Critical Infrastructure Sectors: Transportation, Financial, and Energy Sectors
Scenario: River is still enjoying working in the section and asked you once again to provide some more information on the critical infrastructures you two have been talking about. Determine the ones from your most recent two discussions that you did not discuss yet. You realize that out of the four lifeline critical infrastructures you only discussed two of them in the previous papers, so you decide to add the other two lifelines in this final paper. Since you have four critical infrastructures this time, determine which one of them you will use to discuss a physical attack, which one for a cyber event, one for a natural disaster, and for the remaining one pick any one of the three threats.
River asked you again to keep the format the same as last times since they worked really good in explaining various aspects of the critical infrastructures. You determined to use the following outline for each of the four sections (plus the overarching requirements):
Description of a Hypothetical Threat (physical, cyber, or natural disaster)
Brief background on the Critical Infrastructure as it relates to National Security
Elaborate on the known Risks/Threats/Hazards/Vulnerabilities from the Hypothetical Threat
Explain how damage to the from the Hypothetical Threat could impact the Dependencies/Interdependencies between critical infrastructure sectors
Existing Resiliency related to Continuity of Operations
Consider how to Minimize Disruption that improves First Responder Safety.
Technical Requirements
Your paper must be approximately 8 pages - 2 pages per critical infrastructure discussed (the Title and Reference pages do not count towards the minimum limit).
Scholarly and/or credible references should be used. A good rule of thumb is at least two sources per page of content.
Type in Times New Roman, 12 point and double-spaced.
Students will follow the current APA Style as the sole citation and reference style used in written work submitted as part of coursework.
Points will be deducted for the use of Wikipedia or encyclopedic type sources. It is highly advised to utilize books, peer-reviewed journals, articles, documents, etc.
All submissions will be graded using the assignment rubric.
https://www(dot)cisa(dot)gov/critical-infrastructure-sectors
Please see link and chose the sectors of your choice for paper. thank you
https://www(dot)cisa(dot)gov/critical-infrastructure-sectors
Critical Infrastructure Sectors
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Critical Infrastructure Sectors
Critical infrastructures have close connections and interdependencies in the provision of essential services to the citizens. Therefore, the loss of one or more lifeline functions impacts the operation of multiple sectors. As a result, a loss of other parts might occur over time, hindering critical services provision. Therefore, the government needs to collaborate with all key stakeholders and identify lifeline sectors for continuity of operations and services. Policymakers ought to maintain the interdependencies and dependencies between critical sectors to enhance the sustainability of service provision. According to Radvanovsky and McDougall (2018), physical risks, natural disasters, and cyber threats are significant risks to the critical infrastructures across the United States. Just as aforementioned, interdependency and connections of infrastructure elements result in cascading effects that impact the operation of all essential services. Therefore, the government should implement effective strategies to assess the potential risks and vulnerabilities while determining steps to enhance resilience and security. The key focus areas should be on physical attacks on the transportation sector, cyber-attacks on the financial service sector, and natural disasters in the energy sector.
Transportation Sector
The transportation sector plays a critical role in the movement of essential goods and services that enhance the well-being of the citizens. The existing transportation systems affect all individuals in raw materials, personal mobility, and shipment of agricultural products. Notably, transportation systems have key dependencies with other critical infrastructure sectors since they rely on effective operations and emergency recovery. Supply chain operations dependencies create dependencies that impact communities, individuals, and businesses (Radvanovsky & McDougall, 2018). If the transportation systems are effective and secure, the government and individuals alike have a chance to execute all the operations with ease. Therefore, the transportation system has economic importance based on interdependencies with other sectors and infrastructures.
