A Message from Caitlin A. Durkovich Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection, National Protection and Programs Directorate Public-Private Partnerships In my role at DHS, I lead a talented team focused on reinforcing the resilience of our nation’s critical infrastructure. This requires strong public-private partnerships in order to assess and mitigate risk as well as strengthen incident response and recovery procedures. Cooperation with the private sector is critical to our national security efforts and HSIN has become an essential part of this process. The Critical Infrastructure community on HSIN (HSIN-CI) serves as the Department’s primary tool for sharing sensitive but unclassified critical infrastructure information with stakeholders responsible for security and resilience. In other words, HSIN is vital in how we share essential information in support of infrastructure security and resilience. The system is a means by which the Office of Infrastructure Protection (IP) provides tactical and planning communication functionality to public and private sector owners and operators, enabling our national and economic security to operate without disruption. We also develop and provide HSIN portals at no cost to a broad range of national and regional- level communities. Sharing information with our partners that can help ensure the security and resilience of our Nation’s infrastructure is one of the most important roles we have, and the HSIN-CI Community of Interest gives us the capability to share the latest pertinent information quickly and efficiently. At approximately 7,000 members, HSIN- CI is the largest HSIN community, with participating members representing various levels of government and industry across the nation. We continuously support each of our 16 critical infrastructure sectors, regional engagements, and portals for our partners to facilitate the sharing of critical infrastructure information. HSIN is where our partners turn during an evolving threat, knowing the latest information will be available there. For example, during recent powerful storms that left a path of destruction across a dozen states, our team and public/private partners used HSIN to share breaking news, weather updates, and infrastructure status. This sharing of information helped our partners stay operational and respond quickly to events as they unfolded. Through the National Infrastructure Coordinating Center, HSIN-CI is seamlessly connected with related sites such as Tripwire, WEB Enabled Enterprise Operations Capabilities (WEBEOC) via Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR), the TSA Office of Intelligence, and the U.S. Secret Service. Our recurring reports, such as the Daily Open Source Infrastructure Reports, share news across all sectors, and are one of the reasons our members visit the HSIN-CI daily. Additionally, IP relies on HSIN as one of our primary means to get training and information about preventive measures to our public-private partners. For example, we recently used HSIN tools to support a series of webinars to provide a forum for government and private sector partners to learn about best practices, programs, and tools to improve security and resilience. Some of the topics included cybersecurity, bombing prevention, and an overview of our Protective Security Advisor program. Through the webinar on HSIN, several hundred participants learned how they can better leverage these tools and resources in their respective security and resilience programs. Sharing information is crucial to maintaining an effective public –private partnership. We need tools and enablers like HSIN that make the details easy and transparent so we can focus our efforts on using the information. As HSIN continues to become more robust and adapt to the latest technology, we need to ensure the site remains easy to use as the platform grows. Making sure the vast amount of information that will be on HSIN is targeted based on identification credentials and shared interests is crucial to help our public-private partners manage risk. We need to continue to make HSIN valuable for our stakeholders who are relying on information every day to do their job and protect and serve their communities. HSIN is the trusted and secure channel for our stakeholder community to post, share and retrieve information. It is a one- stop-shop for trusted information. At the end of the day, when the owner/operator community needs trusted information— whether it’s because of an incident or for training—HSIN is the place to go. THE HSIN ADVOCATE A Message from Caitlin A. Durkovich In the Know HSIN at Large In the Trenches Upcoming Events Got Stories? NOVEMBER 2013 Homeland Security Information Network
Transcript
A Message from Caitlin A. Durkovich Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection, National Protection and Programs Directorate
Public-Private PartnershipsIn my role at DHS, I lead a talented team focused on reinforcing the resilience of our nation’s critical infrastructure. This requires strong public-private partnerships in order to assess and mitigate risk as well as strengthen incident response and recovery procedures. Cooperation with the private sector is critical to our national security efforts and HSIN has become an essential part of this process.
The Critical Infrastructure community on HSIN (HSIN-CI) serves as the Department’s primary tool for sharing sensitive but unclassified critical infrastructure information with stakeholders responsible for security and resilience. In other words, HSIN is vital in how we share essential information in support of infrastructure security and resilience. The system is a means by which the Office of Infrastructure Protection (IP) provides tactical and planning communication functionality to public and private sector owners and operators, enabling our national and economic security to operate without disruption. We also develop and provide HSIN portals at no cost to a broad range of national and regional-level communities.
