Emergency Management Perspectives on Cyber security

Answer

1. Weeks 3-4 Assignment

   Can the world we live in today get more interconnected? Could the global village become any smaller? Regardless of our answers to these questions, it is true that the security of individuals and their countries will be an essential part of it. As the interconnections on a global scale become a common feature, the necessity to identify and define critical infrastructure gets even more acute. This paper aims to look at cybersecurity and why it is essential that critical infrastructure is identified and protected.

   Argument and Thesis

   The protection of critical infrastructure through legislations and cybersecurity ultimately makes the citizens of a country safer.

   Clement Cyber Security and Global Interdependence

   Clement advances the idea that interdependence in cyberspace presents challenges in the realm of cyber security. The writer admits that the interconnections that exist between sectors make it virtually impossible to effectively protect the critical infrastructures that exist within this cyberspace.

   The paper reiterates that this interdependence is seen through the often touted concept of globalisation. As a phenomenon, globalisation creates more interaction and connections between nations. What this means is that with closer connections between nations, cyber enabled critical infrastructure dependencies go beyond boarders of nations and become global (Clemente, 2013). A cyber security issues that is felt in Tokyo can affect people from all over the world. The paper explains all these notions through the lens of “critical infrastructure”. Globalisation leads to a more globalised infrastructure which are approached differently by various countries.

   The identified interdependencies make it very difficult to define defensive parameters. The paper assesses the security implications that are evident at the intersection between cyberspace and critical infrastructure. It is asserted that many countries import the critical infrastructure needed by their own societies. Even while digital interconnections lead to much more efficiency, the level of dependability also climbs, necessitating the virtue of resilience (Clemente, 2013). Solutions to these problems include the need to adapt to allow for flexibility and be ready to restructure departments, prioritize the ares that need immediate protection, incentivize to control and manage stakeholder behaviour and invest in resilience by protecting valuable dependencies.

   Department of Defense Cyber Strategy

   This strategy recognizes from the outset the vital role that the new cyber era has on the creation of opportunities but also the challenges that it brings to the country, in this case the United States. The strategy sees cyberspace as a competitive area in which the players involved attempt to outdo each other and every player has to adapt in order to survive.

   This strategy has its core as the participation in, and prevention of crimes that are done through the internet. The goal is to identify, expose and disrupt cyber activities that threaten the country and the capability of the country to use this information for the purpose of making strategic decisions that address the cyberspace (Hennessy, Patterson, & Lin, 2003). The strategy here is to not only develop domestic capacity to advance in terms of the advances in cyber space race but also ensure that the allies that align with the United States have expanded capacities for cyberspace operations.

   The strategic approach adopted has an overemphasis on what the role of cyberspace is in the conflicts that the United States engages in. It calls for an agile and lethal joint force that accelerates cyber capability development, promote innovation, and leverage automation and data analysis to improve effectiveness (Hennessy, Patterson, & Lin, 2003). The strategy also calls for strengthening alliances and attract new partnership. It also aims to reform the department and cultivate talent.

   FEMA National Infrastructure Protection Plan

   This article assesses how the critical infrastructure and key resources (CIKR’s) are susceptible to external attacks especially in case of catastrophes. These resources that include economic, transportation and energy differ in what they do and how they look. Public and private infrastructures are essential to the nation and in fact have a series of regulations that guide their protection.

   This paper uses the case study of Mason County to illustrate what is meant by critical infrastructure within a country. It involved interviewing the residents and firefighters to find out what they considered their most important infrastructure within the county. It then offers solutions to what is felt can be done to improve and protect the infrastructure. The paper presents ways through which Mason County can establish CIKR identification and mapping program. This, it says, can be done by needs assessment and situational analysis, stakeholder analysis and the securing of funding.

   Common Themes

   One of the first common themes in these readings is the sensitivity and critical nature of cyber information. It is generally accepted throughout the readings that cyber space is the new critical frontier that is essential to a nation. The ideas from Clement and the department of Defence strategy identity the critical role that cyber space play in the development of a nation. They also admit that even though there are advantages to these platforms, they are also full of challenges that may threaten the security and well-being of the country.

   The next theme is the theme of interconnectedness in a globalized world. The papers seem to admit that the phenomenon of cyber space has made the world more interconnected than before. Even while these interconnections make it easier to transact business, network and communicate and with people from all over the world, it also comes with its challenges (Bellovin et al. 2011). The papers suggest various problems associated with such interconnectedness for instance cybercrime, hacking to steal information, using information from the cyber space to plan and execute terrorist attacks

   Finally, how to solve some of the problems that emerge from the influence of cyber space also comes out as a theme. The papers seem to suggest rather urgently that immediate interventions are needed to detect and stop some of the problems seen in the cyber space (Clemente, 2013). The country needs measures to protect itself from system hacks and targets from countries who would want to steal information for their selfish interests. No wonder then that vital CIKR’s have to be identified in a formal way and protected.

