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FEMA: How to Prepare for a Winter Storm
"Winter storms can bring extreme cold, freezing rain, ice, snow, high winds, or a combination of all of these conditions. This guide from FEMA is designed to help you properly prepare for a winter storm and know how to protect yourself before, during, and after one. Planning and preparing can make a big difference in safety and resiliency in the wake of a winter storm. The ability to maintain or quickly recover following a winter storm requires a focus on preparedness, advanced planning, and knowing what to do in the event of a winter storm."
United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency
2017?
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Personnel Security Clearances: Additional Actions Needed to Ensure Quality, Address Timeliness, and Reduce Investigation Backlog, Report to Congressional Addressees
"A high-quality personnel security clearance process is necessary to minimize the risks of unauthorized disclosures of classified information and to help ensure that security relevant information is identified and assessed. The passage of IRTPA [Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA)] initiated an effort to reform the security clearance process government-wide. This report assesses the extent to which (1) executive branch agencies made progress reforming the security clearance process; (2) executive branch agencies completed timely initial clearances from fiscal years 2012-2016, and reported on timeliness; and (3) NBIB [National Background Investigations Bureau] has taken steps to improve the background investigation process and address the backlog."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2017-12
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Digital Forum on Terrorism Prevention: A Report on Trends and Insights
"Recent advances in technology have underpinned the growth of social media and messaging platforms online. However, that same technology has also enabled terrorist exploitation of the internet, where extremist organizations recruit, radicalize, and direct supporters. Since the July 2017 launch of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism--an organization led by Facebook, Microsoft, YouTube, and Twitter--there has been tangible progress made by both government and technology companies despite the complexity of the issues involved. At the same time, there is now a greater recognition that there will not be a silver bullet solution or a single solution to stopping terrorist activity online but that innovative public and private partnerships will be needed."
United States. Department of Homeland Security
2017-12
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Incident Response Plan Guidance
"Under the provisions of select agent regulations (7 CFR §331.14, 9 CFR §121.14, and 42 CFR §73.14), an entity registered with the Federal Select Agent Program is required to have plans in place in the event of a natural and/or man-made disaster. This guide is to assist the regulated community in developing a site-specific incident response plan to ensure the security and safeguarding of select agents and toxins from natural and man-made disasters."
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.)
2017-05
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Fire in the United States 2006-2015
"Fire departments in the United States responded to nearly 1.3 million fire calls in 2015. The U.S. fire problem no longer ranks as the most severe of the industrialized nations, yet thousands of Americans die each year, tens of thousands of people are injured, and property losses reach billions of dollars. There are huge indirect costs of fire as well, including temporary lodging, lost business revenues, medical expenses, psychological damage, and others. To put this into context, the annual losses from floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and other natural disasters combined in the U.S. average just a fraction of those from fires. The public, the media and local governments are generally unaware of the magnitude and seriousness of the fire problem and how it affects individuals and their families, communities and the nation."
United States Fire Administration; United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency
2017-12
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Overruled: White House Overrules Department of Homeland Security Budget Request on Border Security Personnel
"The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) plays a critical role in the process of developing the President's Budget Proposal each year. The Democratic staff of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs recently obtained a non-public document communicating OMB guidance from the President to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regarding its upcoming budget proposal for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019. At the request of Ranking Member Claire McCaskill, this staff report summarizes budgetary information contained within the document that relates to staffing at DHS. Key findings include: (1) A document obtained by the Committee reveals that OMB overruled specific DHS budget requests on a number of personnel issues during the development of the FY 2019 President's Budget proposal. (2) OMB instructed DHS to hire 1,000 more new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agents officers than DHS actually requested, raising the total number of new law enforcement personnel ICE must hire in FY 2019 from 1,000 to 2,000. (3) In contrast, OMB did not accept DHS's proposed increase in funding for the Office of Field Operations, which employs CBP [Customs and Border Protection] Officers stationed at ports of entry and has major responsibilities for border security. (4) OMB rejected the Department's request for a 2019 pay raise for Border Patrol Agents, ICE Agents, CBP Officers, and other DHS employees, and refused an increase for CBP health benefits. The President's FY 2019 budget proposal will seek a government-wide pay freeze for all civilian federal employees, potentially impacting the Department's ability to recruit and retain qualified employees."
