Assignment task: Healthcare and Public Health Sector (hospitals)
Prior to beginning work on this assignment, please:
Read
o Secure Cyberspace and Critical Infrastructure.
o Preserve and Uphold the Nation's Prosperity and Economic Security.
o Chapter 1 of Critical Infrastructure Protection in Homeland Security: Defending a Networked Nation
o Analysis of Critical Infrastructure Dependencies and Interdependencies.
When thinking about a targeted cyber attack on the area of critical infrastructure you selected, consider the third- and fourth-order effects that show how far-reaching and devastating a cyber attack could be and how it might ultimately impact another Critical Infrastructure and Key Resource (CIKR) facility.
For example, a first-order effect would be the initial attack, and second-order effects would be the direct results of the attack. A first-order effect might be an attack against a power station, and a second-order effect might be that no traffic lights are operational. However, beyond the second (intended impact) order may be additional consequences, such as a significant traffic accident. A fourth-order effect might be multiple deaths, because ambulances can't get to the accident and back to the hospital.
Building a Hazard Tree:
A hazard tree requires that an analysis of hazards be done systematically. The tree can be represented as either an outline or a diagram. Its presentation should be in an attractive format to help visualize different levels of danger that may not have been previously considered. Two examples of how you might present your tree are provided.
The first example shows an outline, which can be created using a simple note outline in a Word document. There is one first-order hazard and two second-order hazards in the example. The first sequence is five orders deep and the second sequence is four orders deep.
- 1st Order: Attack at power station
- 2nd Order: Traffic lights inoperable
- 3rd Order: Multiple vehicle accidents
- 4th Order: Deaths because emergency vehicles hindered by traffic light issues
- 5th Order: Emergency services overtaxed due to increased deaths and injuries from accidents
- 2nd Order: Nearby hospitals on backup power supplies
- 3rd Order: Hospitals have reduced functionality for non-essential tasks
- 4th Order: Non-emergency care greatly limited
For the Critical Infrastructure and a Cyberattack Hazard Tree assignment, you will create a report that includes a hazard tree at least five orders deep with an analysis of how each element is interconnected.
The Critical Infrastructure and a Cyberattack Hazard Tree assignment should:
1. Describe which area of Critical Infrastructure or Key Resource (CIKR) your report will cover.
2. Distinguish the interconnectedness of various critical infrastructure.
3. Build a hazard tree diagramming the cascading effects of a cyber attack on your chosen CIKR site and other CIKR sites. It should be at least five orders deep, with a nexus to another type of CIKR site or facility.
- The point is to illustrate how an attack on one site can have cascading affects that eventually damage another site or CIKR sector.
4. Summarize the measures DHS has taken to ensure resiliency of the selected infrastructure and measures that need to be implemented in the future.
The Critical Infrastructure and a Cyberattack Hazard Tree assignment
- Must be four to five double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA Style