InfoGram

May 16, 2002

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.

USFA and NIPC Information Sharing Partnership

U.S. Fire Administrator R. David Paulison (USFA) and National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) Director Ronald L. Dick signed an agreement on 13 May launching a formal information sharing partnership. This new relationship between USFA and NIPC was arranged to enhance the readiness and security of firefighters and emergency medical personnel throughout the nation. The primary goal of this arrangement is to facilitate the expeditious dissemination of sensitive information regarding potential threats to the critical infrastructures of the fire and emergency medical services.

The agreement establishes the CIPIC as an Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC) serving the emergency first response sector. In close collaboration and cooperation with the USFA ISAC, the NIPC will be able to transmit threat information to career and volunteer departments after procedures are finalized and approved. To accomplish this, USFA and NIPC are currently studying how to leverage existing communications systems including the traditional law enforcement networks. Getting threat intelligence to all departments as soon as possible is the objective or bottom line of this endeavor.

The USFA and NIPC partnership "recognizes the necessity for a robust and timely exchange of essential information about threats to and attacks on the fire and emergency medical services infrastructure," according to Administrator Paulison. "It is most appropriate that USFA establishes an ISAC to serve as a mechanism for the two-way trusted exchange of information in order to analyze and disseminate actionable intelligence on threats, attacks, vulnerabilities, anomalies, and security best practices involving firefighters and EMS personnel."

CIP Spending Responsibility

Every other week, each state participates in a White House teleconference to discuss its needs and concerns. During these communications, state officials consistently acknowledge that most of their problems stem from the lack of cash. Across the nation, states, counties, and cities are spending scarce dollars to support a steady steam of additional security demands, including increased infrastructure protection measures. At many locations, protecting the critical infrastructures of emergency first responders is a considerable and expensive issue.

To be "response--able" or capable of responding to all incidents, the CIPIC encourages chief officers and their municipalities to exercise responsibility and restraint when spending money for infrastructure protection. Avoid the tendency to protect as much as possible until available funding is exhausted. Instead, consult the CIP process in order to reliably determine what really, really needs protection. In other words, spend scarce dollars exclusively on meticulously identified critical infrastructures: people, physical assets, and cyber systems that are absolutely indispensable for survivability, continuity of operations, and mission success. However, invest resources to protect these critical infrastructures only if they are both threatened and vulnerable. Again, the CIPIC recommends using the CIP process to ensure that security measures are limited to those critical infrastructures that truly need protection. To learn more about the CIP process, please contact the CIPIC at 301-447-1325 or at usfacipc@dhs.gov.

Facilitating Community Infrastructure Security

At a recent conference, the White House National Infrastructure Protection Board told attendees that the Internet was developed for information exchange with little focus on security. As has been done many times in the past eight month, board members warned that content of websites should be examined to determine if adversaries could use the information to plan and execute attacks. A demonstration at the conference revealed how the critical infrastructures of an existing local municipality could be degraded or destroyed by using information gathered from that community's actual website.

In the 28 March InfoGram, the CIPIC recommended that fire and EMS departments delete any information pertaining to personnel numbers and positions, specific internal details about stations, numbers and types of apparatus, available mission essential equipment, existing communications assets, water sources, preferred response routes, standard operating procedures, and emergency response plans. The rationale for this extensive "scrubbing" of websites, public reading rooms, etc., is logical and credible: "Even though a particular piece of information may seem harmless by itself, when used in conjunction with other publicly available data, the aggregate could be lucrative to those planning criminal action."

Given what was revealed by the National Infrastructure Protection Board, the CIPIC appeals to all community leaders to review their websites and facilitate the removal of data that may be advantageous to anyone with criminal intent. Since chief officers of career and volunteer department are indeed community leaders, they are also agents for change. Therefore, it is reasonable to believe that they can positively influence necessary municipal security improvements on behalf of all citizens and critical infrastructures! The CIPIC encourages such community leadership by the chief officers of America's emergency first responders.

4 July Threat Study

National intelligence assets are studying the credibility of a terrorist threat against one or more U.S. nuclear power plants on 4 July 2002. Government officials are taking the threat seriously, though they believe "the information is not wholly reliable." The claims of a plot were obtained by American intelligence agencies last week. It coincides with other recent reports indicating that two al-Qaeda terrorists are planning an attack inside the United States using radioactive material in a conventional bomb.

Abu Zubaydah, the captured al-Qaeda operations chief, told his interrogators that an American and an African national are operating in a secret cell within the U.S. and planning the attack. Therefore, if not already done, emergency responders in the vicinity of nuclear power plants should review and revise their response plans as necessary, rehearse procedures, and ensure total personnel and equipment readiness in the event an attack does occur.