   Differences in Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Assessment

   While cybersecurity focuses on the security of the cyberspace and the virtual world, Critical Infrastructure Assessment aims to identify critical infrastructure with the aim of offering them protection (FEMA, 2013). For cybersecurity, cyberspace is a place that is in consistent need of getting secured because breaches are tried every minute. The dynamic nature of the security issues also demand that they are addressed with innovation and creativity. The infrastructure assessed using this strategy outlined ought to be protected from potential harm.

   Cybersecurity mainly deals with ways of responding to the attacks by cybercriminals (it is reactive) while Critical infrastructure assessment deals with disaster preparedness (it is proactive). Unlike the infrastructural assessment, the criminals in cybercrime are always in contact with what they want to breach. There is no physical distance between the crime and the item. This makes cyber space even more vulnerable than the physical infrastructure that can be physically assessed.

   FEMA's Critical Infrastructure Protection Strategy and Clemente Key Requirements

   Clemente provided some requirements in determining the critical infrastructure within that country. First, he talked about increasing complexity whereby he explained that most infrastructure now depend on cyberspace which has shown considerable complexity (Clemente, 2013). There are interconnections between CI and cyberspace that make the definition even more complex. Secondly, he talked of shared language. Shared language considers the terminological consistency and how shared understanding would enhance efficiency. This allows analysis of critical infrastructure to proceed from the largest to the smallest issues. Next, Clemente talked of prioritization which reinforces the fact that prioritizing key assets and resources is critical in CI.

   FEMA’s Critical Infrastructure Protection Strategy specifies the steps necessary towards the protection of critical infrastructure. It details the steps involved in the identification and mapping program in order to provide the needed protection. It begins from a needs assessment and situational analysis where efforts already taken and product imitations are discussed and agreed on (FEMA, 2013). A stakeholder analysis is then done to determine who would help with the project. Funding is then secured for the project.

   Application of Knowledge Sharing Strategies and Information Fusion in the EOC

   In every country, there are usually strategies to determine critical infrastructure and ultimately protect them from those who may want to destroy such structures. These structures can be defined within the cyber spaces or in the physical world. This need to define critical structures is borne out of the desire to protect countries, the people and these critical infrastructures. Addressing these problems in totality would mean that a systematic method is developed and parameters for specification of what constitutes a critical infrastructure developed (Bellovin et al. 2011). While the federal government stresses on a more confrontational attitude in dealing with breaches in form of cybercrime, FEMA on the other hand provides a systematic way of critically assessing and protection of critical infrastructure that may be targeted by enemies of the state.

    

   Conclusion

   The proliferation of cybercrime over the internet makes a case for the determination of critical infrastructure within a country. Critical infrastructure is found in the context of a system of an increasingly interconnected world. The interconnection is hailed as a success from the manner in which it has brought people together. However, the challenges it has presented in the process are diverse. These challenges have to be identified and addressed accordingly. Future generations will need better strategies of defining and protecting critical infrastructure. It is the glue that holds future economic, social and technological environments together.

    

    

    

    

    

Answer

Assessing Risk and Reward

The Nissan Motor Company is one of the leading automobile makers in the world. The Japanese carmaker has primarily enjoyed a successful run, allowing it to enter various regional and international markets such as the United States. However, the changing business environment was not favorable to the company in 2019. Notably, the cooperation recorded losses amounting to 7.8%. The experience pushed the management into making tough decisions, requiring almost all of its North American workforce to go for unpaid leaves.

In late 2019, the company announced that the decline in sales necessitated a two-day unpaid leave for the North American workers. The stated days for the vacation were January 2 and 3^rd    (Chicago Tribune, 2019).  Notably, this move was a crucial decision for the company because of its conflicting impacts. Whereas on the positive side, it could help the firm minimize expenses, it threatened to affect the public perception of the company regarding employee welfare.

The rewards for the decision involved cutting expenses by not paying the workers on leave, which eventually would translate into reduced expenses. Another reward was that the decision could allow the company to optimize performance by evaluating employee performances then developing new milestones. However, on the low side, the company risked affecting its public image and brand name, especially in the North American market. As per Chakravorti (2010), the way an organization treats its employees influences the firm's public perception. Thus, Nissan risked eliciting a negative public perception. With a distorted public image, the company could fail to revive its declining sales.

I would have advised the management of Nissan to utilize the Predictive Analytic perspective in determining the right decision to take. Ideally, the approach tries to predict what might happen in the future if particular decisions or actions are undertaken at the moment (Traymbak & Aggarwal, 2019). Looking at the situation at Nissan, the company needed to develop a goal such as increasing sales. After that, they would have made decisions aimed at realizing the set goal. In this regard, the predicted outcome could give the management an overview of whether more risks existed or significant rewards could be realized.

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