Posted: February 16th, 2022

Cybersecurity Policy and Department of Homeland Security

Computer Sciences and Information Technology
Topic:
cyber security policy on Department of Homeland Security
Introduction
The expansive use of the internet in everyday living has resulted in the rampant need for advanced technological development to meet the growing consumer demands. The advancement has not left behind cybercrime which has also evolved in equal measures hence forcing governments and industries to come up with cybersecurity policies and standards to protect enterprises and individuals from the grave damage associated with cyber-attacks. Cybersecurity involves protections of the internet-connected systems as well as physical protection of the control rooms to prevent any form of unauthorized access to the data centres as well as other computerized systems. Today, governments, industries, public and private institutions and also individuals share a lot of information online across the computer networks. The nature of the information shared may be very sensitive and hence attracting the attention of criminals looking forward to damaging the unsuspecting victims. It is important to set Cybersecurity measures at the federal level and the organizational level that should be duly met to maintain confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data hence preventing cyber-attacks, data breaches, and theft of identity. Just like the famous phrase “prevention is better than cure,” utilizing the set Cybersecurity policies and ensuring that every individual within an organization follows the set regulatory standards helps to prevent cyberattacks. Cyber criminals target organizations that have weak security systems to launch their attacks. The damage caused by cyberattacks is very expensive to repair as it is not only financially involving, but also involves loss of trust from the external publics inclusive of investors. The economic prosperity of any nations in the world of technology today is highly dependent on the safety of the cyberspace. Keeping up with new technologies and threat intelligence is therefore challenging but inevitable. In the United States of America, the Cybersecurity division of the Department of Homeland Security is determined to provide national protection against physical and cyber threats by providing a stable, safe, and resilient cyberspace.
Department of Homeland Security Policy
As a measure to ensure and facilitate national cyberspace security, the DHS has to make use of its strategy to meet the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Act of 2018: 2024 – Write My Essay For Me | Essay Writing Service For Your Papers Online (CISA) which was signed by the current president Donald Trump. The Act aim aims at improving Cybersecurity across the federal, state, and local government, to coordinate Cybersecurity programs across the states, and to improve the Cybersecurity protection measures of the government against both private and non-federal cybercriminals. The department of Homeland security works hand in hand with significant partners within the federal, state, and local government to identify and to effectively manage the national cybersecurity risks (DHS, 2019: 2024 – Online Assignment Homework Writing Help Service By Expert Research Writers). The DHS also works with industries and the international community to achieve its Cybersecurity goals. The vision of the Department of Homeland security is that by 2023, national Cybersecurity management will have greatly improved through the application of increased security and resilience across the entire government networks and the critical infrastructure. DHS estimates that decreasing illegal cyber activities, enhancing effective responses to cyber threats, and promoting a safer and reliable cyberspace ecosystem will also contribute to the improved national Cybersecurity risk management efforts. The department aims at incorporating unified departmental approaches, effective and strong leadership techniques, as well as well-knit partnerships with both governmental and non-governmental bodies. To address the cybersecurity vulnerabilities, threats, and consequences, DHS has in place a five-pillar strategy which also aids in the management of federal networks and critical infrastructure hence hardening them against any forms of cyber-attacks. Pillar I involves risk identification whose goal is to assess the evolving Cybersecurity risks. DHS aims at identifying and understanding the emerging national Cybersecurity risk to come up with the most effective risk management activities. Pillar II focuses on the reduction of vulnerability by protecting the information systems of the federal government and by protecting the critical infrastructure. DHS aims as minimizing the vulnerabilities to enable the federal agencies to acquire high levels of Cybersecurity. DHS partners with key stakeholders to ensure effective management of national Cybersecurity risks. Pillar III aims at reducing threats by preventing and disrupting the use of cyberspace by criminals. DHS counters transnational criminal organization as well as high-end cybercriminals to reduce cyber threats. Pillar IV focuses on mitigating the consequences of cyber incidents by responding to them effectively which helps to minimize the negative impacts that may be caused by significant cybercrime incidents through well-coordinated community response efforts. Pillar IV is based on enabling Cybersecurity outcomes by strengthening both the security and the reliability of the cyber ecosystem and by improving the management of DHS Cybersecurity activities. It is at this level that DHS supports policies and activities which are designed to improve global Cybersecurity risk management and also executes its departmental efforts in a more prioritized and integrated manner (Evans 2018: 2024 – Write My Essay For Me | Essay Writing Service For Your Papers Online).
The high level of internet consumption among the American people and the growth in internet access and devices that allow online communication has led to increased opportunities and innovations. However, greater Cybersecurity threats are emerging due to the ability of nation-state, terrorists, transnational and individual criminals to access the evolving digital world. Almost every service from healthcare delivery to transportation, to finance and others such as electricity and water is delivered through the online space hence giving online criminals a wider spectrum to plan and conduct an attack. The growth and overdependence on global supply chains have also largely contributed to increased national and international Cybersecurity threats. The five-pillar strategy by the DHS was hence implemented as a framework to carry out Cybersecurity measures that will in a period of 5 years counting form the current year 2019: 2024 – Online Assignment Homework Writing Help Service By Expert Research Writers, keep the cyberspace safe from the fast-growing cyber risk landscape. In collaboration with all DHS components and according to the section 1912 of the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, the DHS Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plan came up with the five-pillar strategy to provide National security.
Evaluation Criteria
The first evaluation measure on DHS performance towards enhancing safe cyberspace falls under Pillar I which aims at risk identification and it would involve assessing the evolving risks related to Cybersecurity. DHS has an obligation to understand the global Cybersecurity infrastructure as well as the risks involved. By assessing the evolving risks, it will be easier for the department to understand the risk posture that will aid at informing the most appropriate risk management activities to engage in. Some of the questions to ask include;
