Free Paper Sample: National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP)

Introduction

The National Infrastructure Protection Plan is a framework that coordinates the approach used in establishing requirements and priorities for critical infrastructure and key resources (CIKR) protection at the national level. The protection of CIKR ensures that federal resources are utilized with the most efficiency and effectiveness in a bid to minimize vulnerability, mitigate threats, and reduce the consequences of attacks or similar happenings. The action plan was created and developed by the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The framework showcases how government departments and the private sector, spanning from water and transportation industries to energy and financial entities, ought to integrate and work together to mitigate the risk that would ruin our society as we know it today (Forcepoint.com).

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1998 was the first time high-level policy guidance on critical infrastructure protection was established in the United States with the Presidential Decision Directive 63 (PDD-63) on critical infrastructure protection. The NIPP was, however, first conceptualized in 2006, and was later revised in 2009 and 2013. Its creation intended to actualize six key goals, according to forcepoint.com. They include:

1. To inform risk management activities by assessing and analyzing the threats and vulnerabilities of critical infrastructure, as well as the possible consequences of any risk to the infrastructure.
2. To enhance adaptation and learning following any incident that may occur.
3. To enhance critical infrastructure resilience through prior planning and prevention efforts.
4. To employ effective responses to recover essential services and save lives.
5. To safeguard critical infrastructure networks against cyber and physical attacks by reducing risk as well as being accountable for the benefits and costs of the security investments.
6. To build awareness and decision-making all across the critical infrastructure community by sharing actionable and relevant information.

The Role of the Private Sector

The National Infrastructure Protection Plan (2013), states that "The federal government can go ahead and encourage the private sector to invest in the national interest through active collaboration, even when this interest goes beyond the commercial interest of the particular industries." Thus, the federal government is reliant on the private sector, without any regulations, to develop critical infrastructure risk management strategies and investments to enhance the federal government's resilience objectives. This can be attributed to the fact that the private sector owns and governs over 85% of all critical infrastructure (Harrell, 2017). It is the water treatment specialists, power grid operators, chemical and biological processes engineers, and other industry leaders who are the first responders to security threats at their particular places of work. Therefore, the reason why the private sector is essential in regard to critical infrastructure protection is that they are the first line of defense outside of government (Harrell, 2017).

Strategies Used in Critical Infrastructure Protection

In 2003, following the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, the Department of Homeland Security came up with three effective strategies for protecting critical infrastructure. They include; (i) identifying essential assets in regard to public health and safety, governance, and economic and national security; (ii) providing a timely warning to ward off the threats that may face these assets and infrastructures; (iii) pursuing an effective collaborative environment within government agencies and the private sector, in regards to protecting critical infrastructures and assets.

The DHS, in its guide "Seven Steps to Effectively Defend Industrial Control Systems", outlines seven strategies key to preventing coordinated cyber attacks on critical infrastructures and assets. They are; (i) implementing application whitelisting, which prevents attempted execution of malware; (ii) ensuring a proper configuration to secure control systems; (iii) reducing the attack surface area by isolating untrusted networks and locking down all unused ports; (iv) building a defendable environment by limiting damage from network perimeter breaches; (v) managing authentication; (vi) implementing secure remote access; and finally (vii) establishing monitoring and evaluation programs.

One key strength of the United States in regard to critical infrastructure protection is the designation of federal Sector-Specific Agencies that lead the protection and build the resilience of the programs and activities established under the Homeland Security Presidential Directive 7. In regards to the energy sector specifically, systems such as the System Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), that automate power generation and distribution as well as internet surfaces, are a testament to the country's strengths (Tal, 2018). One fundamental weakness in the U.S. that needs to be addressed is the vulnerability of electoral infrastructure and democratic institutions, in order to preserve our democratic way of life.

The P3 Model

The P3 model stands for a collaborative arrangement between two or more public and private entities, in this case, in regard to the protection of critical infrastructure. Federal agencies can effectively cooperate with private sector organizations by (i) developing a model that integrates information for everyone; (ii) investing in a better-engaged and informed media; and (iii) continuously refining the security advisory systems (DHS, 2005). An example of a type of information that should be disseminated to the private sector includes one that relates to terrorist threats. Such information should have the ability to mitigate terrorist activity, improve the response of such attacks, and help identify and investigate suspected terrorists. However, information related to military secrets should be withheld from the private sector and the public at large.

References

Department of Homeland Security. (2005). Homeland Security Information Sharing between Government and the Private Sector. Retrieved on September 8, 2020, from https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/HSAC_InfoSharing_FinalReport.pdf

DHS. (2015). Seven Steps to Effectively Defend Industrial Control Systems. Retrieved on September 8, 2020, from https://apps.nsa.gov/iaarchive/library/ia-guidance/security-configuration/industrial-control-systems/seven-steps-to-effectively-defend-ics.cfm

Forcepoint.com. What is the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP)? Cyber Edu. Retrieved on September 8, 2020, from https://www.forcepoint.com/cyber-edu/nippnational-infrastructure-protection-plan#

Harrell, Brian. (2017). The private sector is the key to success for the Department of Homeland Security. CSO. Retrieved on September 8, 2020, from https://www.csoonline.com/article/3161793/the-private-sector-is-the-key-to-success-for-the-department-of-homeland-security.html

Tal, Johnathan. (2018). America’s Critical Infrastructure: Threats, Vulnerabilities and Solutions. Securityinfowatch.com. Retrieved on September 8, 2020, from https://www.securityinfowatch.com/access-identity/access-control/article/12427447/americas-critical-infrastructure-threats-vulnerabilities-and-solutions