InfoGram

November 1, 2001

NOTE: This InfoGram will be distributed weekly to provide members of the emergency services sector with news and information concerning the protection of their critical infrastructures. For further information please contact the U.S. Fire Administration's Critical Infrastructure Protection Information Center at (301) 447-1325 or email at usfacipc@dhs.gov.

Emergency Services Cooperation

Top administration officials pledged and urged greater intergovernmental cooperation with state and local governments in the fight against terrorism. Federal and local officials additionally stressed that counties were the first line of defense against terrorist acts and other emergencies. "They said more coordination was needed within and between counties and with other levels of government," according to a Federal Computer Week article.

This "call for cooperation" signals that leaders of the fire and emergency medical services must also be proactive about the acquisition and dissemination of information affecting operational plans and preparations. Therefore, the Critical Infrastructure Protection Information Center (CIPIC) recommends that senior leaders of the emergency services (i.e., first responders and emergency managers) talk to each other (as well as their local government leadership) on a daily basis and ensure awareness of all available �law enforcement sensitive� information. Occasionally, the information will potentially affect community critical infrastructures and the means of their protection.

Sanitize Web Sites

With sufficient evidence that Al Qaida associates are computer literate, the FBI warns that terrorist cells actively use the Internet looking for useful information and the vulnerabilities of possible targets. As a result, most federal agencies have removed information from their websites that they believe may help terrorists plan future attacks.

The CIPIC advises that police, fire, and EMS departments having their own websites quickly remove information which could be used to degrade or destroy critical infrastructures. As an example, all organizations should delete data pertaining to the numbers and positions of personnel, the numbers and types of equipment, the numbers and types of communications assets, and any future increases or upgrades in personnel, equipment, and systems. This was not meant to be an all inclusive list. Departments must use common sense to determine their own unique information that must be protected from adversary access and exploitation.

Personnel Infrastructure Protection

Firehouse.com reported that a jury recently convicted a woman of battery and criminal recklessness for sending marijuana-laced brownies last 23 December to a fire station in Elkhart, Indiana. The brownies sickened nine firefighters and caused the hospitalization of two more. Although none of the affected firefighters were dangerously incapacitated, the matter of food acquisition, preparation, and consumption in fire stations can no longer be overlooked.

Concerns exist that terrorists may attempt to poison food from questionable sources that are for the personnel of targeted entities. To provide adequate protection for the most critical of infrastructures (i.e., personnel), department leaders should employ and enforce measures which guarantee that all food brought into stations is safe and healthy. The CIPIC suggests department leaders can do this by knowing and using only professionally responsible food suppliers who maintain surveillance and controls over all their products.

Communications Infrastructure

Are communications systems in municipalities and among the emergency services vulnerable to degradation or loss? In too many instances the answer is yes! Such is the case because communications systems are usually dependent on computer networks. This weakness is further exacerbated because system redundancy seldom exists.

Research by CNN.com confirms that computer networks are now essential to the continuity of electric power, natural gas, petroleum production and distribution, telecommunications, transportation, water supplies, banking and finance, and emergency services. Can emergency first responders operate successfully without communications? In too many instances the answer is no! When this is the case, then the CIPIC proposes that community leaders determine the system weaknesses and how they can be mitigated. Measures to eliminate identified vulnerabilities will require the immediate application of resources.

Members of the United States Congress have requested that the new Office of Homeland Security make computer security part of the nation's defense against terrorism. Clearly, computer security must apply at all levels of government if the defense is to be comprehensive and effectively protect the communications infrastructure.

USFACIPC Weekly Lexicon: Patch

A modification to software that fixes an error in an application already installed on a computer or information system. It is a temporary solution generally supplied by the vendor of the software.