Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

Cyber incident response has evolved based on systems and processes developed for other types of incident response, such as response to natural hazards. Large-scale cyber incidents that would have an impact on the United States' national and homeland security, economic security, and public safety and welfare to date are rare. However, they may have additional complications that make them more complex to plan for, including challenges in distinguishing the early stages of a significant cyber incident from a more quotidian incident, and the diversity of stakeholders involved. In this report, RAND researchers compare and contrast incident response for cyber and other types of hazards, both human-caused and natural, to derive initial insights into their similarities and distinctions. The report suggests some ways to improve preparedness for cyber incident response and propose additional areas requiring further research. Recommendations include developing more rigorous and dynamic joint public-private exercises, conducting further analysis to identify how systems could fail through a cyber attack to inform early warning efforts, and developing decision mechanisms and shared understandings that will facilitate coordinated activation and execution of incident response plans.

Cyberinfrastructure --- Computer networks --- Security measures --- Evaluation.

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

Effective risk communication is necessary to reduce the billions of dollars in damage and hundreds of fatalities that occur yearly from floods in the United States. The purpose of this report is to help Department of Homeland Security officials identify ways to improve protective action flood guidance in response to growing flood risks that continue to cause adverse effects and threaten lives and property. Drawing on a review of academic and grey literature, authors used a conceptual framework, which was operationalized to review Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)'s flood protective action guidance through the lens of a social-ecological model—comprising individual, relationship, community, and societal factors. Authors then took a broader look at risk communication best practices to collect principles that could help improve the effectiveness of flood risk communication, and developed recommendations for implementation. This study resulted in key findings and related recommendations that should help FEMA improve its flood communication strategy and messaging. First, components of the social-ecological model can be used to understand how people respond to protective action guidance and to develop a communication strategy tailored to the needs of the target audience. Second, partnering with the community can improve communication, which requires a reciprocal relationship between the organization seeking to communicate and the intended audience. Third, establishing flood messaging standards, including general readability, can help build an understanding of how messages might interact and be received by different audiences and can guide the development of messages that are more likely to result in protective action.

Floods --- Risk communication --- Emergency management --- Inondations --- Communication du risque --- Risk assessment --- Évaluation du risque --- United States

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

Cyber incidents are occurring with increasing frequency, and these incidents are becoming more disruptive and costlier. Some such incidents exceed stakeholders' capacity to respond using everyday means. The stakes are particularly high with respect to U.S. National Critical Functions (NCFs). Securing NCFs requires unity of effort within the federal government and effective collaboration and cooperation within state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) governments and the private sector. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency asked the Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center (HSOAC) to develop a contingency planning implementation (how-to) guide, including a contingency plan (CONPLAN) template, that NCF stakeholders could use to develop NCF-specific CONPLANs to guide their response to and efforts to mitigate the impacts of a significant cyber incident affecting their NCFs. Summarizing key elements of the companion how-to guide, this report is intended to inform leadership and managers in NCF stakeholder organizations across government and the private sector on the purpose, components, and processes for developing an actionable CONPLAN. This report provides an overview of contingency planning for a significant cyber incident, focusing on the importance of planning, the process of developing a plan, and options for operationalizing a plan. It summarizes the major concepts that are explored in detail in the separate how-to guide.

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)