Information Brief: Physical Attacks, Cyber Events & Natural Disasters

Assignment 1-310- Security Threats
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Assignment 1-310- Security Threats
Networks, systems, assets, and facilities comprise society’s most critical infrastructures to enhance national security, public health, and economic vitality. Besides, power and communications systems are equally essential infrastructures that society depends on for their survival. The private sector owns and operates the physical and cyber infrastructures of the United States despite its ownership of federal, state, and local governments. Therefore, relevant stakeholders should identify the infrastructures susceptible to attacks to maintain continued service provision (Board, 2019). The government can enhance a country’s security and minimize risks by prioritizing and allocating the available resources. Reliable operations of energy, water, communication, and transportation are critical for effective operations in a country. Therefore, disruption or loss of any vital functions can affect the resilience and security of critical infrastructures.
Nuclear energy, the energy sector, and dams are critical infrastructures susceptible to physical attacks, cyber-attacks, and natural disasters. Notably, natural or artificial risks have the likelihood to hinder or damage critical infrastructures. Therefore, governments should identify all threats ad hazards that pose threats to essential infrastructures rather than focusing only on one risk. The strategy would facilitate effective planning and allocation of resources. Currently, the interconnection of the energy sector, nuclear reactors, and dams means that the destruction can cause cascading impacts on others. Therefore, understanding the interdependency on infrastructure elements is critical to determine the strategies for enhancing security and resilience.
Description of Physical Threat
The nuclear energy sector can be vulnerable to physical threats that pose significant threats to critical infrastructures. Since physical threats are the primary cause of communication challenges to responders, their capability to communicate is vital, especially during emergencies. Therefore, any physical attack on agencies that house and maintain nuclear energy equipment could disable the systems (Board, 2019). Although government agencies are unprepared for physical threats to the nuclear energy sector, they can follow best practices to withstand such attacks. For instance, they can utilize intrusion detection systems to assess and identify suspicious activities, including unusual traffic patterns.
The increase of nuclear energy has increased physical attacks on the existing systems. One of the significant concerns in nuclear safety is the susceptibility of atomic plants to different forms of deliberate attacks. Notably, naval fuel facilities, fuel fabrication plants, and uranium mines are susceptible to attacks that can cause increased radioactive contamination. In some instances, terrorist groups cause damage to safety systems resulting in a meltdown of nuclear power plants. Such attacks further result in radioactive contamination. In the current era of the proliferation of new forms of technology, the sophistication of cyber-attacks has increased.
Government agencies have established an effective, resilient control system to enhance the effectiveness of nuclear power if they are subject to physical attacks. The United States has coordinated subsystems, such as nuclear power plants, interconnected to sustain nuclear power. Following increased physical attacks, government agencies improved communication between the systems to facilitate faster recovery from an attack. With an effective communication system, government agencies can collaborate with security officers to detect physical attacks even before they occur. Besides, the government has introduced modern technological systems to monitor the existing nuclear power systems and prevent any form of physical attack on them. For instance, acoustic monitoring helps to detect any form of leakage in chemical and nuclear industries.
Resiliency and Minimizing Disruption
The government can enact several strategies to minimize the disruption of physical attacks and enhance the safety of first responders following an occurrence of physical aggression. For instance, effective control and access coordination for essential recovery resources must address the prevalent issue and prevent damage. Access management is critical to facilitate the coordination of private and public agencies while responding to a disaster. Besides, effective communication systems would be vital to minimizing disruptions following the occurrence of physical attacks. In such a case, it would be possible to maintain close contacts with government agencies, the public, and first responders in expediting response to physical attacks. Significantly, responders should enhance awareness of first responders in communicating with government agencies.
Description of Cyber Event
Cyber threats in the energy sector have increased significantly following the proliferation of new forms of technology. Colonial pipeline attack is one of the ideal examples of recent cyber incidents that pose significant threats and clear illustration that malicious actors can shut down the critical energy infrastructure while disrupting the economic sector and energy supplies (Rehak et al., 2018). Notably, the security of the United States energy infrastructure is one of the top priorities to prevent devastating impacts. Currently, the network of power plants and lines connecting to homes and businesses is some of the world's most critical infrastructures.
Most governments recognize electrical infrastructures as essential to the effective functioning of society. The United States labels energy as one of the most critical infrastructures. Therefore, any physical attack on the sector is likely to ca...