• Are there gaps within the national analytic capabilities and risk management efforts and if they are, how many are they?
• What measures are in place to enhance the understanding of the effectiveness of the effort being places to bridge the gap?
• What changes will the future technological advancements bring and how prepared is the DHS with long-term solutions and to prevent failure in the future?
• How effectively does DHS identify the cybersecurity risks affecting the United States’ security, the public health sector, and the economic sectors?
• What plans does DHS have to address the identified gaps in the analytic capabilities and risk management efforts?
• What plans does the DHS have to sustain cybersecurity measures in future given the evolving cybersecurity risks?
DHS has made efforts to partner with stakeholders who are inclusive of federal and non-federal agencies to better understand the existing security risks, to analyze the changing and growing interdependencies and systemic risks, and to make an assessment of the evolving strategies that attackers use. How well DHS prioritizes its protective, investigative, and response measures determines how effective its strategy to identify the underlying risk will be.
The second evaluation of performance step to take will be in line with Pillar II which involves the reduction of vulnerability. The major point of concern is how well DHS minimizes cybersecurity risks targeted at the federal government’s information systems. It is necessary to make an assessment of how well the DHS uses the available resources to enhance adequate levels of cybersecurity. It is necessary to assess how well DHS supports efforts by other agencies to minimize their susceptibility to cyber threats. Assessing how well DHS adopts new technologies and serve as an example to other agencies in the implementation of cybersecurity strategies is important in measuring effectiveness.
The third measurement is on how well DHS prevents and disrupts any form of criminal practices within the cyberspace. At this stage, it is important to understand how the department works with law enforcement agencies to reduce risks. Law enforcement investigators deployed by the DHS to handles cybercrime cases must be well conversant with computer forensics, digital investigations, and cyber tradecraft useful in fighting against criminal threats. Timeliness and effectiveness in the investigation are crucial to protect persons, events, and assets.
The fourth measurement is how well DHS responds to incidents involving cyber threat. It will be important to look at measures that have been put in place to encourage reporting of such incidents by non-state agencies. It is also necessary to identify whether the processes that have been put in place encourage timely notification to potential targets (DHS, 2019: 2024 – Online Assignment Homework Writing Help Service By Expert Research Writers). The last outcome measure is to identify how reliable the cyber ecosystem is. It is important to look at the policies that have been placed to facilitate both cybersecurity and risks management by DHS.
Application of Evaluation Criteria
Using the five-pillar strategy as an evaluation criterion will support the analysis of the effectiveness of the cybersecurity policy by DHS. The first measure of risk identification will help DHS to identify the inventory of hardware and software systems that connect to organizational networks. DHS will be able to manage the cybersecurity systems, data, and capabilities in providing national cyberspace protection. Identification of metrics will outline the number of hardware assets such as mobile devices and computers connected to unclassified networks and to identify the cloud services that the agency is using for easier reference in the case of risk. Secondly, by identifying the threat and the measures necessary to minimize vulnerability, it will be important to utilize the protection metric to safeguard the systems and to support the ability of DHS to minimize or contain the already existing impact of a threat. Thirdly, as a consequence mitigation measure, the detect metrics is useful to determine the extent at which agencies are able to identify a potential threat in a more timely manner (DHS, 2019: 2024 – Online Assignment Homework Writing Help Service By Expert Research Writers). Intrusion detection systems should be implemented to enhance awareness of malicious activities. For example, the number of incoming emails should be identified and analyzed for threat.
Strengths and weaknesses of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
DHS works with other federal agencies such as the U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to carry out intensive criminal investigations and combat cybercrime. The cyber intelligence section of the Secret Service has had a significant in the arrest of transnational cybercriminals who conduct crimes related to credit card frauds leading to the loss of about $600 million from the banking and retail institutions (DHS, 2019: 2024 – Online Assignment Homework Writing Help Service By Expert Research Writers). The Secret Service offers training to law enforcement officers, judge and prosecutors through the National Computer Forensic Institute, as a measure to combat crime. In terms of Incident Response, DHS works with the National Cybersecurity and Community integration Center (NCIC) which offers 24/7 situational awareness, analysis, and incident response. DHS works with other federal civilian agencies such as the National Cybersecurity Protection System and NCIC to enhance the adoption of common cybersecurity policies. As a prevention measure from future incidences, the NCIRP makes use of lessons from previous cyber-attacks as well as the existing policies to prepare for any form of potential threats.
Weaknesses
The major weakness of the DHS cybersecurity strategy is cost. In accordance with the fiscal years 2o18 to 2022, its portfolio of major acquisition programs is too costly. There are weaknesses in terms of financial planning and information technology controls as identified in the fiscal year 2013 to 2018: 2024 – Write My Essay For Me | Essay Writing Service For Your Papers Online (DHS, 2019: 2024 – Online Assignment Homework Writing Help Service By Expert Research Writers). Another weakness is non-compliance with the law and regulations which hinders its ability to provide reasonable assurance of reliability.
Recommendations
The Department of Homeland Security having been implemented after the 9/11 attacks were initially designed to protect the United States from terrorists. Other aspects such as cybersecurity were important to include in order to protect the borders and the integrity if America. The attack was partly a cybercrime which destabilized the global economy given that the U.S is a key economic centre globally. Instead of coming up with security measures after an attack has already occurred, the U.S must strengthen its cybersecurity strategy by heavily investing in risk identification and education programs where civilians, organizations, and federal bodies can identify threats and send timely reports for effective action to be taken by the DHS. By focusing on national security, the DHS should involve more private bodies as well as individuals in planning for protection measures that are compatible and convenient with the functionality of the individual enterprises. It is very important that the government keeps refreshing the strategies and monitoring their functionality as what may work today may fail to work tomorrow because of the evolving nature of cyber activities. The more technologically advanced the world gets, the more the risk to cyber-attacks and hence the need to improve and advance the strategies put in place to enhance cybersecurity. Governments should do more than protecting the physical security of the nation and increase surveillance in the national cyberspace.