Sharing information with our partners that can help ensure the security and resilience of our Nation’s infrastructure is one of the most important roles we have, and the HSIN-CI Community of Interest gives us the capability to share the latest pertinent information quickly and efficiently. At approximately 7,000 members, HSIN-CI is the largest HSIN community, with participating members representing various levels of government and industry across the nation. We continuously support each of our 16 critical infrastructure sectors, regional
engagements, and portals for our partners to facilitate the sharing of critical infrastructure information. HSIN is where our partners turn during an evolving threat, knowing the latest information will be available there.
For example, during recent powerful storms that left a path of destruction across a dozen states, our team and public/private partners used HSIN to share breaking news, weather updates, and infrastructure status. This sharing of information helped our partners stay operational and respond quickly to events as they unfolded.
Through the National Infrastructure Coordinating Center, HSIN-CI is seamlessly connected with related sites such as Tripwire, WEB Enabled Enterprise Operations Capabilities (WEBEOC) via Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR), the TSA Office of Intelligence, and the U.S. Secret Service. Our recurring reports, such as the Daily Open Source Infrastructure Reports, share news across all sectors, and are one of the reasons our members visit the HSIN-CI daily.
Additionally, IP relies on HSIN as one of our primary means to get training and information about preventive measures to our public-private partners. For example, we recently used HSIN tools to support a series of webinars to provide a forum for government and private sector partners to learn about best practices, programs, and tools to improve security and resilience. Some of the topics included cybersecurity, bombing prevention, and an overview of our Protective Security Advisor program. Through the webinar on HSIN, several hundred participants learned how they can better leverage these tools and resources in their respective security and resilience programs.
Sharing information is crucial to maintaining an effective public –private partnership. We need tools and enablers like HSIN that make the details easy and transparent so we can focus our efforts on using the information. As HSIN continues to become more robust and adapt to the latest technology, we need to ensure the site remains easy to use as the platform grows. Making sure the vast amount of information that will be on HSIN is targeted based on identification credentials and shared interests is crucial to help our public-private partners manage risk. We need to continue to make HSIN valuable for our stakeholders who are relying on information every day to do their job and protect and serve their communities.
HSIN is the trusted and secure channel for our stakeholder community to post, share and retrieve information. It is a one-stop-shop for trusted information. At the end of the day, when the owner/operator community needs trusted information—whether it’s because of an incident or for training—HSIN is the place to go.
THE HSIN
ADVOCATEA Message from Caitlin A. Durkovich
In the Know
HSIN at Large
In the Trenches
Upcoming Events
Got Stories?
NOVEMBER 2013
Homeland Security Information Network
NOVEMBER 2013 | THE HSIN ADVOCATE | 2IN THE KNOW
Preparing for Super Bowl XLVIIIPlanning for a Super Bowl is an intensive, multifaceted effort that is more than a year in the making. Super Bowl XLVIII is a multi-state event, covering areas of both New York and New Jersey, and requires the support of Federal, State, Local and Private Sector agencies.
The planning for Super Bowl XLVIII on February 2, 2014, began last January when members of the New York/New Jersey Super Bowl Host Committee went to New Orleans to observe the operations and systems being used to support Super Bowl XLVII. As a result of that trip, host officials began building a HSIN COI “SB2014” in April to support both event-planning efforts and game-day operations support.
Twenty-five planning sub-committees have workspaces on the “SB2014” COI to support information sharing, including standard operating procedures (SOPs) and GIS mapping of critical infrastructure and key resources (CIKR). A virtual Situational Dashboard has also been created to support real-time information sharing beginning the day before the big game. The dashboard is designed to be accessed from mobile devices as well as in command centers. It includes sections to track everything from BOLOs (be on the look out), incidents and alerts to weather feeds and social media.
As game day draws nearer, the NY/NJ Super Bowl Host Committee is ready.
Simply Stats: Help Desk Call MetricsAs we work to optimize HSIN R3 performance, we want to share some of the improvements we have achieved. Over the past number of weeks, we have worked to bring wait times for Help Desk calls down to a manageable level. We are pleased that share that our average wait times are now less than the industry standard of one minute.
Help Desk Call Metrics
Monday 10/28
Monday 11/4 Trend
Average Speed of Answer 1:23 0:40
Abandonment Rate 9% 6%
iTrack: Creating Efficiencies with HSIN
How leads are tracked has a significant impact on the efficiency of any police investigation. In Georgia, the process of tracking leads has evolved greatly, starting with paper and pencil, moving to Excel and then to an Access database. All of these systems required extensive man-hours and only enabled a single user to post or review leads at any one time. With a little ingenuity, the Georgia Information Sharing and Analysis Center (GISAC) team developed the iTrack tool for HSIN and transformed their lead tracking process.
