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Homeland Security and Homeland Defense are two of the main lines of defense for the United States. Both are equally important and have their unique roles in the security of the United States. The missions, responsibilities, operations, tasks, and resources needed to make the missions work are important. The responsibilities and efforts both share are also vital. The mission of the Department of Homeland Security is “to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards” (DHS). There are three key concepts to the foundation of the homeland security strategy: security, resilience, and customs and exchange. These concepts help to develop the mission to homeland security. Homeland Security has a variety of different responsibilities in protecting the United States. There are five core missions of homeland security: prevent terrorism and enhance security, secure and manage the borders, enforce and administer immigration laws, safeguard and secure cyberspace, and ensure resilience to disasters. Preventing terrorism and enhancing security consists of preventing attacks, the importation, and movement or use of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) materials within the borders, and reducing the vulnerability of critical …show more content…
infrastructure and major events to attacks by terrorists and threat networks. Reducing the vulnerabilities can be accomplished using cargo screenings, supporting state and local law enforcement, aviation security, and critical infrastructure protection. Securing and managing the borders is an important mission that secures the United States air, land, and sea points of entry. Making sure the trade and travel in and out of the border is safe, secure, and lawful is imperative to the homeland security. Disrupting transnational criminal and terrorist organizations is also a large task taken by Homeland Security. The Border Patrol is used primarily for the Southern border with Mexico and consists of “approximately 18,500 agents,” (DHS). The usages of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are utilized on both the southern and northern borders to aid in the security. Traveler plans are used to establish the type of travel individuals do on a regular basis and helps with the screening process. Immigration is a huge debacle in the United States. By enforcing and administrating the immigration laws of the nation, it helps to minimize the threat of potential criminal aliens who pose a threat to public safety and infrastructure. Facilitating legal immigration is a priority because the nation prides itself on being diverse and welcoming immigrants for new beginnings. Human trafficking is a large issue within and for the nation. Combating human trafficking is a key aspect of immigration policies. The Blue Campaign was created by the Department of Homeland Security in 2010, to help spread awareness, provide training, give victim assistance, and help form more law enforcement investigations for human trafficking. The cyber world is an ever-growing issue for the United States and homeland security.
Analyzing and reducing the cyber threats is key to keeping the nation’s networks secure. By employing individuals who work directly in the information Technology industry, helps reduce the security breaches that could occur during a cyber attack to the nation’s networks. Disasters happen to the nation whether they are environmental, natural causes, or terroristic. Planning and preparing for potential disasters as well as having a good response and recovery strategy is a key factor. Making sure the strategies can have to correct amount of funding levitates the amount of help that can be given to answer a
disaster. Homeland Defense is the protection of a nation or territory, the population it holds, and the critical infrastructure against external threats. Joint Publication 3-27 gives the outline of the objectives and tasks homeland defense takes. The Armed Forces make up the homeland defense who all work together to protect the nation to it's best abilities. Other than the homeland of the United States, Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) are a priority for homeland defense. Protecting the land, air, maritime, and space of the United States are the objectives. The National Guard is a great example of a homeland defense mechanism. Not only does the National Guard serve the respected states, but also in times of crisis, it serves the nation. Homeland security and homeland defense shared the responsibility of protecting the nation by the means deemed necessary. Both protect the critical infrastructure of the nation. Terrorism is divided between the two because terrorism occurs both within the borders and out. The National Guard and Coast Guard are two entities that continually switch between both due to their individual mission requirements. Homeland Security is the protection of the homeland and everything and everyone within it. Having a better vetting process for individuals seeking entry into the United States is a key factor to the protection of the homeland. Those who are already within the United States that gives the reason for potential threats to the homeland should be vetted well then the process that occurs now. The issue with a better vetting process is that it 's challenging to find those that pose a threat until the threat has already been acted upon. The Critical Infrastructure of the United States consists of the services deemed essential for society and serves as the backbone of the United State’s