InfoGram 49-07: December 20, 2007

This InfoGram will be distributed weekly to provide members of the Emergency Services Sector with information concerning the protection of their critical infrastructures. For further information, contact the Emergency Management and Response - Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) at (301) 447-1325 or by email at emr-isac@fema.dhs.gov.

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Holiday Vigilance

As we gather with family and friends between 22 December and 1 January, the Emergency Management and Response—Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) staff wish all members of the Emergency Services Sector (ESS) a very happy, safe, and peaceful holiday season. It was an honor and pleasure to serve your CIP needs during this past year, and we look forward to improving our outreach and services to the sector during 2008.

At this festive time of the year, ESS leaders, owners, and operators are reminded that the critical infrastructures (i.e., personnel, physical assets, and communication/cyber systems) upon which our loved ones and citizens depend must remain intact and operational without incapacitation or destruction by deliberate, natural, or accidental causes. Therefore, while our thoughts and attention turn to possible travel and celebrations, the EMR-ISAC recommends continued vigilance whenever and wherever to ensure the survivability, continuity, and "response-ability" of emergency departments and agencies.

It is a dismal fact that our adversaries (often including weather) will not be resting, but will continue to exploit vulnerabilities, test protective measures, and plan attacks during the remainder of this year and certainly throughout the next. Hence, persistent and effective vigilance is a harsh reality.

Please know that there will be no InfoGram published on 27 December and 3 January. The next InfoGram will be dated 10 January 2008.

Wildfire Protection Plans

The United States has seen a significant increase in the number of wildfires damaging homes and infrastructure in the wildland/urban interface, which are those areas where private housing and commercial structures are surrounded by wildlands. However, only approximately 4,000 of 44,000 communities in the nation at risk for wildfires have a wildfire protection annex to their emergency preparedness plans, according to the National Association of State Foresters.

"Even at the local level, communities in at-risk areas can take action to reduce the threat of a wildfire with a wildfire protection plan—a simple but powerful step to reduce the impact of wildfire," said the International Code Council (ICC) Chief Executive Officer. "A plan gets everything down on paper," from establishing a team of local decision makers and federal agencies that can help, to telling infrastructure stakeholders and homeowners how to prepare, identifying areas most at risk, and designating evacuation routes.

The Emergency Management and Response—Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) values the judgment of a group of professional emergency managers sponsored by the Emergency Management Institute (EMI). These conferees agreed on a concise vision statement: "Emergency Management seeks to promote safer, less vulnerable communities with the capacity to cope with hazards and disasters." They postulated that emergency managers "protect communities by coordinating and integrating all activities necessary to build, sustain, and improve the capability to mitigate against, prepare for, respond to, and recover from threatened or actual natural disasters, acts of terrorism, or other man-made disasters."

Consistent with the aforementioned vision and mission statements, the EMR-ISAC suggests that local emergency managers in at-risk communities consider leading the effort to create a wildfire protection annex to their emergency preparedness plans, if none exists. A simple plan can make a significant difference in the protection of critical infrastructures, and public and private property. Therefore, emergency managers are encouraged to see the ICC guidance for creating a community wildfire protection plan.

Homeland Defense Equipment Reuse Program

Emergency Services Sector (ESS) departments can acquire, at no charge, radiological detection instrumentation, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), e.g., Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) and turnout gear, and safety, response and recovery equipment, vehicles, and apparatus through the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Grants and Training (G&T) Homeland Defense Equipment Reuse (HDER) Program. These equipment resources can potentially enhance ESS critical infrastructure protection activities as well as organizational readiness.

The program is the result of a partnership that includes the Department of Energy, the U.S. Navy, and Health Physics Society. The groups provide excess radiological detection instrumentation and other equipment, as well as training and technical support, to responder agencies throughout the nation. To assist responders in the proper operation and maintenance of their radiological, chemical, and biological detection and response equipment, G&T's Domestic Preparedness Equipment Technical Assistance Program provides detailed technical information and hands-on operation and maintenance training.

Local support for the equipment is also available through a partnership with the Health Physics Society. Volunteers from the Society's local chapters perform initial operability checks on equipment shipments, conduct field checks and basic maintenance for the equipment, provide hands-on refresher training, and serve as a local source of expertise.

The HDER Program uses G&T's existing relationship with State Administrative Agencies to administer the program for local responder organizations. Requests can be made quarterly, and an inventory list of available equipment is provided at the start of each calendar quarter. Items are available on a first-come, first-served basis. The Emergency Management and Response Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) suggests that emergency agencies examine the additional information, including contacts, in the HDER Fact Sheet (PDF, 155 Kb).

Misuse and Abuse of 9-1-1 Centers

Among the many abuses of 9-1-1 call centers that waste Emergency Services Sector (ESS) resources and jeopardize "response-ability" is a relatively recent phenomenon known as "swatting." The Emergency Management and Response—Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) learned that a defendant in a federal case faces large fines and prison time after pleading guilty to charges of harassing people by tricking 9-1-1 operators into dispatching law enforcement SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) teams to the homes of unsuspecting victims.

"Swatting" originated when a teenager used his computer to call a dispatch center and convinced operators that he had committed murder at a certain address. He insisted that a SWAT team be sent because he was about to murder again. The incident cost the county approximately $18,000. In the recent federal case, a group of 15 to 20 people met in chat rooms to exchange information on how to conduct their attacks. The group has been connected to at least 60 incidents, including one that resulted in the dispatch of 35 county employees. Members of the group sometimes used social engineering techniques against telephone companies, e.g., calling internal telephone company numbers claiming to be service representatives working in the field and requesting information about their victims. Swatters use other techniques, such as blocking their caller ID and giving the victim's phone number instead, or hiding their phone numbers using commercially available "spoofing cards."

Tennessee and Georgia have already passed laws that make bogus 9-1-1 calls a crime, and similar legislation has been introduced in other states. State police in one Northeastern state, where legislation has been introduced, estimate that 1,000 wireless 9-1-1 calls each day are for non-emergencies. The calls waste the time and strain the assets of emergency services organizations.

One resource to aid the ESS with the assaults against 9-1-1 centers is The Problem of Misuse and Abuse of 9-1-1, which can be viewed and downloaded at the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing. This four-page guide describes the problem and its scope, identifies a series of questions to help jurisdictions analyze their local problem, and discusses potential responses to it.