Strategic Plan: Chapter 2 Literature Review

Strategic Plan: Chapter 1 Introduction paper

Homeland Security 304 (7381)

Mokudai, KarylDerek P

University of Maryland Global Campus

November 08, 2020

WORKING TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER

1. INTRODUCTION

Background ……………………………………………………………..3

Statement of the Problem……………………………………………….4

Operational Definitions…………………………………………….…...5

Significance of the Study...…………….………………………………..6

Summary………………………………………………………………..7

REFERENCES …………………………………………………………………8

INTRODUCTION

Background

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is a homeland security organization that main mission is to secure cyberspace and critical infrastructure. This is due to the increased technological advancements which have led to the connection of people and digital devices to the internet and each other creating a long attack surface throughout the world. The CISA is the national advisor on matters concerning risk, they work with various partners to defend the country against the threats of cybersecurity and infrastructure security, and collaborate with different organizations in the building of secure and resilient security systems and infrastructures. The agency consists of a director, deputy director, executive director, assistant director for cybersecurity, assistant director for infrastructure security, and assistant director for risk management center, assistant director for integrated operations, assistant director for stakeholder engagement, and assistant director for emergency communications.

The CISA agency works in partnership with public and private organizations for the protection of the world from any threats that face us. CISA is a division under the homeland security with a mission of leading the National effort to understand and manage cyber and physical risk to our critical infrastructure. The CISA organization focuses on building and improving the national capacity to effectively defend itself against cyber-attacks. The CISA agency members generally meet monthly to discuss the emerging issues and problems affecting cyber and infrastructure security. The CISA is looking for a strategic plan to help them effectively deal with the increase in cybersecurity and infrastructure security. This strategic plan will enable CISA to develop a framework for ensuring and improving cybersecurity and infrastructure security in the country. The development of this framework will help in the accomplishment of its mission and goals.

Statement of the problem

The CISA agency has been faced with several criticisms following the increase in the threats facing cybersecurity due to the advancement in technology resulting to increase connectivity of people around the world. The lack of a proper strategic plan is also one of the challenges affecting the organization since it leads to the failure of the organization to accomplish its goals. The development of a strong and viable strategic plan would lead to proper delegation of the activities to the partner organizations and employees. The CISA agency has been faced with inadequate human resources and physical resources to help them o effectively enforce cybersecurity and infrastructure security. The organization also lacks adequate team members who assist in the strengthening of the national and economic security of the nation. The CISA is responsible for ensuring that the country is safe from any cyber-attacks and poor infrastructures hence this work will be difficult to be managed by one organization since various emerging issues contain to affect cybersecurity and infrastructure security. The CISA focuses on the identification and assessment of the gaps in the security after performing a careful examination of the emerging advanced technologies in the determination of future capabilities. This creates the need for the development of a strong and viable strategic plan which provides the organization with a way forward and the various ways to deal with the threats associated with the advancement of technology.

The CISA feels that it should be granted more resources such as cybersecurity tools, incident response services, and assessment capabilities to help them understand the emerging technologies to help them effectively deal with the cybersecurity threats. The CISA also deals with enabling the federal government to promote public safety by deploying interoperable communications at all levels of government to aid their partners across the country in developing their emergency communications capabilities. This work requires the conduction of extensive nationwide outreach which requires the organization to form partnerships with various organizations across the nation to help them effectively reach their target audience. Many of the organization activities require them to have high-quality equipment and adequate resources to help them fund these outreaches. The collaboration with various public and private organizations to promote security, prosperity, and emergency communications across the nation would help them to fund the various outreaches, education, and communication programs. This organization is important for the promotion of success and security in the organization hence there is a need for an effective strategic plan. This strategic plan would enable the organization to effectively deal with the problems and challenges facing them in the implementation of security policies and guidelines.

Operational definitions

Cybersecurity refers to the practices of protecting and defending digital computers, servers, mobile devices, electronic systems, networks, and data from malicious attacks or cyberattacks.

Infrastructure security refers to the security aimed at protecting critical infrastructures for national development such as airports, highway-rail transport, health facilities, bridge, transport hub, network communication, media, the electricity grid, dam, power plant, seaport, oil refineries, and water system.

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is a government organization agency under the department of homeland security that help in the enhancement of cybersecurity, infrastructure security, communications, and emergency operations.

Cybersecurity tools refer to the tools and equipment used by CISA in the promotion of cybersecurity they include Gnu Privacy Guard, Wireshark, and Snort.

Incident response services refer to the emergency response services used in mitigating the risks caused by cyberattacks and malicious attacks.

Assessment capabilities are a requirement by the DHS for ensuring that the Mutual Obligation Requirements specified in the Participant's Job Plan are appropriate to their circumstances and the Participant is capable of meeting them.

Significance of the study

The significance of the study was to understand the inner workings of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the challenges facing the organization to be able to develop a strong and viable strategic plan to ensure the success of the organizations. The strategic plan developed looked into promoting the growth and development of the organization to bring success in the future organizations. The strategic plan to be developed in the organization would lead to the development of a new mission, goals, and vision. The importance of the organization in the maintenance of cybersecurity, infrastructure security, communication, and the development of emergency response services. The major drawback of this organization is that it is held accountable and responsible for a lot of security activities hence any failure in the organization would expose the nation to various threats.

The significance of the study was to enable the organization management to effectively establish strategies for the growth and development of the organizations, proper allocation of resources to its various activities, management of its various programs safely, and to efficiently run the cybersecurity infrastructure security Agency. The study was also aimed at identifying how the organizations would effectively manage their outreach initiatives in the community by consolidating the education and training programs, emergency response services, and national risk management center, and cybersecurity and infrastructure security. The organization should create a strategic plan in which it subdivides its operations among a group of employees to ease their workload. This strategic plan would enable them to form an effective communication plan and a communication strategy that would enable them to effectively spread awareness of the emergency responses and to help the federal government to mitigate the security risks and threats in the organization.

Summary

There is a need to improve the strategies used by the CISA organization due to the huge number of activities performed by the organization. The CISA organization is a homeland security department with a mission to promote cybersecurity, infrastructure security, strong communication plan, and development of emergency service response. The importance of the organization to develop a new strategic plan would help in the continuation protection and preservation of the organization to promote future growth and development. The strategic planning would help the organization in the development of alternative means to fund its outreach, educational programs, cybersecurity, and infrastructure security. The strategic planning would also help them to put in place the necessary measures for the mitigation of cybersecurity risks and threats by developing a system that helps in the identification and mitigation of the risks. The strategic plan would help the organization to find alternative resources through its partnerships with various private and public organizations. The development of a strong and viable strategic plan would ease the adjustment process in to the future with more advanced technologies.

References

Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure. (2020). Retrieved 8 November 2020, from https://www.dhs.gov/coronavirus/cybersecurity-and-critical-infrastructure.

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency | USAGov. Retrieved 8 November 2020, from https://www.usa.gov/federal-agencies/cybersecurity-and-infrastructure-security-agency.

Homepage | CISA. (2020). Retrieved 8 November 2020, from https://www.cisa.gov/.