gases our protective mask will not filter in combat there are also forms of biological attack that terrorist could use that would not be filtered out by standard public water system filtration (Caldwell, 2010, pg.8).  Furthermore, consider only ½ of these men are successful in their attack… that is still 50 major public water systems for major metropolitan areas that would suddenly be without drinking water!  Not only consumption would be immediately affected but now you have health services and industrial operations that would simply halt due to their dependence on clean water.  These people do not care about getting out alive, they care about hurting us and contaminating our water would cripple not only our civilian populace but also our local law enforcement and emergency medical services as well.  If this attack were to happen followed by an immediate (what I will call) combatant attack – we would be in serious trouble without question. 

Bush, G. W. (2003). December 17, 2003 Homeland security presidential directive/Hspd-7: critical infrastructure identification, prioritization, and protection(United States, Department of Homeland Security). Washington, D.C.: White House Office of the Press Secretary.

Caldwell, S. L. (2010). Critical infrastructure protection: update to National Infrastructure Protection Plan includes increased emphasis on risk management and resilience: report to congressional requesters(pp. 1-88) (United States., Government Accountability Office.). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Govt. Accountability Office.

Annex - Water Sector-Specific Plan 2010

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Tynika Davis(Jul 5, 2017 2:56 PM)- Read by: 2

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Last Edited By Tynika Davis on Jul 5, 2017 3:23 PM

Good morning,

Critical infrastructure and key resources provide the essential services that support our society. Within our society, there is lots of key resource. If terrorists were to destroy them, they could cause sudden great damage to our or mass deaths. There is a critical infrastructure so vital that its incapacitation, that if destroyed by terrorists could have a debilitating effect on security and economic well-being (U.S. President, 2003). According to this week lesson, critical infrastructure has three components, physical things (buildings, and transportation system), human assets (people at athletic stadiums, and shopping malls) and cyber infrastructure (entire information networks). Homeland Security is responsible for protecting the nation from many threats and keep help keep us safe. The mission of the Department of Homeland Security is to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards (Department of Homeland Security, 2017).  People that work for the government, private sectors, and etc., are responsible for public safety and security. They operate and own our nation’s critical infrastructures and services.

If there was an attack at a Chemical Sector, the country would be at chaos and unstable. If the chemicals get into the wrong hands, terrorists could build weapons of mass destruction IEDs. An attack at a sector would take some time to plan.  Information security includes the network access that allows vendors and engineers to troubleshoot and update systems remotely. This sector is vital and if anything gets into the wrong hands, nothing good would come out of it. Timeliness is critical.  The incident should be reported right after the suspicious activity is noticed. There would be a greater chance to arrest someone. He/she would have less time to alter their appearance and blend in with the others. First, I would take everything offline, making it impossible for any hacking to occur and contact the local Federal Bureau of Investigation Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). Second, I would have storage facilities, and factories destroyed. Third, I would cause a shutdown of the sector.  In addition to safety precautions, I recommend that facilities hire permanent people to operate the cyber and physical security systems and get an even more thorough background check than the workers do. The sector periodically hires third-party, temporary contractors for their specialized experience and experience (U.S President, 2003).

References

U. S. President. 2003. Homeland Security Presidential Directive 7: Critical Infrastructure Identification, Prioritization, and 

         Protection. December 17. http://www.dhs.gov/homeland-security-presidential-directive-7.

Department of Homeland Security. (2012). Chemical Sector Security Awareness          Guide. Retrieved from https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/DHS-Chemical-Sector-Security-Guide-Sept-2012-           508.pdf

Department of Homeland Security. (2015). Chemical Sector-Specific Plan An Annex to the NIPP 2013.          Retrieved from https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/nipp-ssp-chemical-2015-508.pdf

Tynika Davis