United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
2017-12-13?
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Overruled: White House Overrules Department of Homeland Security Budget Request on Border Security Priorities
"The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) plays a critical role in the process of developing the President's budget proposal each year. The Democratic staff of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs recently obtained a non-public document communicating OMB guidance from the President to the Department of Homeland Security regarding its upcoming budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2019. At the request of Ranking Member Claire McCaskill, this staff report summarizes information contained within this document related to securing our nation's borders. Key findings include: (1) OMB rejected the Department's specific funding requests in certain circumstances for additional border security technology and equipment and, instead, instructed the Department to dramatically increase funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. (2) OMB instructed the Department to decrease its original funding request for border security technology and equipment initiatives by approximately $175 million. (3) OMB reduced the Department budget request for Remote Video Surveillance Systems (RVSS) in the Border Patrol's Rio Grande Valley sector in Texas. Despite its assertion that 'surveillance in the Sector is a continued priority,' OMB instructed DHS to request only $43.7 million for this technology - a $44.6 million reduction to the Department's original request, constituting a cut of over 50%. OMB acknowledged that reductions to RVSS technology are necessary 'to offset the costs of Presidential priorities not funded in the DHS request.' (4) OMB instructed DHS to seek $1.6 billion from Congress 'to continue construction of the border wall in the Rio Grande Valley Sector' of Texas. The document indicates that OMB's instruction to ask for $1.6 billion is '$700 million more than the agency request,' representing a 78% increase over the Department's original funding request for a physical barrier along the southwest border."
United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
2017-12-13
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Final Report: West Fertilizer Company Fire and Explosion
"On April 17, 2013, a fire and explosion occurred at the West Fertilizer Company (WFC), a fertilizer blending, retail, and distribution facility in West, Texas. The violent detonation fatally injured 12 emergency responders and three members of the public. Local hospitals treated more than 260 injured victims, many of whom required hospital admission. The blast completely destroyed the WFC facility and caused widespread damage to more than 150 offsite buildings. The WFC explosion is one of the most destructive incidents ever investigated by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) as measured by the loss of life among emergency responders and civilians; the many injuries sustained by people both inside and outside the facility fence line; and the extensive damage to residences, schools, and other structures. [...] The location of the WFC relative to the surrounding community exacerbated the offsite consequences, leading CSB to assess whether other FGAN [fertilizer grade ammonium nitrate] storage facilities could pose significant offsite risks. CSB's analysis shows that the risk to the public from a catastrophic incident exists at least within the state of Texas, if not more broadly. For example, 19 other Texas facilities storing more than 10,000 pounds of FGAN are located within 0.5 miles of a school, hospital, or nursing home, raising concerns that an incident with offsite consequences of this magnitude could happen again."
United States. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board
2013-04-17
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Joint Air-to-Ground Missile Program
"We determined whether the Joint Attack Munition Systems (JAMS) project office adequately assessed the affordability of the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) increment one. [...] The JAGM is an Army-led program with joint requirements from the Navy and Marine Corps. The Army implemented an incremental strategy to fulfill the JAGM requirements. The JAGM is the next generation of aviation-launched, air-to-ground, self-guided missiles that will replace the Hellfire family of missiles. Joint service manned and unmanned aircraft will use the JAGM to destroy enemy targets from a greater distance than current missiles."
