Hlsc 720-discussion 4-reply 2 | HLSC 720 – Critical Infrastructure: Vulnerability Analysis and Protection | Liberty University

The thread must be a minimum of 200-400 words. MINIMUM OF TWO SOURCES BESIDES THE TEXTBOOK. Must cite at least 2 sources in addition to the Bible.

TEXTBOOK: Bennett, B. T. (2018). Understanding, assessing, and responding to terrorism: Protecting critical infrastructure and personnel (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN: 9781119237785.

***FRANK**

Prevention: Bennett (2018) highlights how imperative the principles of protective security are regarding terrorist attacks by stating, “The easiest battle to win is the one that is never fought” (Bennett, p. 259, 2018). Prevention is truly the greatest achievement possible, even a well-organized response to any terrorist act will inevitability result in damage of some sort, whether loss of life or property (Bennett, 2018). Therefore, researching the prominent components of prevention, like information collection, sharing, risk mitigation, and cost-benefit analysis, becomes essential to stopping an attack before it starts (Bennett, 2018). Prevention prompts awareness, and eventually leads to change, states Bennett, (2018), arguing in favor of prevention analysis and predicated mitigation efforts.

Information Collection: Teichmann (2019) enrages the debate surrounding funding sources of terrorism, especially transnational organized crime, contending that collecting information regarding bank transfers, account names, and cryptocurrency enables strong counter-terrorism efforts. This methodology fits directly into the information-collecting section of attack prevention, Teichmann (2019) asserts that gathering intel about where terrorists get money and support can lead to better target identification. Continuing in this progression of information collection, Bennett (2018), argues that the community, particularly good-natured citizens, are valuable because they report on nefarious activity. It appears obvious that this informational collection mentality by Teichmann (2019) aligns with the principles of protective security by encouraging extensive and invasive research into the enemy.

Information Sharing: The independent nature of the majority of law enforcement entities within America, as Gruenewald et al. (2018) state, is shockingly unsophisticated, making sharing intelligence, information, and records cumbersome. Gruenewald et al. (2018) examined the lack of a universal information-sharing platform or systems between local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, weakening national efforts to prevent attacks. Federal governmental entities like the FBI, CIA, or DEA rarely share intel or communicate extensively with local or state police, according to Gruenewald et al. (2018), handicapping everyday patrol officers from being more effective. However, Bennett (2018) articulates how the federal department of homeland security is making progress with recently launched information-sharing campaigns, like the joint terrorism task force, potentially uniting the complicated layers of law enforcement in America. 

Risk Mitigation: Taking affirmative steps to mitigate the now identified risks rounds out the process of preventing terrorist attacks (Bennett, 2018). Applying the collected and shared information to make strategic risk-mitigating decisions is certainly at the backbone of this section, debates Luxton & Marinov (2020). Luxton & Marinov (2020) researched identified risk mitigation factors for railways across the world, bringing to light several inadequacies and systematic failures. The study determined that preplanned routes and rail cars enable terrorists to better preplan an attack, therefore, Luxton & Marinov (2020) encouraged constant reorganization of both. This methodology prevented would be attackers from thoroughly establishing which rail cars, conductors, or security personnel would be passing each station daily, utilizing a computer program to randomize route management (Luxton & Marinov, 2020). Risk mitigation is key to the overall process of cumulating some of the actual decisions to implement risk assessment-based changes (Bennett, 2018).            

Cost-Benefit Analysis: Often within the elaborate world of critical infrastructure management and risk assessment, prevention-based recommendations, unfortunately, fail to become implemented, as funds are scarce (Bennett, 2018). Blokus & Dziula (2021) explain how the laboriousness of governmental-run facilities can slow improvements, escalate costs, and lengthen timelines, ultimately hindering the transgression of critical infrastructure improvements from recommendation to reality. However, a careful cost-benefit analysis can gardener respect and encourage action, Blokus & Dziula (2021) contend that the value of the facility and its contents should be weighed against the anticipated cost. For example, a one-million-dollar investment into an 80-year-old power substation would clearly take a backseat toward telecommunication or cybersecurity improvements within a nuclear substation (Bennett, 2018). Although this example personifies simplicity, many delicate financial balancing acts must occur in order to properly scale value against investment (Bennett, 2018).

Christian Viewpoint: when discussing the prospect of investment into critical infrastructures many competing interesting could be considered, however, the Bible, in its all-knowing nature, always proves a path forward for people, “A just balance and scales are the Lord’s; all the weights in the bag are his work” (English Standard Version, 2001/2016 Leviticus 19:36).         

References

Bennett, B. (2018). Understanding, Assessing and Responding to Terrorism. John Wiley & Sons, 

Inc. Hoboken, NJ. 

Blokus, A., & Dziula, P. (2021). Relations of Imperfect Repairs to Critical Infrastructure

Maintenance Costs. Sustainability. 13(9). https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/9/4917# Links to an external site. 

English Standard Version. (2016). Bible hub. Retrieved from https://biblehub.com Links to an external site.(Original

work published 2001).

Gruenewald, J., Klein, B., Drawve, G., Smith, B., & Ratcliff, K. (2019). Suspicious

Preoperational Activities and Law Enforcement Interdiction of Terrorist Plots. Policing: An International Journal. 42(1). https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-08-2018-0125Links to an external site.

Luxton, A., & Marinov, M. (2020). Terrorist Threat Mitigation Strategies for the Railyards.

Sustainability. 12(8). https://doi.org/10.3390/su12083408Links to an external site.

Teichmann, F. (2019). Recent Trends in Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing. Journal of 

Financial Regulation and Compliance. 27(1).

https://doi.org/10.1108/JFRC-03-2018-0042 Links to an external site.