Critical Infrastructure as Complex Emergent Systems

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ted G. Lewis ◽  
Thomas J. Mackin ◽  
Rudy Darken
Keyword(s):  
Homeland Security ◽  
Critical Infrastructure ◽  
The United States ◽  
Potential Effect ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Exceedance Probability ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Risk And Resilience ◽  
Department Of Homeland Security ◽  
Electric Power Grid

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) charge is to, “Build a safer, more secure, and more resilient America by preventing, deterring, neutralizing, or mitigating the effects of deliberate efforts by terrorists to destroy, incapacitate, or exploit elements of our Nation’s CIKR …” using an all-hazards approach. The effective implementation of this strategy hinges on understanding catastrophes and their potential effect on the functioning of infrastructure. Unfortunately, there has been no unifying theory of catastrophe to guide decision-making, preparedness, or response. In this paper, the authors present a framework based on network science and normal accident theory that can be used to guide policy decisions for homeland security. They show that exceedance probability encompasses operational definitions of risk and resilience and provides a unifying policy framework for homeland security investments. Such an approach allows one to classify hazards as ‘high’ or ‘low’ risk, according to the resiliency exponent, and guide investments toward prevention or response. This framework is applied to cyber exploits and electric power grid systems to illustrate its generality.

Impact of Ventilation on Fire Behavior in Legacy and Contemporary Residential Construction

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Kerber ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Homeland Security ◽  
Fire Behavior ◽  
The United States ◽  
Fire Service ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Department Of Homeland Security ◽  
Front Door ◽  
Fire Environment ◽  
Open Floor ◽  
The Impact

Under the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistance to Firefighter Grant Program, Underwriters Laboratories examined fire service ventilation practices as well as the impact of changes in modern house geometries. There has been a steady change in the residential fire environment over the past several decades. These changes include larger homes, more open floor plans and volumes and increased synthetic fuel loads. This series of experiments examine this change in fire behavior and the impact on firefighter ventilation tactics. This fire research project developed the empirical data that is needed to quantify the fire behavior associated with these scenarios and result in immediately developing the necessary firefighting ventilation practices to reduce firefighter death and injury. Two houses were constructed in the large fire facility of Underwriters Laboratories in Northbrook, IL. The first of two houses constructed was a one-story, 1200 ft, 3 bedroom, 
bathroom house with 8 total rooms. The second house was a two-story 3200 ft, 4 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom house with 12 total rooms. The second house featured a modern open floor plan, two- story great room and open foyer. Fifteen experiments were conducted varying the ventilation locations and the number of ventilation openings. Ventilation scenarios included ventilating the front door only, opening the front door and a window near and remote from the seat of the fire, opening a window only and ventilating a higher opening in the two-story house. One scenario in each house was conducted in triplicate to examine repeatability. The results of these experiments provide knowledge for the fire service for them to examine their thought processes, standard operating procedures and training content. Several tactical considerations were developed utilizing the data from the experiments to provide specific examples of changes that can be adopted based on a departments current strategies and tactics.

Protection of the Homeland and the Establishment of the United States Department of Homeland Security

2021 ◽  
pp. 95-142
Author(s):  
David Hughes McElreath ◽  
Daniel Adrian Doss ◽  
Barbara Russo ◽  
Greg Etter ◽  
Jeffrey Van Slyke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Homeland Security ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Department Of Homeland Security ◽  
States Department

R&D in the United States department of homeland security

Prometheus ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 347-353
Author(s):  
Kei Koizumi ◽  
Joanne Carney ◽  
David Cooper ◽  
Al Teich
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Homeland Security ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Department Of Homeland Security ◽  
States Department

Capabilities-based planning: A framework for local planning success?