United States. Department of Defense. Office of the Inspector General
2017-12-07
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Human Trafficking Organizations and Facilitators: A Detailed Profile and Interviews with Convicted Traffickers in the United States
"On January 1, 2012, Abt Associates began a study of individuals and organizations involved in perpetrating human trafficking. The project, supported by a grant from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), was designed to advance knowledge of human trafficking operations and facilitation, and the motivations and decision-making processes of individual offenders. In addition to these substantive pursuits, the study explored the utility of data and records maintained by the United States Sentencing Commission (USSC) that are seldom used for research in the public realm, and are potentially valuable for studying individual offenders and criminal enterprises."
National Criminal Justice Reference Service (U.S.)
Shively, Michael; Smith, Kamala; Jalbert, Sarah . . .
2016-03-31
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How Proverbs Damage Homeland Security
"Christopher Bellavita discusses twelve proverbs -- accepted truths -- that have characterized the homeland security narrative. He contends that in the haste to establish a homeland security enterprise and create new policies and strategies, many homeland security proverbs may be inaccurate; they 'distort the homeland security narrative in a way that inhibits the search for more effective ideas to protect the nation.' Bellavita sees an opportunity over the next ten years for academics and strategists 'to take another look at the basic assumptions underpinning our homeland security narrative, and identify evidence that supports or refutes the proverbs used to guide strategic direction.'"
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security
Bellavita, Christopher
2011-09
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Post-Tragedy 'Opportunity-bubble' and the Prospect of Citizen Engagement
From the journal's abstract for this article: "Fathali Moghaddam and James Breckenridge examine the 'opportunity-bubble' that allows leaders to mobilize the public immediately following a tragic event. 'Although great crisis will inevitably invite consideration of many alternatives, leadership must pay special attention to opportunities to engage the public as capable partners in their country's response to the crisis -- calling upon them as citizens with civic duties, as well as rights.'"
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security
Moghaddam, Fathali M.; Breckenridge, James N.
2011-09
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Does Homeland Security Exist Outside the United States?
From the journal's abstract for this article: "Nadav Morag contends, 'Homeland security is a uniquely American concept. It is a product of American geographic isolation and the strong tendency throughout American history to believe that there was a clear divide between events, issues and problems outside US borders and those inside US borders.' In answering the question, 'Does Homeland Security Exist Outside the United States?' he examines how other countries have organized their security policies, strategies, and plans."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security
Morag, Nadav, 1965-
2011-09
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Camera Recognition
"The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program is a biometrically-enhanced identification system primarily situated at border points of entry such as airports and seaports. The US - VISIT program's goal is to advance the security of the United States and worldwide travel through information sharing and biometric solutions to facilitate identity management. The biometrics currently captured at US-VISIT primary inspection are finger prints and a facial image. For the purposes of our study, we are interested in the latter. In a 2004 assessment of the quality of facial images captured by US-VISIT, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) discovered a widespread problem: many subjects were 1) not directly facing the camera and 2) had a pose angle of greater than 10 degrees [2] . The findings of NIST's subsequent follow - up studies suggest that the camera used to capture facial images of travelers should look as much as possible like a traditional camera [4] . Knowing where to look will help the subjects being photographed orient themselves in such a way that they are frontal to the camera -- thus improving picture quality. This study explored whether participants could discern image capture devices (i.e., cameras) from other types of technology, and the attributes they relied upon to make that distinction. In a controlled environment, we presented participants with 50 images of small (hand - held) devices and asked participants to indicate whether or not a given device was a camera. We then asked participants to group the devices into 2 to 5 categories and list the attributes they had used as a basis for assigning devices to each group."
National Institute of Standards and Technology (U.S.)
Steves, Michelle; Stanton, Brian; Theofanos, Mary . . .
