Risk Assessment Abstract and Annotated Bibliography

The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was founded in 1930, and today, “operates one of the largest health care delivery systems in the nation, with 168 medical centers and more than 1,000 outpatient facilities organized into regional networks” (GAO, 2017). The VA employs nearly 350,000 people at its facilities and serves approximately 9 million veterans each year (VA, 2017).

Dictionary.com’s definition of the Department of Veterans Affairs is, “The second-largest cabinet department, the VA coordinates the distribution of benefits for veterans of the American armed forces and their dependents. The benefits include compensation for disabilities, the management of veterans' hospitals, and various insurance programs.” My sister, Keara Torkelson, is a retired US Army Veteran. Every time she takes a trip to the VA’s office, she only comes out less and less satisfied. However, the VA’s office isn’t the only place Veterans are neglected.

One of the most serious problems facing all veterans today is the lack of proper healthcare. Soldiers, sailors and airmen are leaving active duty without having proper healthcare to cover their physical or mental injuries. The department responsible for veteran’s healthcare is the Department of Veterans Affairs. (VA) According to The department of Veterans Affairs website, “The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a government-run military veteran benefit system with Cabinet-level status. It is responsible for administering programs of veterans’ benefits for veterans, their families, and survivors. The benefits provided include disability compensation, pension, education, home loans, life insurance, vocational rehabilitation, survivors’ benefits, medical benefits and burial benefits. It is administered by the United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs.” The VA, who was formerly called the Veterans Administration, was established 21 July 1930, to consolidate and coordinate government activities affecting war veterans. The VA encompassed the functions of the former U.S. Veterans ' Bureau, the Bureau of Pensions of the Interior Department and the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. On 25 October 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation creating a new federal Cabinet-level Department of Veterans Affairs to replace the Veterans Administration effective 15 March 1989 (V.A.)

To achieve the goal of ending homelessness among veterans by 2015, the VA has numerous programs. These include providing healthcare, rehabilitation services, employment assistance, and transitional housing for veterans, and supportive services for the families of veterans to help them better understand and deal with conditions the veteran spouse may have. Additionally, the VA works with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to provide long-term housing solutions for homeless veterans (Homeless Veterans, For Homeless Veterans).

The Department of Veterans Affairs’ mission statement is to fulfill President Lincoln's promise "To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan" by serving and honoring the men and women who are America's veterans. The department attempts to fulfill its mission through its Core Values. These values are captured in the acronym “I CARE”. It stands for Integrity, Commitment, Advocacy, Respect, and Excellence. The department has a presidential cabinet secretary and is responsible for overseeing all veterans’ affairs on behalf of the United States government. The department has three administrations: Veterans Benefits Administration, Veterans Health Administration and National Cemetery Administration which

The Department of Veteran Affairs (DVA) is a public organization that is government provided. The organization funding is produce through taxes. The executive branch of the agency is located in Washington DC and is headed by Secretary of Veteran Affairs. There are Veteran Affairs Offices located in all 50 states, including American Samoa, District of Columbia, Guam, North Marianas Islands, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands. It ranks number two in the United States federal department with over 200,000 employees.

Unit 2 Assignment 1: Executive Summary on Veteran’s Affairs (VA) and Loss of Private Information

On 3 May 2006, a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) laptop was stolen from a VA data analyst’s home in Montgomery County, Maryland. In addition to the laptop, a personal external hard drive was stolen. The external hard drive contained the personal data (names, social security numbers, dates of birth, disability ratings) for 26.5 million veterans and their spouses. It should be noted that the massive data theft was only one of many that had been discovered over the course of 1.5 years.

The VA (Veterans Affair) Health Care System is one of the largest, most advanced health care networks in the U.S. The VA Health Care System is the provider for veterans, retirees and their dependents and manages all their health care. The VA Health Care is actually one part of the Department of Veterans Affairs. There is also VA Benefits Administration which has to do with compensations and pensions. Then the other part of the VA is the National Cemetery Administration which is in charge of the cemeteries and providing burial and memorial benefits. All these parts make up the Department of Veterans Affairs. (VA History)

Disabled American Veterans (DAV) is a non-profit charity that provides lifetime support to veterans and their families. More than 1 million veterans a year have been helped by changing their lives in an encouraging way. Our main goal is to offer veterans with meaningful employment so that they can begin their civilian life since serving our country. There are job fairs throughout the year that provide resources that ensure the veterans a chance to take part in new jobs which is a huge goal of ours. The DAV also offers support to more than 700,000 veterans in getting them to and from medical appointments and helps more than 300,000 with benefit claims annually. There are almost 1,300 chapters and 1.3 million members across the country. This gives veterans and their families the resources they need and ensures them that our nation will keep the promises that they made when they served our country.

The VA website http://www.va.org has an array of everything and anything needed to understand benefits that are available. The

The VA has been warned before about their lack of concern toward information security of our personal data, but it went unheard, since nothing serious had happen before, that we knew of. As with all breaches, many go unreported, and someone, somewhere along the lines knew about it, but lets it slide until it is too late, and somebody personal information stolen.

In 1997 the National Security Agency (NSA) tested the Pentagon’s cyber security in an exercise named “Eligible Receiver”. Within two days of the exercise, the NSA team had penetrated the classified command network and was in complete control of network. Two years later, the United States Air Force experienced a computer breach in which huge amounts of data were being exfiltrated from research files located on airbases. “Gigantic amounts of data were being shipped out from a lot of computers in the Defense Network and from many data systems in the national nuclear laboratories of the Energy Department.” (Clarke, p. 111) File case named “Moonlight Maze”, by the FBI day-lighted two important aspects of information security. Computer specialist

The Federal Government needs to create information systems which are more effective shielded systems to protect their assets and resources at home. The foundation of any mandated cybersecurity strategies that secure our nation national security must incorporate worldwide or state local threats whether targeted toward the federal government or the private sector forces. The OPM breach highlighted the insufficient and inconsistence security approaches the federal government has already used in modernizing the existing cybersecurity policies. There is a requirement for the United States government to institute polices that would incorporate and implement new government cybersecurity structures and centralized the protection of their assets to avert future breaches (Source). Examining the inadequacies in the current national cybersecurity policies and regulations is disappointing as OPM choice to implement these mechanisms and the current authoritative propositions to cybersecurity must change immediately. It was reported that OPM only spent $2 million in 2015 to avert pernicious digital assaults, while the Department of Agriculture spent $39 million. The Department of Commerce, Department of Education, and Department of Labor likewise invested more money in cybersecurity resources than the Office of Personnel Management. The Small Business Administration devoted a similar amount into cybersecurity to recognizing, examining, and alleviate any cyber breaches as OPM, however

The purpose of a risk assessment plan, and especially this one in particular, is to analyze the threats or dangers to the Defense Logistics Information Service, which is the largest logistics combat support agency for the Department of Defense. A proper risk assessment plan is vital to protect both the information we store for the military, as well as the troops and civilians that would be in danger should this data be compromised.