Cyber security threats
Following the 9/11 attack on the United States, the congress passed a series of legislative acts intended to expand various law enforcement capabilities and created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to aid enforcing those acts. This paper examines the nine main components of Homeland Security terrorism prevention program.
One of them is the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The USCIS is component of the DHS with the responsibility of administrating of the lawful immigration system, and safeguarding the integrity of the United States. It also fairly and efficiently adjudicates immigration benefits requests at the same time protecting American citizens, securing the homeland, and honors their values. The DHS makes sure not to grant immigration benefits to the persons that threatens the national security. Through Visa Security Program (VSP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), together with the Department of State (DOS) sends specially strained agents to other countries with posts of high-risk visa to discern potential criminal threats and terrorists before they immigrate to the US. Currently, the VSP has deployed 19 posts to 15 different countries. The DHS in 2009 implemented the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) that strengthens the verification of identification on land and sea. It requires that Americans, Canadians, and Mexicans present identification or a travel documents that confirms their citizenship when they are entering the US. The DHS has collaborated with various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand for the purpose of immigration in developing biometric information routine sharing. (Homeland security, 2019)
Another program is the United States Coast Guard (USCG). The USCG is among the United States’ five armed forces and the only military organization in the DHS. It protects the economy and environment of maritime, and defends its borders, and also saves those in danger. The Coast Guard jurisdictions are over both domestic and international water. The three major roles of Coast Guard are; maritime security, maritime safety, and maritime stewardship. It is a decentralized organization within which even the junior personnel are allocated major roles. It has 11 missions that are divided into two; the missions for homeland security, and the missions that are not for homeland security. The homeland security missions include; migrant interdiction, drug interdiction, maritime law enforcement, defense readiness, and ports, waterways and coast security (PWC). Those missions that are not for homeland security include; search and rescue, aid navigation, marine environmental protection, marine safety, living marine resources, and ice operations which includes International ice patrol. (Berdinelli. D, 2002)
The next program is the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP). It is the largest and the most complex component of the DHS whose main mission and objective is to keep terrorists and their weapons outside the boarders of the U.S. It is also responsible for facilitating and securing international travel and trade and collecting import duties at the same time enforcing more than a hundred regulations of the U.S which include drug and immigration laws. Through enforcing international travels and trade, CBP enhances America’s global competitiveness. The core values of CBP include; integrity, service to the country, and vigilance. The CBP deploys a border patrol agent (an agent of the federal law enforcement) that patrols the border and prevent individuals without government permission from entering or leaving the country. These agents are responsible for the apprehension of individuals who violate the immigration laws.
Another component of the DHS terrorism prevention program is Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This component of the DHS supports the American citizens and ensures that they work together as a nation in building, sustaining, and improving their capabilities in preparation for, protection against, recovery from, and mitigation of all hazards. If a disaster is to occur, the governor of the affected state should contact the president and request that FEMA and the federal government provide aid in response to the disaster. FEMA is also an organization that is decentralized such that there are small teams that has training on different skills such as urban search and rescue (USAR), national disaster medical system (NDMS), disaster mortuary operations response team (DMORT), mobile emergency response support (MERS), and disaster medical Helpance team (DMAT). FEMA has a multiagency center known as the National Response Coordination Centre (NRCC) which is located in their headquarters. NRCC coordinates the general federal support during the major emergencies and disasters. During the first response stages, FEMA focuses on the present, potential, and the emerging critical activities (Homeland Security, 2019).