2013-03
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Finding the Demons in Our Midst: Utilizing DoD ISR Assets to Combat Terrorist Use of CBRNE Weapons
The horrific terrorist attacks of September ii, 2001 on the U.S. homeland highlighted the threat that terrorism poses to U.S. national security. DoD operates globally a large network of Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) assets which could be brought to bear in the effort to combat terrorism. The geographic Commander's-in-Chief(CINCs) set the priorities for the intelligence networks in their Areas of Responsibility (AORs) according to their interpretation of the strategic guidance from the National Command Authority (NCA). A key tenet of the new strategic setting is the grave threat to national security posed by terrorism, potentially using Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, or Enhanced High Explosive (CBRNE) weapons. This fact, coupled with the new strategic mandate that sets defense of the homeland as the highest priority for the U.S. military, dictates that each of the geographic CINCs set combatting terrorist use of CRBRNE weapons as the highest priority for their intelligence networks. The success or failure of this operational intelligence effort could have major strategic effects.
Naval War College (U.S.)
Liedman, Sean R.
2002-02-04
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Measuring the Usability and Security of Permuted Passwords on Mobile Platforms
"Password entry on mobile devices significantly impacts both usability and security, but there is a lack of
usable security research in this area, specifically for complex password entry. To address this research
gap, we set out to assign strength metrics to passwords for which we already had usability data, in an
effort to have a more meaningful comparison between usability and security. This document reports a
method of optimizing the input of randomly generated passwords on mobile devices via password
permutation to allow for a comparison of password usability data. We found that the number of
keystrokes saved-the efficiency gained-via permutation depends on the number of onscreen keyboard
changes required in the original password rather than on password length. Additionally, we created and
are releasing Python scripts (publicly available from https://github.com/usnistgov/PasswordMetrics) for
the experiments on entropy loss we conducted across passwords ranging in length from 5 to 20 characters."
National Institute of Standards and Technology (U.S.)
Greene, Kristen K.; Kelsey, John; Franklin, Joshua
2016-04
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Non-Convergence in Domestic Commodity Futures Markets: Causes, Consequences and Remedies
"During most of 2005-10, the price of expiring U.S. corn, soybeans, and wheat futures contracts settled much higher than corresponding delivery market cash prices. Because futures contracts at expiration are commonly thought to be equivalent to cash grain, this commodity price non-convergence appeared inconsistent with the law of one price. In addition, sustained non-convergence concerns market participants, exchanges, and policymakers because it can make hedging less effective, send confusing signals to the market, threaten the viability of a contract, and ultimately lead to a misallocation of agricultural resources. This report summarizes prominent theories that have been offered to explain non-convergence, including a new model that explains how the structure of a competitive delivery market can generate a positive expiring basis. The data support this delivery market theory over alternative explanations. Finally, we discuss various policy levers that have been offered to address non-convergence, as well as their likely impacts."
United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service
Adjemian, Michael; Garcia, Philip; Irwin, Scott H. . . .
2013-08
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Internet Firearm Sales: ATF Enforcement Efforts and Outcomes of GAO Covert Testing, Report to Congressional Requesters
"The current federal legal framework governing buying and selling of firearms does not specifically address the use of the Internet to facilitate these transactions. Additionally, private transactions involving the most common types of firearms between individuals who are not licensed to commercially sell weapons and who are residents of the same state, including transactions facilitated by the Internet, are generally not subject to federal background-check requirements. Congressional requesters asked that GAO [Government Accountability Office] assess the extent to which ATF [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] is enforcing existing laws and investigate whether online private sellers sell firearms to people who are not allowed or eligible to possess a firearm. This report describes (1) techniques ATF uses to investigate and enforce generally applicable firearm laws in instances where the firearm or firearm component transaction is facilitated by the Internet and (2) results of GAO's undercover attempts to buy firearms on the Dark Web and Surface Web."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2017-11
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Roots of Community Resilience: A Comparative Analysis of Structural Change in Four Gulf Coast Hurricane Response Networks
