Week Five Discussion One

 What are the Food and Agriculture, Emergency Services, Energy and Financial Sectors Specific Plans? Why are they important? How are each of the sectors at risk? Give an example. Please provide at least two references to support your answers 

Managing Risk: Assessment and Countermeasures Critical Infrastructure Sectors Food and Agriculture, Emergency Services, Financial Service, and Energy

This week we move into Critical Infrastructure Sectors food and agriculture, emergency services, financial services, and energy. As you will see in all the readings involving the sectors, there are sector specific plans and, in some cases, Presidential Directives relating to that particular sector.  Out of this week’s sectors, energy, is the one that receives a lot of focus.  Attacks to Ireland’s EirGrid, and the 2015 and 2016 Ukraine grid attacks, show how vulnerable networks are. In 2016 and 2017 there were digital assaults on U.S. energy companies (source: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-the-power-grid-getting-more-vulnerable-to-cyber-attacks/ ).  Traditionally, manual backup systems were used in case of power outages.  Now we rely on less people and more computer-based systems. This topic also affects industrial infrastructures which we will examine later.

Read:

• Food and Agriculture Sector
  • DHS Critical Infrastructure Sector – Food and Agriculture https://www.dhs.gov/food-and-agriculture-sector
  • DHS Food and Agriculture Sector-Specific Plan – 2015 https://www.dhs.gov/publication/nipp-ssp-food-ag-2015
  • Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD) 9, Defense of United States Agriculture and Food https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PPP-2004-book1/pdf/PPP-2004-book1-doc-pg173.pdf  
• Emergency Services Sector
  • DHS Emergency Services Sector https://www.dhs.gov/emergency-services-sector
  • DHS Emergency Services Sector-Specific Plan – 2015 https://www.dhs.gov/publication/nipp-ssp-emergency-services-2015
• Financial Services Sector
  • DHS Critical Infrastructure Sector – Financial Sector https://www.dhs.gov/chemical-sector
  • DHS Financial Services Sector-Specific Plan – 2015 https://www.dhs.gov/publication/nipp-ssp-financial-services-2015
• Energy Sector
  • Energy (video) https://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/making-the-grade/making-the-grade-videos/
  • DHS Energy Sector https://www.dhs.gov/energy-sector
  • DHS Energy Sector-Specific Plan – 2015 https://www.dhs.gov/publication/nipp-ssp-energy-2015
  • The Old, Dirty, Creaky US Electric Grid Would Cost $5 Trillion to Replace.  Where Should Infrastructure Spending Go? http://theconversation.com/the-old-dirty-creaky-us-electric-grid-would-cost-5-trillion-to-replace-where-should-infrastructure-spending-go-68290
  • Hackers Gain Direct Access to US Power Grid Controls https://www.wired.com/story/hackers-gain-switch-flipping-access-to-us-power-systems/