Group items tagged

S 25999On June 15, 2010 the DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano announced the adoption of BS 25999 for the PS-Prep program.  BS 25999 (which comes in two parts) is one of three standards for use in the Voluntary Private Sector Preparedness Accreditation and Certification Program (PS-Prep). PS-Prep is directed by Title IX of the Implementing the Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007.

As of today, the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) database, hosted by Mitre Corporation (http://cve.mitre.org/) for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), contains 34,542 entries. That may not seem like a large number, but any one of those entries can translate to multiple instances in the field. While the contents of this database are very important in the IT world to help security practitioners ply their trade, build rule sets, etc., there is a glaring lack of information on industrial control systems (ICS). A search of the CVE database using “SCADA” or “DCS” or “PLC” as a search ...

Generic training that can aid in dealing with unanticipated complex terrorist activities is needed. Terrorist acts can create stressful situations involving volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity, and delayed feedback and information flow (“VUCAD”). Strategic management simulation technology, based on complexity theory, can be used to assess and train personnel who must deal with the threat of terrorism.

Yet we also need more generic training to handle the VUCAD of terrorism

A more applicable technology is known as “quasi-experimental simulation.”17 While the quasi-experimental approach is a compromise between the free and experimental simulation methods, it tends to combine the advantages of both and mostly eliminates the disadvantages of the other two. In a quasi-experimental simulation, preprogrammed information is restricted to only part of the information: incoming messages that assure that all participants experience the same flow of events. On the other hand, many additional computer-generated responses (typically one-half of the incoming information) to participant actions allow realism (and maintenance of high motivation levels). Yet, because of the constant flow of pre-programmed information that keeps significant events and timing constant for all participants, performance can be numerically scored against established criteria of excellence or can be compared between different participants (or participating teams). The observer (who was necessary in the free simulation) has become obsolete. Performance is computer scored, both in terms of how any participant processes information (for example, is strategy developed?) and in terms of the appropriateness of the actions taken to deal with scenario-generated events

State of California's primary advisor to the Director, Office of Homeland Security on Homeland Security Exercise and Training matters. Directs a multi-disciplinary/multi-agency staff of military and civilian subject matter experts in developing, coordinating, and producing exercises and training for California's fifty-eight counties, five Urban Area Security Initiative cities, and six hundred fifty thousand emergency responders to respond to terrorist attacks involving weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and catastrophic natural disasters. Produces the annual State wide exercise series Golden Guardian.