economy, security, and health. Sixteen critical infrastructure sectors are composing the assets, systems, and networks (physical and virtual) that are crucial to the United States. If these areas were in any way incapacitated or destroyed this effect would be catastrophic to the United States and the security. Homeland Security and Homeland Defense are both tasked in some form to protect the critical infrastructure of the United States by any means deemed necessary. The relationship between the critical infrastructure and homeland security is vital. The sectors of the critical infrastructure are all within the borders of the nation giving homeland security a large task. The “National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) Office of Infrastructure Protection (IP) leads the coordinated national effort to manage risks to our Nation’s critical infrastructure,” (DHS). Homeland Security has the objective of protecting the borders and all that falls within the boundaries of the United States. The critical infrastructure of the United States is susceptible to multiple different forms of attacks and incapacitation. Threats such as trafficking of goods and humans lead to the overall risk to become higher for the critical infrastructure. The Homeland defense and critical infrastructure relationship are much like that with homeland security. The Armed Forces make up the homeland defense and are tasked with protecting the outside of the United States. Homeland Defense is necessary to the safety of the critical infrastructure because most threats that occur usually come from outside sources or entities. Terrorism and Weapons of Mass destruction (WMDs) such as chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) are among the top two threats for homeland defense. The role of relationships is crucial because most of the critical infrastructure sectors are privately operated. The government and these private companies must retain a good relationship to keep the security up to date and threat risks at a minimal. The IP works with federal, state, local, and tribal agents to protect the vital assets, ensure operations run smoothly, and make sure preparedness for response and recovery operations are adequate for any hazardous events that may occur. Information sharing between the infrastructure owners allows for the information about threats and policies to be shared in a timely manner. Training and Education provide those working within the critical infrastructure to have the proper materials, courses, and help needed to be aware and prepared for possible threats. The relationship the federal, state, local, and tribal have allowed the critical infrastructure community to be united. Analysis and assessment compliance supports the critical infrastructure sectors to manage risks based on the vulnerability, type of threat, and potential outcomes of the threats. The current protection that the critical infrastructure obtains has been working very well thus far. Homeland Security are always learning new techniques and creating new strategies to fulfill their mission. Homeland Defense is also regularly ratifying it's strategies to further its mission. As shown from historical reporting with the drug cartels and terror attacks that have occurred on United States soil, there are training programs of intelligence regarding threats coming in; there is always room for improvement. The vulnerabilities of the critical infrastructure are not a mystery. The potential of a biological agent being used to contaminate the food or water supplies are very large. Cyber attacks are the top threat the infrastructure which, could be encountered in the future. The networks within the United States run so much of the nation's infrastructure to include the dams, power plants, water treatment facilities, transportation, and sensitive government information. If a major cyber attack was to occur and shutdown any part of the nations major networks, the effect would be catastrophic to the nation. Chaos and fear would ensue within the population and cities could be shutdown. The attack would be the direct opening for an even larger scale terror attack of any other means. The government is addressing these threats in multiple ways. The intelligence flow and nation strategies are set in place for possible catastrophic events. Every aspect of protecting the homeland and national security has the potential to be better, but overall what is set in place is working, as it should.
Homeland Security’s mission is “to secure the nation from the many threats we face. With honor and integrity, we will safeguard the American people, our homeland, and our values.”[3]
On November 19, 2001, the Aviation and Transportation Security Act was signed into act by the 107th Congress, enacting the Transportation Security Administration, also known as TSA (Pistole). TSA assumed responsibility for hiring, training, and developing security officers to deal with airport security. In March 2003, TSA was transferred from being a part of the Department of Transportation to the Department of Homeland Security which is also known as DHS (Pistole). This transfer was due to the realization that TSA’s mission had the same ideas as the mission of DHS. Department of Homeland Security is a general term, given for all domestic and international activities to protect people and property in the United States from terrorism (Curtis).
"Building Resilience Against Terrorism: Canada’s Counter-terrorism Strategy." Government of Canada, Public Safety Canada. Government of Canada, 19 Aug. 2013. Web. 09 Nov. 2013.
