Resilience and Homeland Security
Instructions
This assignment is an essay assignment of three questions for which you are expected to fully responds to the questions being posed.
Essay 1:
Enhancing the resilience of our critical infrastructure to all hazards is a national imperative. Nowhere is this truer than in the agriculture and food sector. A significant proportion of the US’s agriculture and food system’s critical infrastructure is privately owned or operated on commercial basis. In most cases, the owners and operators of critical infrastructure are best placed to manage risks to their operations and determine the most appropriate mitigation strategies. If you were the Secretary of Homeland Security what plan would employ with the Secretary of Agriculture to ensure the maximum resilience for the agriculture and food system within the US. For this first essay write a joint approach to this issue that would be shared with the White House Chief of Staff.
Essay 2:
Over the past five years, the number of successful hacking events on the US energy and banking system has increased significantly. The banking system is especially vulnerable because of the very nature of “online banking”. In 2020, published reports indicate a hacking of U.S. Government and private systems that touched on nearly every aspect of many different agencies. For this essay you are the Secretary of The Treasury. You have assembled a Chartered Presidential approved group to develop a 10-step approach to enhancing the resilience of the banking sector in the way of the 2020 attack. In a memo, describe the specific steps you would take to enhance the resilience of this system. Where do you see the great vulnerability now and what is the biggest risk factor that needs to be addressed?
Essay 3:
For the past two years COVID-19 pandemic impacted the way nearly every citizen in the United States and the world conducts their day to day life. The impact on the human psyche, on livelihoods, the economy and on personal resilience has been significant. Based on peer reviewed references beyond the class, what specific steps does the United States need to do-both short and long term- to enhance national resilience based on the Lessons Learned from the virus? Be specific.
Technical Requirements
. Yor paper must be at a minimum of 6-9 pages, or 2-3 per question ( the title and reference pages do not count towards the minimum limit).
. Scholarly and credible references should be used. A good rule of thumb is at least 2 scholarly sources per page of content.
. Type in Times New Roman, 12 point and double space.
. 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, archived documents, etc.
. All submissions will be graded using the assignment rubric.
Resilience and Homeland Security Final Assignment
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Resilience and Homeland Security Final Assignment
Essay 1: Plan for Boosting Resilience of the Agriculture and Food Systems
The agricultural and food systems’ critical infrastructure faces diverse domestic and external threats because of its interconnectedness and complexity. The White House (2022) reveals that its vulnerability to “chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats” demands systematic collaboration and coordination between Homeland Security and the Agricultural Department to remain alert and respond promptly to emerging disruptions. As the Secretary of Homeland Security, devising appropriate plans and working jointly with the Secretary of Agriculture is fundamental for repelling these diverse threats. Owing to the persistence and unpredictability of attacks, establishing a robust technological system optimized for monitoring all agricultural sectors, sharing intelligence across departments, and sharing response resources is a progressive plan for maximum resilience of the nation’s agriculture and food systems.
Exploiting the technological evolution and designing a single system focusing on the overall agricultural sector and food systems’ security has become an issue of urgency. This critical infrastructure is currently grappling with multifaceted threats with the potential for widespread destabilization. However, Rotz et al. (2019) acknowledge that the digital revolution has brought progressive inventions that the two departments can jointly leverage to boost the resilience of the infrastructure and avert adverse consequences of any attack. For instance, novel designs have ushered in an era of precision technologies that provide real-time data about the status of agricultural components. They include image-detection sensors, sound analysis equipment, and biosensors capable of providing data about diseases and unusual environmental conditions. Misra et al. (2020) agree that these technologies generate critical data that the agriculture sector can use for posterity. Rotz et al. (2019) also add that the predictive nature of this information further acts as an early warning system and informs appropriate responses. Since these technologies already exist, coming up with a plan that collates all this data and facilitates its joint use by the Homeland Security and Agriculture sector would promote real-time awareness of all the risks facing the industry. Such a plan promises to strengthen resilience drastically.