Another component of the DHS that fights terrorism is the Federal Law Enforcement Training center (FLETC). The FLETC provides career training to the professionals of law enforcement using modern training facilities which gives them skills that helps them to proficiently and safely fulfill their responsibilities. FLETC has control and management programs responsibilities for International Law Enforcement Agencies (ILEA) in several countries such as Hungary, Botswana, El Salvador, San Salvador, and Peru among others. It also has an operating facility of in-service and requalification training for agencies with high population in Washington, D.C. The FLETC Florida branch collaborates with the United States Armed Force in their training to evaluate both existing and new training technologies to meet their needs in law enforcement training. Agencies in FLETC take part in development conferences and curriculum reviews to help develop directives and policies. FLETC is an interagency training organization with personnel from all types of backgrounds serving on all levels. (Homeland Security, 2019)
United States Secret Service (USSS) is also a component of the DHS that fights and prevents terrorism. The USSS protects the national financial infrastructure and the payment systems in order to preserve the economy integrity, and protect both the present and past leaders of the nation, visiting head of government and states, National Special Security Events, and some selected sights. The USSS provides security to the present and former presidents, and their immediate families, the vice president and their immediate family, and the high ranking presidential and vice presidential candidates. They also provide physical protection to the complex of the White House, every visiting diplomatic mission in Washington, D.C and the building that hosts the Treasury Department. It is the lead agency responsible for coordination, planning, and security operations implementation for events labeled as National Special Security Events (NSSE). One of their missions is prevention of an incidence before it occurs. USSS depends on perfect advance activities and assessment of threats that is developed by their intelligence division for identification of potential threats towards the people that they protect.
Another component of the DHS terrorism program is the Management Directorate. This component of DHS is responsible for budget appropriation, finance and accounting, procurement of resources such as human and personnel, acquisition, information technology systems and management of other resources such as property and equipment. It also provides services on biometric identification, and tracking and identification of measurement of performance that relates to the department’s responsibilities. It is led by the Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Management. The Under Secretary is appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate of the United States. Their Under Secretary provides management structures service delivery to customers, at the same time minimizing redundancy, and reduce costs in order to efficiently and effectively run the department. The Under Secretary administers several programs that are publicly available to advance the development of Homeland security technologies independently.
The Science and Technology Directorate is also a component of DHS (S&T). the DHS-S&T acts as the principal arm of the DHS for research and development. It is led by the Under Secretary for science and technology who is selected by the president and confirmed by the senate of the United States. SAFECOM, a federal umbrella that is designed to adopt interoperability among the practitioners of national public safety ensures that they can communicate among jurisdictions and entities during an emergency. The SAFETY Act provides protection on liabilities which makes it feasible for an antiterrorism technologies sales person to introduce to the market the homeland security solutions.
The last among the nine primary components of DHS is the Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A). It provides the Homeland Security Enterprise present information and information needed to keep homeland strong, safe, and guarded. It I&A-DHS is responsible for fusion of intelligent through the entire Department of Homeland Security. It then releases the intelligence from DHS to other United States Intelligence Community members and the state, tribal and local level first responders. The office of I&A tracks terrorists and terrorists networks and assesses threats facing critical American infrastructures, pandemic diseases, radicalization within society in America nuclear and bio weapons, and threats to the United States borders that is land, air, and sea. To achieve its mission, the office of I&A focuses on four main areas. They include; integration of the intelligence in the department, ensuring that DHS is an effective and efficient member of the United States Intelligent Community, improving the quantity and quality of its analysis, sharing assessments, and information on threats with the state, local governments, and the private sector. The office is led by an Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis that is elected by the president od the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate. The Under Secretary is responsible for developing intelligence throughout the DHS through collection and analysis of intelligence.
Since the Department of Homeland Security and its components were created, there has been security all over the United States and there and an attack as big as 9/11 has not happened. Internal security is improved and American citizens have training on how to respond to a terror attack.
References
Baldinelli, D. ( 2002). “The U.S. Coast Guard’s Assignment to the Department of Homeland Security: Entering Uncharted Waters or Just a Course Correction?”. United States Coast Guard. Retrieved https://www.uscg.mil/history/articles/Homeland_Security_Baldinelli.asp
Homeland Security, (2019). Citizenship and Immigration Services. Retrieved from: https://www.dhs.gov/topic/citizenship-and-immigration-results
Homeland Security, (2019). FEMA. Retrieved from: https://www.fema.gov/
Homeland Security, (2019). FLETC. Retrieved from: https://www.fletc.gov/
Homeland Security, (2019). U.S Customs and Boarder Protection. Retrieved from: https://www.cbp.gov/about
