Homeland Security 5

Go to the Internet and find an article that discusses the same topic. Then write in a short essay format a minimum of 250-300 words per article, explaining the article and then give your opinion to the pros or cons of the article.

DO NOT USE ANY ARTICLES THAT ARE OLDER THAN 2008. There is much out there about these topics and so I expect recent articles. 

Here are the three articles that i would like: Biological WOMD (chpt9), Cyber Warfare(chpt10), Money Brokers or Hawaladars(chpt11).  Class book is Homeland Security by gaines and Kappeler.

The entire paper should be between 1000-1200 words.  250-300 words per topic.  for example 150 words explaining the article and 150 words giving your opinion.  APA format and sources cited.

Here is an example.  just and example, so dont pay attention to the length.

Chapter 12: Internet

Tridium issues fixes for online control system

By Robert O’Harrow Jr,August 15, 2012

http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-08-15/news/35493259_1_homeland-security-vulnerabilities-security-holes

A Richmond technology firm has closed security holes in a popular system that enables corporations,  government agencies and others to control millions of devices over the World Wide Web, the Department of Homeland Security said in an advisory Wednesday. Tridium Inc. issued a “patch” for Niagara Framework, a software system used by more than 300,000 organizations in 52 countries to remotely control or monitor medical devices, elevators, furnaces, video cameras, security systems and a wide array of other equipment. Wednesday’s advisory came one month after homeland security officials warned that Niagara was open to attack from hackers who exploited a well-known vulnerability.

The researchers, Billy Rios and Terry McCorkle, determined that hackers could, among other things, easily breach the system and download user names and passwords. They alerted DHS to their findings. The disclosure of the vulnerabilities came amid public debate about the security of computer systems that increasingly control buildings, manufacturing, power grids and other parts of the nation’s critical infrastructure that are linked to cyberspace. It also set off a scramble by Niagara users and resellers, scores of whom joined a new online group to exchange ideas about making the platform more secure. In Wednesday’s advisory, official with DHS’s Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team said Tridium issued fixes for four different vulnerabilities. Those gaps would let a hacker gain access to restricted files, including “authentication credentials,” by sending a “specially crafted request to the Web server,” the advisory said. “These vulnerabilities can be exploited remotely,” the team said. “An attacker with a medium skill could exploit these vulnerabilities.” Tridium issued its own advisory in recent days, urging customers and users to “apply this patch” to current Niagara systems or to upgrade older systems and then make the security improvements. “Tridium understands the importance of providing a securable software framework to its customers. Whenever critical security issues are discovered, Tridium is committed to taking the appropriate steps to resolve them quickly.” A spokesman for Tridium’s parent, Honeywell, said the updates were sent to equipment makers that use Niagara, integrators and others “strongly urging them to reach out to their customer base with the security update details.” “Ensuring the highest levels of security of the Niagara AX Framework is a top priority for Tridium, and the work we’re doing with organizations like ICS-Cert and our customers shows how seriously we take these issues,” Honeywell spokesman Bruce Eric Anderson said.

As per our book chapter 12 the internet is not owned by anyone or regulated by any single government. Rather it is operated and governed by it users – volunteers who exert influence through an open process called the request for comment.  Most decision regarding internet policies and standards are vetted through the internet society and its affiliated working groups such as the IETF and W3C.  Also it states that the web is an application built on top of the internet and as such has inherited its fundamental design principles.  Interoperability – Specification for the web languages and protocols must be compatible with one another and allow any hardware and software used to access the web to work together.  In my opinion we all should work together for continuing to protect.  I do work in IT and when I see that there is something going on the internet I look into trying to resolve the issue and also taking that extra step to make sure it does not happen again.  It takes everyone to work together and have ethics and provide a fix and not be just out to look out for one person because in the ned it will hurt everyone.  (WC601)

Ted G. Lewis. Critical Infrastructure Protection in Homeland Security: Defending a Networked Nation

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