"Despite the emphasis on resilience, disasters continue to challenge the response capacities of communities around the United States. These challenges are generated by the complexities and uncertainties present in the post-disaster environment. This article presents the findings of an exploratory investigation into the development and evolution of four disaster response networks that formed along the Gulf Coast, Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita in 2005, and Hurricane Gustav and Hurricane Ike in 2008. Using data collected from newspaper articles that referenced each hurricane during a period that spanned six days prior to landfall to twenty-two days after landfall, we identified the organizations that participated in each response network. We then used UCINET 6 to calculate network density and degree centralization, plotted longitudinally by date, and evaluated whether each network underwent structural change. The findings demonstrate that all four response networks underwent structural change, as a large heterogeneous collection of response organizations came together, collected and disseminated information, and sought to identify and implement solutions that would address the needs of those affected by the disaster event. While additional research is necessary to reveal the causal factors behind these structural changes, the findings presented in this article suggest that investments in information communication technologies, such as those made by the state of Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, can help to facilitate the resilience of disaster response networks."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security
Haase, Thomas W.; Ertan, Gunes; Comfort, Louise K. (Louise Kloos), 1935-
2017-10
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Cyber Border Security - Defining and Defending a National Cyber Border
"Concerns stemming from the convergence of border and cyber security threats are nothing new to those involved in both disciplines. Criminals and foreign actors have been exploiting computers and cyber methods to circumvent physical border security for decades. Today nearly every crime or homeland security threat that once required some physical nexus with the nation's traditional borders (land, sea, and air) is being committed, or at least facilitated, by some cyber component. In many ways vulnerabilities in cyber security render some aspects of traditional border security irrelevant, or at the very least, much less secure. The article explores this convergence of traditional border and cyber security and proposes a policy that would seek to evolve the concept of border security to include the cyber domain. Based on policy work begun over a decade ago by the author while the national cybercrime program manager for the U.S. Customs Service, the article details how a national cyber border can be defined and enforced. Relying on a methodology that adapts existing authorities, the article provides logical justifications and arguments for the need and legal authority to define a national cyber border. The strengths and shortcomings of this adaptive methodology are explored along with issues which may require new legislation. The article addresses some of the privacy concerns which are certain to arise from the cyber border concept using the same adaptive methodology of existing protections and expectations of privacy. The ultimate goal of the article is to stimulate thought- provoking discussion and spur further academic research into the convergence of cyber and border security; issues which are interdependent and clearly in the forefront of homeland and national security."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security
Osborn, Phillip
2017-10
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Incorporating Prioritization in Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience Programs
"Protecting critical infrastructure, especially in a complex urban area or region, should focus on identifying and prioritizing potential failure points that would have the most severe consequences. Such prioritization can inform targeted planning and investment decisions, such as what infrastructure should be hardened or relocated first or what infrastructure should receive priority restoration following a disaster, among other uses. Without a prioritization process, assessment and protection programs are typically guided by intuition or expert judgement, and they often do not consider system-level resilience. While understanding how to prioritize high-consequence failure points for assessments and, for protection is essential, the complexity of infrastructure systems can quickly overwhelm. For example, in a notional region with 1,000 electric power assets, almost one million failure scenarios are associated with an N-2 contingency and nearly one billion failure scenarios are associated with an N-3 contingency. As a result, it is simply not feasible technically nor financially for system operators and government agencies to assess and prepare for all possible disruptions. Therefore, a primary goal of critical infrastructure protection and resilience programs should be to identify and prioritize the most critical contingencies affecting infrastructure systems. Achieving this goal will allow decision makers to identify high-impact isolated failures as well as cascading events, and to prioritize protection investments and restoration planning accordingly. To solve this problem, Argonne National Laboratory developed an optimization framework capable of modeling and prioritizing high-consequence failure points across critical infrastructure systems. The optimization framework can model at the system level or the interdependent 'system-of-systems' level and is applicable to any infrastructure."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security
Verner, Duane; Petit, Frederic D.; Kim, Kibaek
2017-10
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Alien Incarceration Report Fiscal Year 2017, Quarter 4
"On January 25, 2017, the President signed Executive Order (EO) 13768 on 'Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States'. Section 16 of the EO directs the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to collect relevant data and provide quarterly reports on: (a) the immigration status of all aliens incarcerated under the supervision of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP); (b) the immigration status of all aliens incarcerated as federal pretrial detainees under the supervision of the United States Marshals Service (USMS); and (c) the immigration status of all convicted aliens incarcerated in state prisons and local detention centers throughout the United States. This Fiscal Year (FY) 2017, Quarter 4 report includes data on aliens incarcerated under the supervision of BOP and USMS."
