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HM501

Unit 3 Discussion Question

· Unit 3 Discussion Topic 1

Part 1:Discussion Topic/Please Respond

Current Topics

Please research some current events (Condo Collapse in Florida) or (American Troops withdrawing from Afghanistan) (whatever is current in the news) related to the course topics covered in Units 1–2 and post at least two of these events to the Discussion Board. Within your posting, describe how your chosen items tie to your course so far. You may use the Library or any other outside resource for your research. Be sure to use proper citation. 

Part 2: Topic 1: Student Response #1 (Respond to Angela Spindle below)

Hello everyone.

These are the current events I chose. I believe both of them tie directly to things we have covered in the last two weeks. 

Five Handguns Caught at Baltimore/Washington Checkpoints in June

So far this has brought the total for this year to just one less that the total for all of 2020. In each instance TSA found the guns using x-rays for carry-on bags during passenger check in.  This ties to the course so far because TSA was created for homeland security, and this is an example of the work they do.

White House urges mayors to meet with state cybersecurity officials on ransomware.

The White House is asking for Mayors to be more proactive with their cybersecurity measures in light of all the recent ransomware attacks. This is tied to this course so far because we have covered homeland security policies, and even spent some time coming up with changes we would suggest to help. This article pushes that further by acknowledging that it is an ongoing issue that we must all stay on top of.

References

Five Handguns Caught at Baltimore/Washington Checkpoints in June. (n.d.). Retrieved from GTSC Homeland Security Today: https://www.hstoday.us/subject-matter-areas/airport-aviation-security/five-handguns-caught-at-baltimore-washington-checkpoints-in-june/

Grieg, J. (n.d.). White House urges mayors to meet with state cybersecurity officials on ransomware. Retrieved from ZD Net: https://www.zdnet.com/article/white-house-urges-mayors-to-meet-with-state-cybersecurity-officials-on-ransomware/?&web_view=true

Topic 1: Student Response #2 (Respond to Donald DerryBerry below)

Dr. Kapperman and classmates –

The McDonald’s Corporation sustained a data breach when it was discovered that unauthorized activity was being performed on an internal server from outside sources (Haddon, 2021). The crime affected some data from the U.S., South Korea, and Taiwan operations. Employee and customer personal information was compromised, but no financial data was compromised. I use this is as an example of a cybercrime being committed to a U.S. based company with International operations. This type of crime demonstrates the importance of cyber-protection within the private sector on their internal networks as referenced in our textbook (Bullock, et al., 2018).

The second current event I chose is the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan and the Taliban surge that is currently going on there. This topic ties to this course due to the very nature of our degree program. Taliban forces have overtaken multiple districts within the country after U.S. and Allied forces began departing the region (George, 2021). If the Taliban forces retake control of Afghanistan, just as prior to 9/11, then conditions will exist where a safe haven for terrorist activities can take place in the region that created 9/11 to begin with.

Don

References

Bullock, J., Haddow, G., & Coppola, D. (2018). Homeland Security: The Essentials (2nd ed.).  https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-804465-0-00003-0

George, S. (2021, July 7). Taliban’s rapid advance across Afghanistan puts key cities at risk of being overtaken. The Washington Post.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/07/07/afghanistan-taliban-surge/

Haddon, H. (2021, June 11). McDonald’s Hit by Data Breach. The Wall Street Journal.  https://www.wsj.com/articles/mcdonalds-hit-by-data-breach-in-south-korea-taiwan-11623412800

· Unit 3 Discussion Topic 2

Part 1:Discussion Topic/Please respond

Topic 2: R&D

R&D is very expensive, especially in regards to cyber and critical infrastructure protection. How should senior policy makers deal with homeland security R&D budgets in times of budget austerity?

Part 2: Topic 2: Student Response #1 (Respond to Josh Mostaitis below)

"Tens of billions of dollars have already been spent by DHS and other agencies with related missions on developing and exploiting technologies for use in the fight against terrorism and, on occasion, for emergency management in general" Bullock, et. al., 2018, p 363). Tens of billions of dollars on efforts that have succeeded and failed, that have produced results and dead ends. So how do we measure the metric of success when it comes to how much is too much to spend or are we spending enough? There is an old Benjamin Franklin quote where he stated, those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. Now, at the time that Franklin said that, he was not talking about the modern problems and threats that we face today, he was talking about a taxation dispute between the Pennsylvania legislature and the Penn family in regards to the Penn family being taxed for defense during the French & Indian war, mainly because the Penn family governed the land from another location. So if anything, this quote is really about pro-defense spending and how they literally bought a little bit of safety for those lands. My point is, I am not for wasteful and inflated government spending, we cannot simply let the train run away on the tracks and hope that it stays on track. Instead, we need to reevaluate and/or reprioritize all current threats that we may face as a nation and distribute funding to where it is most needed. Think of government funding and spending as an investment. If you give a broker your money, you expect to see a return right? If they just took your money and kept taking it without you seeing much of a payoff, you would ask questions. Government spending tends to get out of hand and could use some trimming, so that we can reallocate money to where it would be best used. 

Bullock, J. A., Haddow, G. D., & Coppola, D. P. (2018). Homeland security: The essentials. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Part 3: Topic 2: Student Response #2 (Respond to Chris Muller)

One problem that our government has in cyber and critical infrastructure protection is getting talent. With government budgets and pay scales being a set value, it is hard to compete with the private and freelance sector. In order to get the best talent to work for the government then the United States is going to start having to reward talent with pay. Not only that but many of the talent the government is trying to hire are not willing to give up recreational drug use in order to take a job in government. I see the point though, its a difficult argument to make that someone who uses mind altering drugs should hold a top secret clearance. 

Peterson, A. (2019, April 8). How the government tries to recruit hackers on their own turf. The Washington Post.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2015/10/24/how-the-government-tries-to-recruit-hackers-on-their-own-turf/.