Homework Responses Wk 7

What defines critical infrastructure and key resources?

"Critical Infrastructures are the assets, systems, and networks, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on security, national economic security, public health or safety, or any combination thereof." (Fay,2010) . Some examples of what are considered to be critical infrastructure are major highways, railways, and  connecting bridges and tunnels such as the three tunnel and bridge combinations in the Hampton roads area that would not only greatly impact every day life here but also military operations. "Key resources are publicly or privately controlled resources essential to the minimal operations of the economy and government." (Fay,2010). This would consist of things such as water treatment facilities, electrical grids, businesses such as national fuel. Key resources are things that people in the country use every single day and without having them lives and the flow of the country would be greatly impacted. When I was reading an article it actually referred to them as CIKR (critical infrastructure and key resources)and went on to define them as a single entity rather than separately it also went on to say that "The vast majority of our national CIKR is privately owned and operated, which means ensuring its protection and resiliency involves an unprecedented partnership between government and the private sector." (DHS,2009)

Identify possible motivations for those carrying out terrorist activities. 

In the paper Psychology of Terrorism it defines terrorism as “acts of violence intentionally perpetrated on civilian non-combatants with the goal of furthering some ideological, religious or political objective.” (Borum,2004). Terrorist's always choose targets that will cause the most disruption for their target country or individuals. I believe that a terrorists main objective is to try and "persuade" others to join their preferred religion and have the same beliefs as them. Terrorists also have the motivation of finding support from around the world so that they have sympathizers in other countries in order to obtain more information of have them carry out acts of terror on behalf of the organization. They use tactics such as physical violence, threats of violence, and instilling fear into people/governments in order to change their policies and beliefs to align with their own. 

Best Regards,

Dylanne

References

Critical Infrastructure. (2021, March 12). Department of Homeland Security. https://www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology/critical-infrastructure#:%7E:text=Critical%20infrastructure%20includes%20the%20vast,rely%20on%20these%20vital%20systems.

CIKR. (2018, September 28). Department of Homeland Security. https://www.dhs.gov/blog/2009/11/19/cikr

Borum, R. (2004). Psychology of terrorism. Tampa: University of South Florida.

Fay, J. (2010). Contemporary security management. Elsevier Science & Technology.