United States. Department of Homeland Security; United States. Department of Justice
2017-12-21
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Press Release: Statement of the Chairwoman and Ranking Member of the Committee on Ethics Regarding the Arrests of Members of the House During a Protest Outside the United States Capitol on December 6, 2017
"On December 21, 2017, the Committee [U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ethics] released a Report regarding the arrests of Members of the House during a protest outside the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. on December 6, 2017. The Report can be found on the Committee's web site: www.ethics.house.gov."
United States. Congress. House
2017-12-21
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Ultra-Marathoners of Human Smuggling: How to Combat the Dark Networks that Can Move Terrorists Over American Land Borders
"National legislation requires America's homeland security agencies to disrupt transnational human smuggling organizations capable of transporting terrorist travelers to all U.S. borders. Federal agencies have responded with programs targeting extreme-distance human smuggling networks that transport higher-risk immigrants known as special interest aliens (SIAs) from some 35 'countries of interest' in the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia where terrorist organizations operate. Yet ineffectiveness and episodic targeting are indicated, in part by continued migration from those countries to the U.S. southwestern border since 9/11. Should an attack linked to SIA smuggling networks occur, homeland security leaders likely will be required to improve counter-SIA interdiction, or do so preemptively. With a better understanding of how SIA smuggling networks persist in foreign geopolitical eco-systems, despite U.S. disruption efforts to date, could their most vulnerable fail points be identified for better intervention targeting? This essay presents the key findings of a systematic analysis of U.S. court records about SIA smuggling, as derived from 19 known prosecutions and a variety of other data between 2001 and 2015. It will discuss suggested leverage points and conclude with a list of strategy options for a more effective disruption campaign against them."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security
Bensman, Todd
2016-05
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Fortress Problem
"Fortresses do not usually fail well. When they rely on robustness or complication, positions of strength are only tolerant of stress up to a defined point or of a certain character. For a fortification that fails to adapt, centralization--even of strength--presents a surprising liability. Fortresses concentrate risk. This paper considers the way in which uncertain and unthinkable events undermine security practices that presume a greater degree of knowledge, uniformity, and control than is available. When facing worst cases and ambiguous threats, current security doctrine, theory, and practice promise more than they can deliver. Threat and catastrophe highlight a mismatch between reality and approach. Threat may be defined as official danger--governmental certification of possibility. Catastrophe implies rupture and exhaustion of capacity. Two problematic tendencies dominate the security response to threat and catastrophe: applying risk management when the information necessary to support such calculation is not available, and boundless precaution. In the first case the homeland security enterprise lives with a false assumption that it controls the risk; in the second it has little measure of success and surrenders decisions to threat politics. This paper suggests that security agencies need to renovate their fortresses, favoring adaptability over robustness in the face of threat and catastrophe."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security
Anderson, Jack
2016-05
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To Save Lives and Property: High Threat Response
From the abstract: "The emergency services community must recognize that the world is constantly changing and adjust accordingly. It will have to be more nimble and proactive with its capabilities if it wants to prepare effectively for future threats and respond to atypical emergencies. Over the past several years, fire, law enforcement and emergency medical services communities have not adapted their missions or capabilities to prepare, train, and respond effectively in a joint capacity to perhaps the two most imminent, nonconforming threats facing communities across America -- the active shooter and fire as a weapon. These are incidents that necessitate an integrated response; traditional single agency 'stove piped' responses will not be effective in saving lives and property. If we do not integrate Fire/EMS and law enforcement capabilities for these imminent threats, not only will civilian lives be lost, but those of first responders will be as well."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security
Delaney, John; Atwater, Paul A.; Marino, Michael . . .
