Tampa Prep 2009-2010 Impact Defense File
Minimal risk of cyber attacks on the power grid – government and industry protections and there has never been a successful attack on the grid
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- 2. FERC is addressing the Cyber security of utilities
- AT: Ground Forces (Land Army Heg)
1. Minimal risk of cyber attacks on the power grid – government and industry protections and there has never been a successful attack on the gridCNN 2007 [http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/26/power.at.risk/index.html Sources: Staged cyber attack reveals vulnerability in power grid September 26, 2007] Despite all the warnings and worry, there has not been any publicly known successful cyber-attack against a power plant's control system. And electric utilities have paid more attention to electronic risks than many other industries, adopting voluntary cyber-standards. "Of all our industries, there are only a couple -- perhaps banking and finance and telecommunications -- that have better cyber-security or better security in general then electric power," Borg said. And DHS notes that it uncovered the vulnerability discovered in March, and is taking steps with industry to address it. While acknowledging some vulnerability, DHS's Jamison said "several conditions have to be in place. ... You first have to gain access to that individual control system. [It] has to be a control system that is vulnerable to this type of attack." "You have to have overcome or have not enacted basic security protocols that are inherent on many of those systems. And you have to have some basic understanding of what you're doing. How the control system works and what, how the equipment works in order to do damage. But it is, it is a concern we take seriously." "It is a serious concern. But I want to point out that there is no threat, there is no indication that anybody is trying to take advantage of this individual vulnerability," Jamison said. Borg notes that industry will have to remain forever vigilant at protecting control systems. 2. FERC is addressing the Cyber security of utilitiesWashington Post 2008. [“Hackers Have Attacked Foreign Utilities, CIA Analyst Says.” January 19, Page A04. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/ 01/18/AR2008011803277.html] On Thursday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved eight cybersecurity standards for electric utilities. They involve identity controls, training, security "perimeters," physical security of critical cyber equipment, incident reporting and recovery. The U.S. electricity grid has always been vulnerable to outages. "Cybersecurity is a different kind of threat, however," Joseph T. Kelliher, the commission's chairman, said in a statement this week. "This threat is a conscious threat posed by a single hacker, or even an organized group that may be deliberately trying to disrupt the grid." AT: Ground Forces (Land Army Heg)1. Man power is not important in the military Jack Spencer is Senior Policy Analyst for Defense and National Security in the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies at The Heritage Foundation. August 1, 2003 (“Reducing Stress on an Overstretched Force” http://www.heritage.org/research/nationalsecurity/em895.cfm) While U.S. forces are not adequate to sustain the current rate of deployment, simply adding manpower is not necessarily the answer. Clearly, the U.S. needs more capabilities. However, while adding manpower may seem like the quickest way to fill the capabilities gap, it is not the best way to solve the problem. People are expensive The most effective weapons in the U.S. armed forces are soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines. They are also, understandably, the most expensive. Only about a third of the defense budget is spent on developing and buying weapons. Most of the rest goes to personnel and operational costs. Maintaining personnel beyond the number needed to fulfill U.S. national security requirements takes resources away from important efforts such as modernization and transformation. The result can be inappropriate deployments A perceived excess of manpower tempts political leaders to deploy forces on operations that have little or nothing to do with U.S. national security. After the Cold War, this perception arguably contributed to heavy U.S. involvement in peacekeeping efforts in places like Haiti, Somalia, and the Balkans. It is not the only measure of capability Although manpower end-strength is important, it does not by itself determine capabilities. For example, a force trained and equipped for the Cold War, regardless of size, would be inappropriate for the war on terrorism. Similarly, a military unit using old technology may not be as capable as a unit half its size using new technology. Structuring the force to reflect modern national security requirements accurately is more important than investing resources in outdated and wasteful organizations. 2. The military must downsize to meet contemporary threats Charles V. Pena, a senior fellow with the Coalition for a Realistic Foreign Policy, February 9, 2006, Science Direct The defense budget can be reduced and the U.S. military downsized because (1) the nation-state threat environment is markedly different than it was during the Cold War, and (2) a large military is not necessary to combat the terrorist threat. In fact, the Islamist terrorist threat is relatively undeterred by the U.S. military presence abroad, and U.S. forces abroad, particularly those deployed in Muslim countries, may do more to exacerbate than to diminish the threat. The arduous task of dismantling and degrading the terrorist network will largely be the task of unprecedented international intelligence and law enforcement cooperation, not the application of large-scale military force. To the extent the military is involved in the war on terror, it will be special forces in discrete operations against specific targets rather than large-scale military operations. 3. Current Threats make a large military useless Charles V. Pena, a senior fellow with the Coalition for a Realistic Foreign Policy, February 9, 2006, Science Direct The United States is in a uniquely safe geostrategic position against traditional, nation-state threats. No nearby foreign power is capable of projecting power to attack the United States, while the U.S. nuclear arsenal is a powerful deterrent against any countries with long-range nuclear capability. So the United States does not need a large, conventional military to defend the homeland against nation-states. Today, the major threat to the homeland comes from transnational networks of Islamist terrorists, and in the war on terror, large-scale military operations will be the exception rather than the rule. Al Qaeda does not command a military force, and as a transnational terrorist organization, it does not have physical infrastructure and high-value targets that can be easily identified and destroyed by military force. The military's role in the war on terror mainly involves Special Operations Forces in discrete missions against specific targets, not conventional warfare aimed at overthrowing entire regimes (such as Operation Iraqi Freedom). The rest of the war to dismantle and degrade Al Qaeda will largely be the task of unprecedented international intelligence and law enforcement cooperation. Therefore, an increasingly large defense budget—the Department of Defense projects the budget to grow to more than Image 492 billion by fiscal year 20101—is not necessary either to fight the war on terror or to protect America from traditional nation-state military threats. Directory: files -> documents documents -> North Mankato Taylor Library documents -> In the Red and Brown Water documents -> - documents -> I. Disaster Summary Sheet II. Tropical Cyclones documents -> Cbp and Trade Automated Interface Requirements Appendix: pga december 22, 2015 documents -> Ace abi catair customs and Trade Automated Interface Requirements documents -> Ace abi catair customs and Trade Automated Interface Requirements documents -> Mobile audio/video recording systems documents -> Cartographic Concepts for Realizing a Location Based umts service documents -> 1/ Background Statistics Human development index rank Download 2.71 Mb. Share with your friends:
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