The 2016 Arizona Threat Identification Risk Assessment

The Cybersecurity Act of 2012 and its revised version S.3414 addressed several cyber security needs, which have been often overlooked or opposed. The nation stands vulnerable to cyber-attacks, as everyday technology is revamped and upgraded, while laws to protect the nation creep slowly through Congress. Many politicians have argued that these bills have imposed too much regulation on the cyber world and therefor oppose it (CITATION NEEDED). Congress needs to pass laws and regulations if they wish to help protect the nation from the growing threat of cyber-attacks, which can easily cripple the United States from across the globe. The Quadrennial Homeland Security Review Report reveals that the threat of cybercrime is a growing concern.

The unified training for all levels of law enforcement ensures a common focus and standard are obtained, and that the necessary information is being transmitted to those who need it. As technology continues to advance, the threat of cyber attacks continue to rise as well. The stability of a nation's physical and electronic infrastructure is vital to the success of a nation. The efforts of both of these sections of the Department of Homeland Security are essential to the overall mission of keeping the nation

The Quadrennial Homeland Security review suggest six strategic challenges that will drive the overall risk to the nation over the next five years. These six risks include: the terrorist threat; growing cyber threats; biological concerns; nuclear terrorism; transnational criminal organizations; and natural hazards (DHS, 2014). The terrorists threat is, arguably, the most publicized and popular of the six risks the DHS lists. The particular risk is unique in the fact that although it can be planned for and mitigated against by state and local governments, it is primarily a federal responsibility, or at least perceived so by most entities. The DHS itself was established due to the events of September 11th 2001 and it has since been a consistent

Tempe is a suburban city within the major Phoenix metroplex in Arizona, with a population of over 180,000 people. As part of a major metroplex, the city of Tempe is tasked with not only assessing the hazards identified by the state or county, but also those unique to its own population, such as the flood plain surrounding Tempe Town Lake or the terrorist target of a large university which composes a large chunk of the northern part of the Tempe city limits. Tempe has split its emergencies between natural emergencies, technological emergencies and man-made emergencies such as terror attacks or civil unrest. Each hazard and threat has their own unique risks and mitigation strategies that the City of Tempe must assess and implement during a crisis.

At 6pm on April 30th, 2014, a life-threatening disaster struck the Florida panhandle. At that time, Florida residents were not aware of the rain and flooding that was about engulf Pensacola and the surrounding areas. But as time began to pass, it became obvious this was not an ordinary storm. As the rain poured and the lightning struck, many people lost power and television connection, unable to see that what was thought to be a small storm would set national records and be the cause for severe-weather threats. This event taught me how to prevent a disastrous situation in dire conditions as well as the importance of being prepared.

While we do not have historical record of all of the natural hazards that have impacted the United States, we do know that for multitudes of years, the United States has been hit by many natural hazards – hurricane, tornado, drought, wildfire, flood and earthquake, to name a few. As each of these natural hazards occur, multiple issues arise – relative to the core components of emergency management: mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. Yet, even with prior knowledge from years past and the destructive events that have occurred, we as a nation continue to struggle with natural hazards that more often than not become natural disasters. For too long it seems as if we have settled in to a rhythm of responding, attempting to recover, rebuilding and then repeating the cycle as another natural hazard strikes.

When several individuals and entities are involved in the management of a major event such as this, a need of a good collaboration is required; otherwise a failure will likely end the processes. The Maricopa County severe storms and flooding of September 2014 necessitated strong collaboration and coordination among the public health, the public safety, the municipal officials, and the emergency managers during the preparedness, the response, and the recovery. The major strengths of the collaboration acts were the ones that led to effective operations. The frame work under which roles and

A disaster which hit Arizona on September 2014 required the declaration of a major disaster by the American President Barack Obama (FEMA, 2014). This disaster killed many people in the Maricopa County, caused several damages to goods, homes, infrastructures, and so on. The recovery processes in the Maricopa County started simultaneously with the response and continued long time after the impact of the disaster. This paper addresses the strengths of the short- and the long-term recovery plans, the weaknesses and the challenges of the short- and long-term recovery plans, the remained long-term recovery work to be done, the political and legal issues that influenced the recovery, and recommendations that could promote effective recovery.

