Critical infrastructure is any system, facility or function that provides the basis for governance, economic vitality, national security, reputation and way of life of a particular country. Therefore, every country has an obligation of safeguarding fundamental government, energy, transportation, financial and other critical infrastructure against natural disasters as well as terrorist activities. As an emergency management professional in California, it is significant to devise better strategies that are in line with the national infrastructure protection plan.
Identification of the infrastructure is one of the ways I will utilize to protect critical infrastructure. In this regard, I will identify the systems, networks, and functions that are primary to continued operation, putting into consideration related dependencies and interdependencies. This aspect of risk management will identify the information and communications technologies that will facilitate the provision of basic services. After identifying the critical infrastructure, I will prioritize them based on how they are defined and considered in California. As indicated by Aradau (2013), the federal government identifies and prioritizes national significant critical infrastructure based on national considerations and statutory definitions. Additionally, infrastructure operators and owners will identify systems, networks, and assets that are useful to their continued operations and delivery of products and services to customers. As an emergency management professional, identification of the critical infrastructure will help me to comprehend the criticality as well as related interdependencies of the infrastructure. It is important to identify these lifeline functions to support preparedness planning and capability development.
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Another important way that will help me in safeguarding critical infrastructure is assessing and analyzing risks. In most cases, critical infrastructure risks can be examined in terms of threat, consequence, and vulnerability. These assessments will help me in making decisions as well as permit me to understand the most likely and severe incidents that can influence my operations and further utilize this information to support resource allocation and planning in a coordinated manner (Brown et al., 2016). It is also important to involve different entities in the establishment as well as the distribution of products regarding vulnerabilities, threat, and potential consequences and provide risk information in a trusted environment. This will bring significant value in enhancing the comprehension of cyber and physical systems and assets risk. As an emergency management professional, I will use information sharing-activities to safeguard privacy by complying with the set laws and regulations.
After assessing and analyzing the critical infrastructure risks, it is significant to execute risk management activities. These activities will be prioritized based on the criticality of affected infrastructure, significant risk minimization and the costs of such activities. As an emergency management professional, I will identify, deter, detect, disrupt and prepare for the hazards and threats. This will help me to develop and execute joint plans and processes that will evaluate the required rise in security and resilience measure in line with threat reports and hazard warnings (Lewis, 2014). Secondly, I will minimize vulnerabilities by establishing security and resilience into the operation of systems, networks, and assets. As an emergency management professional, I will establish and carry out exercise and training programs to improve awareness and common vulnerabilities understanding in California. Finally, I will prevent consequences by sharing information to support situational sensitization and damage examination of cyber and critical infrastructure during and after the incident.
As an emergency management professional, I will partner with the private sector, tribal, local, state and federal government by sharing accurate information as quickly as possible to the security and resilience of the nation. I will use situational awareness, strategic planning and investment as well as operational and tactical risk management actions processes to share information. The situational awareness will report day-to-day operation including incident reporting, suspicious activity reporting and recommended proactive actions. The operational and tactical risk management actions will respond to threats in critical infrastructure at a particular place. The strategic planning and investment process will be used to build the capabilities that reinforce critical infrastructure resilience and security in the future. I will also share information by supporting development strategies, plans, protective measures, preparedness, and risk mitigation.
References
Aradau, C. (2013). Security that matters: Critical infrastructure and objects of protection. Security Dialogue , 41 (5), 491-514.
Brown, G., Carlyle, M., Salmerón, J., & Wood, K. (2016). Defending critical infrastructure. Interfaces , 36 (6), 530-544.
Lewis, T. G. (2014). Critical infrastructure protection in homeland security: defending a networked nation . John Wiley & Sons.