The need for a more efficient system was highlighted during the investigation of the killing of a police officer. To help the investigation move forward more quickly, an online system that enabled multiple users to enter and track leads was quickly built. After the incident, GISAC took the concept and developed iTrack as a user-friendly system that enables multiple users to post, update and review leads simultaneously. iTrack is now used by Federal, State and Local officials across Georgia for all major cases, including AMBER alerts, saving a significant amount of time and manpower.
The iTrack system has been so successful that it has been adopted by Louisiana law enforcement and has been adapted by the Georgia Department of Corrections for use as an incident management system.
For more information on iTrack, contact the GISAC HSIN Coordinator, Jennifer Wade, at [email protected].
Enhancing the HSIN Mission Advocate TeamDuring the past few weeks, we have begun transitioning to a new, enhanced HSIN Mission Advocate team. Though the transition to the new team officially occurred on November 16, preparations began in October to ensure a successful continuation of service.
During this transition, we are maintaining regional coverage; you can expect the same level of service and attention as you received in the past. In fact, we’ll be providing additional Mission Advocate support comprised of both veteran and new MAs—a great mix of experience and new energy. If you’re running a complex set of sites, you will have MA support. If you’re managing a major event, you will have MA support. If you’re looking to start a new engagement with HSIN, you will have MA support.
The next edition of the HSIN Advocate will be released early, before the holidays, and will include information on the members of the MA team as well as area-of-responsibility assignments. In the meantime, we are reaching out to individual Site Owners to introduce them to their new MA team and providing additional details. If you have any questions, please contact HSIN Outreach.
HSIN AT LARGE
User Spotlight: John DaleOperations Chief, National Operations Center Office of Operations Coordination and Planning, DHS
As Operations Chief for the DHS National Operations Center (NOC), John Dale is responsible for ensuring that the center is able to fulfill its role as the primary national hub for domestic situational awareness. Since Mr. Dale arrived at the NOC in 2010, he has seen two very effective implementations of HSIN: the incident/event framework built for the FedOps COI and the single sign-on from HSIN to the DHS common operating picture (COP). The NOC uses the FedOps site to track and disseminate the latest reports on every incident or event of significance for intra- and inter-agency partners at the Federal level.
Mr. Dale and a team of four administrative personnel ensure the NOC is fully operational 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The best advice he can give to new site owners is to build a test site and experiment with it. The more a site owner can create, modify and try to “break” a site, the better they will understand the capabilities of HSIN and the stronger the resulting site will be.
Got Stories?Have you achieved a particularly successful outcome as a result of HSIN R3? Do you have an idea that would improve network features? We want to hear about it! Let us know by sending an email to [email protected].
Better yet, a picture tells a thousand words. If you have an image that helps tell the HSIN story and want to share it with the HSIN community at large, email it to us with a few brief words.
IN THE TRENCHES
Branding Strategy Q&A Session Needs YOU!Would you like to help HSIN define its brand? If so, contact Michael Brody, policy, outreach and communications manager. As we continue to improve the HSIN platform, we’d like your thoughts on what HSIN means to you and what more can be done to support our users’ mission requirements.
Your feedback is vital to the continued improvement of the program. Over the coming weeks, we’ll ask for your input on a variety of topics. This information will help us continue our efforts to make HSIN a user-driven program!
HSIN Best Practices: Following up on Nominations and Validations In September, the HSIN User Working Group (HUWG) started a conversation on the HUWG Best Practices site: how to streamline the nomination/validation process. Many of you responded with a variety of suggestions, including:
● Make the self-nomination and account creation process a single step to include identity proofing information
● Enable nominators to nominate users to multiple COIs via a checklist
● Allow users to request COI access via a checklist so validations can happen concurrently
● Reinforce the benefits of creating a profile during registration process
● Make clear the nomination/validation timeline on the registration screens
● Ensure nomination emails are responded to, especially when access is denied
● Encourage continuous usage as well as patience during the validation process by displaying a sample of the information HSIN provides at the end of the account creation process
● Shorten the time for validations
All of these suggestions have been provided to the HSIN Requirements Team and will help guide future system development.
The current conversations on the site center on mobile use of HSIN and social media policies.
The HUWG Best Practices site is intended to be a place users can share ideas, provide input on a particular topic or get help developing a HSIN solution. In addition, the site includes contact information for Mission Advocates as well as their areas of operation.
Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback on the nomination/validation process. We’ll keep you updated as these ideas get implemented.
Upcoming Events
International Disaster Conference & Expo HSIN: Incident, Event, and Steady State Operations January 7, 2014 | 4:00–4:50pm New Orleans, LA