The unprecedented and horrific experience of these events profoundly changed the way Americans live their lives and their Government manages their society and protects their country. This event was the turning point, which triggered major U.S. initiatives regarding how to prevent, respond, and recover from incidents of national crisis, including acts of terror, as well as natural and man-made disasters. The purpose of this essay is to provide an overview of the Department of Homeland Security and its emergency management strategies for preventing, mitigating, responding, and recovering from threats and hazards.

No human life wants to deal with events such as; earthquakes, forest fires (West Coast), hurricanes, tornadoes, and terrorist like 9/11. To avoid these kinds of events is inevitable but, with the risk equation such as: R=f(C,V, T). These types of disasters can be contained and reduced by damages. Homeland security partners must provide and receive information and assessments on current and emerging risks in time to carry out their risk management responsibilities, while enjoying access to the data, tools, and expertise to make informed risk management decisions (Department of Homeland Security, 2010). Risk management plays a huge role all across America and is considered to be very important.

As the need for a more uniformed response system that not only notified federal agencies but that would include state, local and civilians the Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS) became obsolete and was replaced with National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS). This instrument is not only beneficial in planning how to prepare for terrorist attack but also provides guidance to all whom may be involved on procedures and policies. First responders need to be aware of all risks they may be exposed to prior to, during, and after an event occurs. Lack of proper personal equipment (PPE), training and funding for their agency may be detrimental not only to them but those they are trying to assist. There are many risk that first responders are

A terrorist attack, cyber-attack, 6.8 earthquake, flooding, hazardous waste material, and a wildfire are identified by THIRA as the six plausible hazards and threat scenarios in the state of Colorado (Homeland Security Emergency Management, 2014, p.16). The goal of the THIRA process is to help communities identify possible hazards and prepare resources in case an unplanned risk presents itself (FEMA, 2013). Subsequently once I had finished reviewing the scenarios I came to believe that each six scenarios are both plausible and significant. Though terrorist attacks in Colorado are not common, they have happened in the last decade. The most recent act of terrorism against Colorado being the Aurora movie theater shooting. Though it have never

Since 2010 there have been over 13 major cyber attacks in the US, the FBI categorizes the severity of the attack based on what could possibly be at stake such as information on US citizens or hijacking of critical information . Cyber attacks are classified as crimes committed with the aid of a computer. Cyber crimes are considered felonies, however most people who commit the crimes can usually not be found. Recently there has been an uprising in cyber crimes, in the year 2017 alone 9 minor incidents have occured (minor attacks can consist of malware and internet “trolling” which is a form of cyberbullying) and 4 major crimes have been committed. Most crimes consist of identity theft, robbery, and hijacking private information. Recently programmers have been able to build security systems that can detect a threat almost immediately. With a growing expansion of technology protecting information gets harder day by day. Cyber security is the body of technologies, processes and practices designed to protect networks, computers, programs and data from attack, damage or unauthorized access.

Nearly every community has some sort of community risk, threat, and assessment plan that takes into account one of the six potential risks that are of concern to homeland security. Though each of these plans will likely differ from one another, many communities will have the same types of information in their plans. This essay will look at the Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment Guide (THIRA), the Community Risk Reduction Planning Guide, as well as FEMA’s National Preparedness plan. Any combination of these guides are a good starting point for every community in America. At top of every communities list as well as the nation is the protection of the critical infrastructure. Loss of infrastructure regardless of how big or small the community is could have very crippling effects on that community.

One of the best guidance documents for these communities is the Comprehensive Preparedness Guide 201 (CPG201). In this guide, communities will complete the Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment. The THIRA has a detailed four-step process in developing a robust Risk Assessment to allow the community to develop its plans. The first step is to “identify the threats and hazards of concern” to the community. Some of the challenges described by the Department of Homeland Security may not be applicable to the community or may pose extremely limited threat. The second step in to “give the threats context” which states how