THIS IS A FIRST PART
The communications sector is one of the vital sectors listed and described in the Critical Infrastructure Sectors (CIS). The sector lays out all communication channels for the nation through the establishment of both private and government wireless, satellite, wireline, and terrestrial communication infrastructure. As a CIS, the sector has several potential terrorist targets such as the cyberspace, physical servers, cable system, and cell towers. Considering the above listed potential targets, there exist associated vulnerabilities tied to each target. Cyberspace target is a virtual location which is mainly probed each day by malicious individuals including terrorist organizations. The ability to attack the cyber-space domain remotely makes it most vulnerable. Tower grids, and cables systems supporting wireline, and wireless communication are located in both urban and remote regions. The ones located far in the remote areas are vulnerable to terrorist attacks due to the reduced monitoring activities in the remote areas.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (n.d.). Critical infrastructure sectors. Retrieved from https://www.dhs.gov/critical-infrastructure-sectors
Choose the critical infrastructure sector that you identified in your Unit IV Project Topic assignment. Once you click on the sector, click on the tab for the Sector-Overview, and then open the tab for the Sector-Specific Plan. This will serve as a relevant resource for this assignment (though you are encouraged to use any resources from this course).
For this assignment, you will develop a critical infrastructure sector profile by incorporating (in your own words) the information from this sector-specific plan as well as information from your Unit IV Project Topic assignment. Your profile should include the following components:
Provide a brief profile of the sector identified.
Describe the purpose and importance of your chosen sector.
Are your sector’s assets important or relevant to the government, private industry, or a mixture of the two?
Does your sector have any subsectors?
Define the criticality of the sector.
Why is this sector a critical asset?
What are the ramifications/consequences of its disruption?
Identify the sector risks.
What risks threaten disruption of this sector?
Are there any interdependent risks (downstream risks or cascading failures)?
Identify partnerships.
Determine the governmental and non-governmental homeland security programs that are specific to your chosen sector and how they assess, plan for, and mitigate threats.
Evaluate the governmental and non-governmental homeland security programs for disaster mitigation and management as they relate to this sector.
Identify the specific roles and responsibilities of the local, regional, and national critical infrastructure partners within this sector.
Relate the importance and roles of operational security (OPSEC) and site security to terrorism prevention, preparedness, and mitigation as they relate to this sector.
Define OPSEC.
Describe the countermeasures to OPSEC issues in your chosen sector.
The completed assignment must be a minimum of three pages in length, not including the title page and reference page. All sources used must be referenced using APA formatting; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying citations.