2015-06
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When Guns and Drugs are Democratized: Potential Technical Solutions to Counter the Negative Consequences of Three Dimensional Printing
"3-D printer technology will have negative consequences in the form of weapons that cannot be traced, illicit drug manufacture, sabotage, and intellectual property theft. This article poses the following questions. How will society be affected by these changes? How will border security organizations accomplish their missions when illicit guns and drugs no longer have to be transferred across borders? How might terrorists use their ability to hack design files to sabotage components built by 3-D printers? This article will focus on what can be done to limit, through the use of technology, the sinister uses of the 3-D printer while still allowing for the positive benefits that this new technology will bring to humanity. The article is structured to describe briefly how 3-D printing technology functions, how the technology can be used to print objects with negative consequences to society, and how those consequences may be remediated."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security
Percy, Jonathan
2016-12
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Assessing Homeland Security Risks: A Comparative Risk Assessment of 10 Hazards
"The National Academy of Sciences recommended that the Department of Homeland Security use methods of qualitative comparative risk assessment as part of its approach to strategic planning. To provide insight into how this can be done, this paper examines a set of ten homeland security risks-- including natural disasters, terrorist events, and major accidents-- in a systematic fashion. These hazards were described in terms of the annualized risk to the United States as a whole using open-source data and a standardized set of attributes. This assessment can be useful on its own, providing a baseline of knowledge about these homeland security risks and a source of data for subsequent risk management and comparative risk assessment studies. Additionally, this assessment can help identify what is known about the homeland security risk generally-- the availability of data on homeland security risks and the uncertainty of the risks as they vary by hazard and attribute."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security
Lundberg, Russell; Willis, Henry H.
2015-12
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What Comes Around, Goes Around (and Around and Around): Reviving the Lost History of FEMA and its Importance to Future Disasters
"In January 2014, government officials and citizens began to reflect on two emergency programs the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) put into place after Hurricane Sandy in New York. The Rapid Repairs and the Sheltering and Temporary Essential Power (STEP) programs were an innovative way for FEMA to use its authorities, normally limited to providing temporary housing, to make minor repairs to the homes of disaster survivors. Instead of spending millions more to place these families in hotel rooms, rental resources or other temporary housing, FEMA could allow survivors to stay in their homes, saving millions of dollars and reducing the angst of those forced to leave their communities behind. However, like any government program created from scratch in the midst of a disaster, it
suffered from significant problems, inefficiencies, and poor implementation. If only the Federal Coordinating Officer for FEMA and his state and local government counterparts did not have to create and deliver these programs on the fly. It turns out they did not. These programs had already been delivered to the public almost exactly 40 years earlier."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security
Lucie, H. Quinton
2016-12
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Surviving the 'Storm': Expanding Public Health's Capabilities in Response to the Increasing Threats Posed by Novel, Pandemic Strain Viruses
"The recent emergence of two separate outbreaks of two new viruses has generated renewed interest in the threat of pandemics. For a significant portion of the total fatalities associated with these infections the cause of death was due to an over-reaction of an infected body's immune system. This research explores possible pharmaceutical interventions that would help expand the list of options public health could employ in a response. For inclusion in state stockpiles, medications must meet three specific criteria: medical efficacy, cost, and logistical considerations. We identified four medications that could be employed (three statins - atorvastatin, simvastatin, and gemfibrozil and an antiviral - ribavirin) and present options for their inclusion into state stockpiles. Through this research we have attempted to open a dialogue with other federal and state planners as they wrestle with the same challenges within their home agencies."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security
Mackie, Daniel P.; Richter, Anke
2015-09