Besides, the transportation network is accessible, open, and has vast interconnected systems that facilitate the movement of goods and services. As a result of the sector's capacity in delivering passengers across the United States, it is one of the significant targets of terrorists. Maritime, aviation, pipeline, freight rail, and mass transit are the main modes of transport that facilitate the movement of goods and services. Therefore, any form of physical attack can disrupt the provision of essential services while compromising the wellbeing of the residents. The various modes of transport have unique operating and security environments, thus, having individual implementation plans. Like any other sector of critical infrastructures, the transport segment encounters a landscape of potential terror attacks.
Physical Threat Description
The transportation sector encounters far-reaching physical threats that will likely hinder its effective operation and delivery of essential goods and services. A terrorist attack is the standard form of danger that on the sector through their diverse attack strategies. Unlike the case of natural disasters, policymakers might find it challenging to predict physical attacks based on past responses. Notably, the transportation sector is complex for some reasons. For instance, the industry comprises links, nodes, and assets across the various modes of transport (Baloye & Palamuleni, 2017). Airports and rail yards have fixed assets, thus being susceptible to terror attacks. Besides, the transport sector consists of numerous stakeholders, including federal, state, local government, and private owners. In such a case, insiders are likely to collaborate with criminals in the execution of terror attacks. Lastly, interconnectedness and implications of associated assets result in the complexity of the transport network.
Terror physical attacks disrupt critical transportation services and long-term economic and sociological consequences across the United States. Attack scenarios are effective in assessing the risk of terror attacks on the transportation infrastructure. The recent attacks on transportation systems are critical indicators of its vulnerabilities, thus hindering essential services. Since the transportation system comprises interconnected physical infrastructure, any attack on the system can cause significant compromise (Seppanen et al., 2018). The threats on the transportation sector are nuanced and complex and, thus, the need for critical stakeholders, including the government being prepared to identify and respond to any malicious actors. Since no mode of transport is exempt from physical threats, government agencies should devise effective plans to address the issue.
Risks/Hazards/Vulnerabilities from the Hypothetical Threat
Terrorists can hack, damage, or even utilize the transportation system without the relevant authority. The criminals use different mechanisms to execute their malicious intentions. Besides, criminals hijack aircraft as one of the critical strategies of managing physical attacks on passengers. Over the years, growth in traffic of passengers and the development of spoke networks has caused strains on the available security processes (Seppanen et al., 2018). A wide range of security issues has negatively impacted the aviation industry, such as inconveniences and delays to passengers. Business-oriented attackers focus on executing abusive activities against the various transportation systems.
The Impact of the threat on Dependencies and Interdependencies
Physical attacks on transportation systems can affect dependencies and interdependencies on the various critical infrastructure sectors. For instance, a terrorist attack on the aviation industry can significantly hinder the operations of other sectors, such as energy, healthcare, telecommunication, and even the provision of necessities (Lewis, 2019). A blow on the transportation system results in cascading second-order effects on all other sectors. In the contemporary world, critical infrastructure networks have become interdependent. Therefore, any disruption in the transport sector can have catastrophic impacts on all other sectors.
Existing Resiliency and Ways to Minimize Disruption
The transport sector in the United States has encountered numerous attacks that have compromised the existing system. As a result, the government has implemented effective mechanisms to identify and respond to any forms of physical aggression. For instance, effective communication systems facilitate the exchange of ideas between the various departments to avoid attacks. Administrators should establish lockdown procedures for government officials to minimize disruption in the transport sector. Equally, government agencies, first responders, and the general public should collaborate to avoid any forms of malicious physical attacks on the available systems.
Finance Service Sector
The financial service sector entails a vital component of critical infrastructure in a country. Although the segment provides essential services for the well-being of the citizens, cyberattacks can be a significant hindrance to effective operations. Commercial banks, dealers, security brokers, and other providers are the critical services in the sector. In the current era of proliferation of new forms of technology, the interconnectivity of networks makes the industry susceptible to numerous cyberattacks. For instance, cybercriminals can install malware on bank systems resulting in significant financial losses. In most instances, the employees leak sensitive information that hackers utilize in executing their malicious intentions.
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