Role played by DHS in safeguarding the national infrastructure from cyber attack
Overview of the risks
The coordinated cyber attacks from China might hamper the current state of affairs of the United States. There is an increasing need for taking the situation under control as soon as possible. After its occurrence, the critical infrastructure of the country might be paralyzed. It will affect the IT infrastructure of the government and private agencies. Along with that, it might hamper the electric grid and restrict satellite communications. The Department of Defense or DOD usually communicates with other agencies that are situated overseas. However, the probable attack can restrict DOD’s overseas communication. Lastly, the financial services, along with international commerce, will be hit. Hence, the DHS or Department of Homeland Security established to protect the nation from such attacks can strengthen the situation.
Overview of the Presidential Order
The Presidential Order has been published by the President to ensure the protection of American infrastructure and innovation. In this order, cybersecurity has been prioritized because the nation is entirely dependent on its IT infrastructure. The order includes policies and regulations that can help to strengthen the critical infrastructure from the sudden attack. The executive branch of the government agencies also requires protection and safeguarding.
Therefore, the order stated that the IT infrastructure could be protected by denying unauthorized access to data and detects suspicious activities (The White House. 2017). Awareness and alertness can also prevent attacks. Most importantly, risk management activities should be implemented, and apart from protecting the IT infrastructure, there is a need to maintain and modernize the system. Chapter 35, subchapter II, title 44, U.S Code, highlights that operational and budgetary processes should be aligned with the processes of risk management.
Ways to handle the state of affairs
The DHS has been established to ensure the safety of territorial as well as the local government. The department works towards the welfare of the homeland, and therefore and it has prioritized the recent cyber threats from China. The department can analyze the vulnerable situations and ensure the safeguarding of data-related services and enterprises (Caplan, 2013). The actions that can be implemented by DHS has been stated below-
- The department can form integrated risk management teams, and the senior executives must be included within the team
- The chosen executives should comply with the budgetary and operational requirements, as stated in the U.S Code Chapter 35.
- The DHS can form a partnership with the Office of Management of Budget (OMB) and consistently assess the reports, documents, and links of at-risk agencies (Baggett & Simpkins, 2018).
- There is a necessity to assess the risks because it can highlight the present and future risks
- It also ensures the functioning of transparent security processes
- The department prioritizes collective action, and hence it can form local and international partnerships with concerned agencies
- DHS works by following a “prevent-protect-investigate-mitigate-respond” method and understands the significance of creating interdependent systems.
- It can share the strategies of risk management with corporate leaders as well.