The Quadrennial Homeland Security Review of 2014 has established five key mission areas, the basic areas of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) mission, to focus on and serve as a guide to security efforts that can
safeguard and secure cyberspace; and strengthen national preparedness and resilience,? (Johnson, n.d.). There are priority goals set by Mr. Johnson for each of the missions stated earlier. As you expand each of these missions on the site, Mr. Johnson has thoroughly thought through his strategies in ensuring the mission is completed. It seems that he has taken his experience as the general counsel for the defense department and his knowledge as an attorney and used it when coming up with his strategies and goals for the Department of Homeland Security. For example, his strategies to prevent terrorist attacks is to analyze and disseminate information across the homeland security enterprise by sharing intelligence information; deter and disrupt operations; strengthen transportation security by detecting malicious people and dangerous items at entry and exit points of travel; counter violent extremism by supporting community based problem solving and integration efforts with law enforcement, and working with sharing information with frontline law enforcement, families and private sectors, (Johnson, n.d.). Another example would be the expedited screening of passengers by TSA at 50 percent of the airports which would enhance the passenger?s experience. His thinking is the common good of all and that we are actually at war with foreign powers, but he also has shown the concern for individual rights because of his experience and knowledge as an
The first area is the Department of Homeland Security’s mission. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was created in 2002 by the Homeland Security Act. In 2003 the DHS started their operations. The DHS primary responsibilities and objectives includes prevention, protection, and response to issues that threaten national security. There are five core missions that define the DHS: Managing and securing our nation’s borders, strengthening security initiatives to help prevent terrorism, administering and enforcing the nation’s immigration laws, ensuring that the nation can rebound fast and or prevent disasters, and ensuring the internet is secure by instituting safeguards that protect the nation against cyber-attacks. (TWH, 2003)
It is unrealistic to imagine that the copious amount of departments responsible for cybersecurity are able to adequately protect the country; therefore, the government needs to form one department that can be responsible for all cybersecurity problems and cyberattacks. When forming this new department, resources from other groups that currently share responsibility can be moved in order to decrease the amount of resources needed for the new group. But, it is also unfathomable for the government to be responsible for all cybersecurity as “... the reality is that while the lion’s share of the cybersecurity expertise lies in the federal government, more than 90 percent of the physical infrastructure of the Web is owned by private industry” (McConnell 4). Therefore the government must collaborate with the private sector. This cooperation can be utilized to help form the new government group as “there is also an opportunity for the new agency to be formed in a more deliberate way, drawing on leadership from the private economy to promote efficiency and cost-effectiveness” (Cohen 2). By working with the private sector, the new agency can reduce costs of personnel and equipment, increase performance, and maintain diverse cybersecurity plans. Once a
Sir/Ma’am in recent discussions you advised me to conduct some research on Homeland Security agencies that possibly could overlap within the departments and determine which areas could be consolidated? Homeland Security missions is to prevent terrorism, enhance security, manage United States borders, administer immigration laws, secure cyberspace, and ensure disaster resilience. I believe there are some areas in the critical missions department that could merge, but
Operating in various countries with the use of multiple forms of intelligence has been extremely useful for the US military intelligence branches (Greenberg, 2009). These multiple forms of intelligence include but not limited to Human Intelligence (HUMINT), Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT), Measurement and Signature Intelligence (MASINT), Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), Strategic Intelligence (STRATINT), Signals Intelligence (SIGINT), and Technical Intelligence (TECHINT). Equally important, the Department of the homeland security primary mission is to prevent terrorist attacks within the United States, reduce the US vulnerability to terrorism and minimize the damage and recovery from terrorist attacks when it occurs. Notably, since 2003 DHS has had inception intelligence component; for example, the DHS Act of 2002, assigned the intelligence component to the DHS (Carter & Carter, 2009). Also, they have the responsibility to integrate law enforcement, analyze, and provide intelligence information to identify and assess the nature and the level of terrorist threats to the homeland, detect and identify terrorism threats against the
Disaster Recovery Planning is the critical factor that can prevent headaches or nightmares experienced by an organization in times of disaster. Having a disaster recovery plan marks the difference between organizations that can successfully manage crises with minimal cost, effort and with maximum speed, and those organizations that cannot. By having back-up plans, not only for equipment and network recovery, but also detailed disaster recovery plans that precisely outline what steps each person involved in recovery efforts should undertake, an organization can improve their recovery time and minimize the disrupted time for their normal business functions. Thus it is essential that disaster recovery plans are carefully laid out and carefully updated regularly. Part of the plan should include a system where regular training occurs for network engineers and managers. In the disaster recovery process extra attention should also be paid to training any new employees who will have a critical role in this function. Also, the plan should require having the appropriate people actually practice what they would do to help recover business function should a disaster occur. Some organizations find it helpful to do this on a quarterly or semi-annual basis so that the plan stays current with the organization’s needs.
