You are here

Home

General Security and Resilience

New Zealand Government Report on 2019 Christchurch Attack Identifies Lapses and Needed Improvements

Today the New Zealand government released a nearly 800-page report providing its assessment of the deadly attacks that occurred in March last year at two mosques in Christchurch. Among its findings, the report observed that the perpetrator, Brenton Tarrant, was able to amass an arsenal of weapons without alerting authorities, whose focus was on potential threats from Islamist terrorism rather than right-wing extremism.

Impact of Wildfires on Treatment Plant Operations and Design (Hazen and Sawyer)

The environmental consultancy firm Hazen and Sawyer published a report discussing the impacts of wildfires on water treatment plant operations. In particular, it observes that poor influent water quality after a wildfire can cause cascading effects throughout a conventional treatment train, outlining the effects on processes like coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, and filtration.

Global Deaths Fell and Far-right Attacks Increased, among Findings from Annual Terrorism Report

The Institute for Economics and Peace recently released the Global Terrorism Index 2020, the eighth version of an annual report that seeks to measure the impact of terrorism around the world. The report presents some positive findings, including that deaths from terrorism fell for the fifth consecutive year, with a 15 percent decrease from the prior year. However, some troubling trends have emerged or at least continued.

Protecting against the UAS Threat Best Practice Guide (DHS)

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) published the guide Protecting against the Threat of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS): An Interagency Security Committee Best Practice. Topics covered in this document include:

  • An overview of UAS
  • Threats posed by UAS
  • Vulnerability assessments
  • Protective measures and activities
  • How to develop a facility response plan for UAS incidents
  • How to increase workforce awareness
  • How to engage with community partners

National Emergency Communications Plan Spotlight: Working with Tribes to Achieve Interoperability

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has released National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP) Spotlight 1: Working with Tribes to Achieve Interoperability. It begins by noting that developing collaborative and trustworthy relationships between tribal communities and other local governments is key to advancing operable and interoperable communications.

Official End of Record-breaking Atlantic Hurricane Season

The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season came to its official end yesterday, but not before having captured a number of records. For one, the season saw a record-breaking number of named storms, at 30, surpassing the 28 from 2005. Of the 30 storms, 12 made landfall in the U.S., also a record. The previous record was nine, set in 1916. There were so many storms, in fact, that the predetermined list of 21 names was exhausted, necessitating the use of the Greek alphabet for just the second time in history.

Higher Building Code Standards Save the Nation $1.6 Billion Annually, according to FEMA Study

FEMA recently released Building Codes Save: A Nationwide Study, a report about its investigation into the effects of higher building code standards for natural disasters like wind, floods, and seismic activity. The study used newly available nationwide data to provide a quantitative understanding of the impact of adopting the International Codes (I-Codes) introduced in 2000.

Insider Threat Mitigation Guide and Fact Sheets (CISA)

Today the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) published its Insider Threat Mitigation Guide, which brings together planning and preparedness resources from federal and private sector experts into a single format that organizations can use to prepare for and respond to an insider threat. It contains step-by-step information, best practices, metrics, tools, and training that can be used for establishing an effective threat mitigation plan to decrease the likelihood of harm to people, companies, organizations, and critical infrastructure.

FBI Releases 2019 Hate Crime Statistics

The FBI has released Hate Crime Statistics, 2019, a compilation of data about bias-motivated incidents throughout the nation. A percent distribution of victims by bias type is as follows: race/ethnicity/ancestry bias (57.6 percent); religious bias (20.1 percent); sexual-orientation bias (16.7 percent); gender identity bias (2.7 percent); disability bias (2 percent); and gender bias (0.9 percent).

Drone Safety Awareness Week: Opportunities to Learn about Safety, Risk Management, and Disaster Response

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and partners are hosting National Drone Safety Awareness Week, which lasts from November 16 to 22. This week is focused on how operators can improve their capabilities and safely use these devices, less on how organizations like critical infrastructure entities can manage risks from suspicious/malicious drones. Still, WaterISAC is aware that numerous water and wastewater utilities employ drones as part of their operations.

Pages

Subscribe to General Security and Resilience