Responses due Sunday morning

1) Responded to message below. Should be at minimum of 250 words include direct discussion of the main points, answers, and question.  Include at least 2 APA-cited references. According to “Presidential Policy Directive 21 (PPD-21) Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience”, there are 16 critical infrastructure sectors that are considered critical to the safety, security and success of the United States. Each of these sixteen sectors has a designated lead agency, which is in charge of safeguarding their assigned sector. As part of these responsibilities, the agency in charge of each sector creates a plan that incorporates the National Infrastructure Protection Plan’s risk management framework in order to safeguard these vital areas. There are numerous sectors that cover everything from nuclear power plants, to money to agriculture. We will discuss three of these sectors in more detail (DHS, 2017). The first sector includes Water and Wastewater systems and is focused on safe drinking water and the proper treatment of our wastewater. Water is critical to any civilization and the safeguarding and oversight of this resource is critical to our public health. The lead agency for this sector is the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). While the EPA most definitely plays a role in safeguarding our drinking and Waste Water, there are a number of other agencies that could be involved in this sector including the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Since the mission of DHHS is directly tied to enhancing and protecting the health and well being of all Americans, I can see the large role they could potentially play in this sector. While the EPA may be better suited to deal with some of the environmental factors associated with this sector, I feel that the DHHS may be better suited to protect the public health and prevent disease. The Nuclear Reactors, Materials, and Waste sector is overseen by the Department of Homeland Security and is focused on maintaining the security of the nation’s nuclear assets. This sector includes oversight of more than 150 nuclear facilities, radioactive materials used in medical, commercial, and academic areas as well as shipments of nuclear waste. I think the Department of Homeland Security is the best choice to lead this sector but I also feel that the Department of Energy should also be involved in oversight of this sector since they are the primary agency physically protecting most of the nuclear sites in the U.S. and are responsible for many of the individual nuclear sites. The Department of Energy is the lead agency for the Energy sector and their expertise could be leveraged to better implement risk management initiatives and increase the resilience of the nuclear infrastructure (DOE, 2017). The third sector is the Information Technology sector which has become increasingly critical to the overall security and prosperity of the United States over the last fifteen to twenty years. This sector is so vital because information technology is used in every other sector and therefore requires maximum protection. However, the ever changing nature of the threats facing this sector make it difficult to prevent all attacks, even with a well-coordinated risk management plan in place. Currently, the Department of Homeland Security is the lead agency for this sector and to their credit they have implemented many programs to strengthen this sector since the release of the 2013 National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP). The NIPP is obviously focused on protecting critical infrastructure but more specifically; it lays out how government and private sector entities should work together to achieve this goal. The steps that the Department of Homeland Security has taken have been positive but due to the significance of information technology and the multiple vulnerabilities it contains, I think this sector should be co-lead by the Department of Defense. The Department of Defense’s robust capabilities and focus on cyberspace makes them uniquely suited to be involved in this endeavor. While the Department of Defense is the lead agency for the Defense Industrial sector, the large amount of cyber attacks and intrusions aimed at the United States’ critical infrastructure, many of which originate from foreign military cyber units, make their involvement relevant and necessary (DHS, 2013).

2) Responded to message below. Should be at minimum of 250 words include direct discussion of the main points, answers, and question. Include at least 2 APA-cited references. The United States government as defined the term critical infrastructure as a network of independent, man-made systems that are provided by both private and public sectors. These infrastructures produce and distribute good and services are essential to the national security, economic prosperity, and quality of life to all citizens of the United States. There are eight critical infrastructures that the United States and other nations rely on for day to day operations: transportation, oil and gas production and storage, water supply, emergency services, government services, banking and finance, electrical power, and telecommunications.  <w:sdt> (Marsh, 1997) Transportation sector is governed and regulated by the U.S Department of Transportation (DOT). The three modes of transportation that are used are vehicles operated on land, aircraft and airplanes, and ships and boats. The DOT is overall responsible for all means use to transport of all raw material, manufactured goods, food, and consumable supplies meant that is imported and exported within the United States. In 1995 it contributed to $777 billion of dollars or 11 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GPD) for the nation’s economy. The agencies that assist the DOT with this responsible are the Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the United States Coast Guard (USCG), the Maritime Administration (MARAD), and the Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA)      <w:sdt> (Marsh, 1997). provides security and operations at 328 ports of entry throughout the country. This agency controls the flow of people, raw material, and goods that enter that enter the United States from all land entry points, seaports, and airports. They help control the flow of illegal drugs, firearms, and other contrabands from entering the United States. The agencies that I believe should be involved with the Department of Transportation are the U.S. the Custom and Border Protection (CBP). This agency        <w:sdt>(U.S. Border and Custom Protection, 2017) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for protecting the United States’ water supply. The EPA ensure the quality of water is safe for plants, animals, and human consummation from highly toxic chemical and biological agents and free of water contamination by using technology to detecting, identifying, measuring the parts per million (ppm) in the water source, and treating the water supply from reservoirs, water holding facilities, aqueducts, and other transport systems. Private and Public Research and Development (R&D) assist the EPA with researching and developing technologies and products that increase the efficiency and methods used to protect the United States water supply from being contaminated.     <w:sdt> (Marsh, 1997) Today advancements in telecommunications has increased the speed, efficiency and effectiveness of information and networking being shared through computers and other digital communications, Networking has allowed electronic transfer of funds, the distribution of electrical power, and the control of gas and oil pipeline systems. The agencies that assist the DOD and DOC with this responsible are the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), all the military branches of the DOD, private and public agencies that develops software, computer programs, and train Information Technology (IT) operators to protect out telecommunications from cyber attacks.  The telecommunications infrastructure is used to send information through many outlets by using the Public Telecommunications Network (PTN), the Internet, for personal, commercial, academic, and government use. The Department of Defense (DOD) & Department of Commerce (DOC) are the United States government departments that are responsible for protecting the telecommunication sector.      <w:sdt>(Marsh, 1997) Number of Pages: 2 Pages