Implementing this strategy would eradicate the bottlenecks commonplace across departments and between one security sector and another. For instance, it would keep Homeland Security updated on the looming threats facing the agricultural industry, which leads to the readiness of appropriate resources to combat the hazard. White House (2022) indicates that providing strategic guidance in response to threats is a fundamental duty of Homeland Security to protect all critical infrastructure. In this context, the existence of a system that promotes seamless interactions between the two secretaries would enable Security to offer appropriate guidance through its technical team after a thorough analysis of the level and severity of the threat. It would also compare the emerging data with other intelligence systems for accurate assessment, leading to sufficient resources that do not undermine or overestimate the danger. Besides promoting predictive security, Zurek et al. (2022) argue that communication and collaboration are critical for food system resilience. The suggested plan would avail important data that stakeholders can use to advance varied aspects of food systems, including the safety of the supply chain, making it more resistant to attacks. Such elements confirm the value of devising this centralized technological system.
Homeland Security can boost the resilience of agriculture and food systems by designing a shared system that collects and analyzes real-time data and surveillance information from this sector. This technological plan exploits diverse inventions in the industry already collecting this information and centralizing it for predictive analysis and rapid response to avert potential threats. The system will also boost communication and collaboration between agriculture and homeland security, leading to optimum resilience of the critical infrastructure.
Essay 2: Resilience of the Banking System
To: All U.S.-Based Banks
From: Secretary of the Treasury
Date: 24th October 2023
Subject: Enhancing the Banking System’s Resilience
Trends reveal that the United States banking sector has suffered numerous cybersecurity attacks in the last decade. Brando et al. (2022) demonstrate the adverse consequences of system breaches through recent attacks, including Capital One, which accessed over 100 million customers’ data. Dupont (2019) emphasizes that the vulnerabilities associated with the online banking sector have promoted the need to prioritize this critical infrastructure’s resilience due to its value to the nation’s stability. Following these threats, a Chartered Presidential-Approved group assessed the situation and formulated a 10-step strategy for boosting the U.S. banking sector’s resilience.
Establishment of agile management frameworks
Constantly improving the supervisory approaches of the banking systems is critical to ensure they remain updated and ready to address emerging cybersecurity issues. Mester (2019) acknowledges the value of guaranteeing subtle decision-making to prevent security from becoming obsolete and prone to attacks.
Facilitate inter-agency and inter-governmental collaborations
The interconnectedness and complexity of the banking system increase risks that require cooperation between diverse stakeholders to remain alert and respond promptly (Dupont, 2019). Thus, this group recommends fostering healthy relationships with like-minded players to thwart hacking efforts.
Conducting regular system updates and strengthening
Hackers often exploit the weakness in banking sectors to cause disruptions. Frequently optimizing these systems agrees with Dupont’s (2019) recommendations of creating dynamic resilience in the banking infrastructure through protective technologies.
Technical empowerment of the workforce
Systems resilient to cyberattacks require competent experts with appropriate training for frustrating hacking attempts. Uddin et al. (2020) emphasize the need for continued education of these experts for a secure banking infrastructure.
Stress testing using simulations
The team recommends prioritization of preparedness by executing impromptu attacks to determine the capacity of the employees and the systems to flag and respond to a malicious threat (Mester, 2019). Such rehearsing of scenarios discloses the systems’ weaknesses and encourages progressive strengthening.
Thorough vetting of the workers
Dupont (2019) argues that “resilience is networked,” revealing the need for trustworthy personnel for systems to function as designed. In this context, banks must recruit honest professionals to avert internal threats.
Set minimum infrastructural standards for the banking systems
Since banks often transact in a networked system, one vulnerable infrastructure may risk the safety of other weak players. Thus, the government should formulate policies highlighting to promote robust designs.
Integrate multi-factor authentication for internal controls
This approach establishes stepped identity verification procedures to ensure unauthorized parties do not access the systems. Such an aspect also discourages internal ...