For this week’s forum we were asked to choose 5 research topics relating to homeland security list them, explain why we are interested in them, and tell the class what we would like to learn if we were writing a paper on them. I chose the topics I did because It seems like to me like most people look at the Department of homeland Security (DHS) and mainly focus on the subjects of border and port physical security without knowing exactly how much goes into ensuring the security of the American people. The topics I chose to list after poking around the internet a little are as follows.
Tragedies like 9/11 and domestic terrorism can both be prevented with increased homeland security. To prevent attacks like 9/11 from happening in the future, address issues with domestic terrorism, and the growth of homeland security, the U.S. still needs to be concerned with terrorism. Disasters like 9/11 still need to be prevented in the United States. The U.S. needs to be more involved with terrorism in general to keep domestic attacks from happening. Homeland security needs to be studied and improved in order to prevent terrorism.
The threat and risk of terrorism in the United States has posed somewhat of a predicament as to how we manage terrorism, border and transportation security collectively. Immediately after the 9/11 attacks we realized that terrorism was a concern and that we needed to pay more attention to but, neglected to maintain focus on the all hazards of emergency management. At that time, we may have been doing the right thing by putting all our efforts toward planning and response for additional terrorist attacks. However, I believe we may have dropped our guard on securing the boarders even though we beefed up the transportation security through the implementation of the TSA, and Federal Air Marshals on the aviation side. An example was the entry of the 9/11 terrorist into the country, although the security concern then was based upon identification and did not involve a vetting process like the borders. The United States shares a total of 7,514 miles of Canada and Mexico, which becomes difficult to provide a secure border 100% of the time (Haddow, Bullock, & Coppola, 2014). But, like any security operation gaps, flaws and opportunities for improvement are always a part that require assessment, evaluation and corrective action. The nations security and
Terrorism had been a staple of the news for years now. But it is noticed, especially in Europe, that terrorism had been more acute than in previous years combined, attributed largely to immigration issues. This prompted our President out of concern to impose measures on immigration amidst expected, unimaginable criticism. He also expressed his hope that concerned Intelligence agencies may do good on such policies. But the roles that other people play on countering terrorism are likewise important too.
The nation has become dependent on technology, furthermore, cyberspace. It’s encompassed in everything we deliver in our daily lives, our phones, internet, communication, purchases, entertainment, flying airplane, launching missiles, operating nuclear plants, and implicitly, our protection. The more ever-growing technology empower Americans, the more they become prey to cyber threats. The United States Executive Office of the President stated, “The President identified cybersecurity as one of the top priorities of his administration in doing so, directed a 60-day review to assess polices.” (United States Executive Office of the President, 2009, p.2). Furthermore, critical infrastructure, our network, and internet alike are identified as national assets upon which the administration will orchestrate integrated cybersecurity policies without infringing upon and protecting privacy. While protecting our infrastructure, personal privacy, and civil liberties, we have to keep in mind the private sector owns and operates the majority of our critical and digital infrastructure.