References
DHS. (2019: 2024 – Online Assignment Homework Writing Help Service By Expert Research Writers). FISMA. Retrieved from https://www.oig.dhs.gov/taxonomy/term/663

Evans, H. (2018: 2024 – Write My Essay For Me | Essay Writing Service For Your Papers Online, July 1). Homework help – Summary: The Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity Strategy. Retrieved from https://www.lawfareblog.com/summary-department-homeland- securitys-cybersecurity-strategy
DHS. (2019: 2024 – Online Assignment Homework Writing Help Service By Expert Research Writers, April 4). DHS Cybersecurity Strategy. Retrieved from https://www.dhs.gov/publication/dhs-cybersecurity-strategy
DHS. (2019: 2024 – Online Assignment Homework Writing Help Service By Expert Research Writers, April 29). Federal Information Security Modernization Act. Retrieved from https://www.dhs.gov/cisa/federal-information-security-modernization-act
DHS. (2019: 2024 – Online Assignment Homework Writing Help Service By Expert Research Writers, May 28). FY19 FISMA Documents. Retrieved from https://www.dhs.gov/publication/fy19-fisma-documents
DHS. (2019: 2024 – Online Assignment Homework Writing Help Service By Expert Research Writers, June 5). Cybersecurity. Retrieved from https://www.dhs.gov/topic/cybersecurity#

Order | Check Discount