Hlsc 710- discussion 2- reply 2 | HLSC 710 – Contemporary Issues in Cyber Security and WMD (CBRNE) Threat Analysis | Liberty University

The response must be 200 words and use at least 2 scholarly citation(s) in APA format. Any sources cited must have been published within the last five years. Acceptable sources include texts, articles, presentations, the Bible, blogs, videos, etc.

Textbook:

Johnson, T. A. (2015). Cybersecurity: Protecting critical infrastructures from cyber attack and cyber warfare.Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. ISBN: 9781482239225.

Pichtel, J. (2016). Terrorism and WMDs (2nd ed.). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. ISBN: 9781498738989.

***KELCEY***

How does cyber impact and affect our critical infrastructure by way of interdependencies

Critical infrastructure comprises critical economic systems such as energy, food, water, health services, telecommunication, and transport. Essential dismantling of infrastructure will directly affect the daily activities of an economy and the citizens of that particular area. Therefore, there is the likeliness of potential consequences of an impact due to interdependencies of different sectors (John et al., 2018). A hit on one industry leads to an effect on dependent sectors. For instance, the transportation sector relies on the energy sector to supply electricity, while the energy sector relies on the transport sector to deliver fuel. Therefore, proper comprehension of interdependencies between industries is critical to avoid any future inherent risks.

Briefly discuss policy and legislation that supports cyber security.

Cyber security is a vital issue in every organization. Organizations should teach employees the importance of cybersecurity policy and legislation. Each employee is responsible for protecting an organization’s systems and information through encryption and restrictions of an organization’s activities (Fasulo, 2021). Most of the cybersecurity threats are through employees who act as a link to the organization. Therefore, organizations need to develop cybersecurity policies that will ensure the security of information and applications is maintained. A cybersecurity policy includes the roles and responsibilities of employees in an organization and the general security expectations from their employees. For instance, the SANS Institute constitutes various cybersecurity policies such as email, wireless communication, remote access, and password protection (Fasulo, 2021).  An example of a cybersecurity policy is the HIPAA Compliance Checklist policy.

What is the cyber threat spectrum?

The cyber threat spectrum refers to ransomware threats from cyber attackers from third parties or inside attackers. There are two ways of defending against cyber threats; early detection and good cyber hygiene (Musielewicz, 2020). In early detection, hazards are identified before the significant effect is done on a system. Good cyber hygiene means prioritizing enormous exposure to threats and defending the system before the happening of any malicious damage (Musielewicz, 2020). Therefore, the cyber-attack spectrum is a framework used to connect the appropriate tasks and strategic doctrines for cybersecurity.

What protective measures can be taken to better secure or protect cyber targets thus critical infrastructure? Be sure to discuss both structural and non-structural mitigation and prevention strategies.

To secure critical infrastructure, various structural and non-structural measures have to be adopted to safeguard the systems. The measures include; physical, technical, and procedural security measures (John et al., 2018). The technical measures comprise diverse strategies. These strategies include critical public infrastructure, firewalls for system boundary protection, intrusion detection devices for raising the alarm in case of a threat, access control mechanisms to restrict unauthorized access, and lockdown of servers to disable unnecessary vulnerabilities (John et al., 2018). The physical mitigations utilize access controls to install barriers to systems and computers. The access controls include door locks, badges, air conditioners, guards, alarms, property fences, and equipment enclosures. The third mitigation strategy is procedural measures, where the measures eliminate vulnerabilities and maintain the effectiveness of security controls. Also, procedural measures involve automatic locking of systems and computers after a period frame and regular system scans to identify altered system configurations.

The Biblical Reference 

Ephesians 4:28 “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.” KJV. This verse is a clear indication that God does not like people stealing. Instead, individuals should work with their own hands to earn what is rightfully theirs.