2008 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
Jeffrey L. Reibestein, BA
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Homeland Security ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Local Planning ◽  
Department Of Homeland Security ◽  
States Department ◽  
Tribal Governments ◽  
National Preparedness

In September 2007, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published the National Preparedness Guidelines which advocate a capabilitiesbased planning (CBP) approach to preparedness for state, local, and tribal governments. This article provides an overview of capabilities-based planning and a more specific focus on the aims, objectives, and components of the DHS CBP model. The article also summarizes what scholars have previously suggested are fundamental elements for successful emergency and disaster planning focusing specifically on Quarantelli’s 10 research-based principles. The article evaluates the effectiveness of the DHS CBP model in helping local governments incorporate these fundamental elements into their planning efforts and concludes with an overall assessment of the DHS CBP model as a framework for local planning success.

scholarly journals Microscopy and Microbes at Plum Island: Protecting America's Livestock

2005 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 16-21
Author(s):  
Thomas G. Burrage
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Homeland Security ◽  
The United States ◽  
Small Island ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Animal Disease ◽  
Department Of Agriculture ◽  
Department Of Homeland Security ◽  
States Department ◽  
North Fork

Plum Island Animal Disease Center, located on a small island off the coast of Long Island's North Fork, has been clouded in mystery and misinformation for years. Often the topic of conspiracy theorists, this secret place has generated many myths—from aliens to anthrax and pink eels to secret submarines. But the truth of the center's mission is far less colorful yet far more crucial to the state of the nation's agriculture.In June 2003, operational responsibility for the Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC) transferred from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and PIADC became the core of the DHS effort to protect US livestock from foreign animal disease agents.

scholarly journals Understanding the Challenge of Cybersecurity in Critical Infrastructure Sectors

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-75
Author(s):  
Maurice Dawson ◽  
Robert Bacius ◽  
Luis Borges Gouveia ◽  
Andreas Vassilakos
Keyword(s):  
Homeland Security ◽  
Critical Infrastructure ◽  
National Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Security ◽  
Critical Infrastructures ◽  
Department Of Homeland Security ◽  
Cyber Espionage ◽  
Resilient Infrastructure ◽  
American Society

AbstractThe cybersecurity of critical infrastructures is an essential topic within national and international security as 16 critical infrastructure sectors touch various aspects of American society. Because the failure to provide adequate cybersecurity controls within the critical infrastructure sectors renders the country open to an attack that could have a debilitating effect on security, national public health, safety, and economic security, this matter is so vital that there is the Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) 21 Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience advances a national policy to strengthen and maintain secure, functioning and resilient critical infrastructure. An organization identified as the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has the mission to be the risk advisor for the United States (US). Other organizations, such as the National Security Agency (NSA), have approved a specific Knowledge Unit (KU) to address cybersecurity for critical infrastructures associated with doctoral-level granting programs. To address this challenge, it is necessary to identify threats better and defend against them while mitigating risks to an acceptable level. Only then can a nation build a more secure and resilient infrastructure for the future while defending against present-day bad actors as cyberwarfare, cyber espionage, and cybersecurity attacks are the modern-day threats that need to be addressed in planning, designing, implementation, and maintenance. Therefore, the researchers developed a case study reviewing threats against different sectors defined in the PPD.

Mobile Phone Fingerprinting: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 1326-1330
Author(s):  
Susanne M. Furman ◽  
Mary Theofanos ◽  
John Libert ◽  
John Grantham ◽  
Brian Stanton
Keyword(s):  
Image Quality ◽  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Homeland Security ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Department Of Homeland Security ◽  
Capture Process ◽  
Current Systems ◽  
Contact Field

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) relies on the use of biometrics as an important component of its mission to keep America safe. Risks are involved with the current systems that use contact fingerprint technology such as the transmission of pathogens by contacting the scanner. Touchless systems address this risk but also introduce new challenges. Sixty National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) employees participated in the study to determine the usability of three mobile phone devices as well as the image quality of the resulting fingerprint images. All participants had previous experience with capturing their prints using a contact device and as a result tried to touch the screen on the mobile phone to capture their fingerprints. All the participants had mobile phones and were aware of the phone’s features including a camera and capture process for the mobile phone devices involved using the phone’s camera to take a photo of fingerprints. We believe that participants did not equate the capture process to taking a photo of their fingers and were using an existing mental model for capturing their fingerprints and as a result they touched the phone’s glass screen. The devices provided little if any or often somewhat confusing instructions to assist the user and little if any feedback regarding the success of the capture. To study the image quality of the prints, we assisted the participants in collecting a set of prints using both the mobile phone devices and the contact field devices. We compared the image quality and the interoperability of the contactless captures with the legacy contact captures. Currently the image quality and interoperability is less than desirable.

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