Cybersecurity Concerns within Army Corps of Engineers

 

Cybersecurity Concerns within Army Corps of Engineers: Perceptions of Civilian and Military Personnel

Table of Contents ABSTRACT 3 INTRODUCTION 4 LITERATURE REVIEW 7 METHODOLOGY 8 REFERENCES 10 APPENDIX 11 GANTT CHART – RESEARCH SCHEDULE PROPOSAL 13

 

 

ABSTRACT
The internet started with the aim of providing interconnectivity of networks for data exchange; it is now the global mainstream infrastructure for commerce, politics, military activities, espionage and nearly all human lives revolves around the internet through interactions via social media. In today’s society, new battle grounds have emerged as information confrontation, electronic warfare and cyber-attacks have been on the rise (Long et al., 2019). Cybersecurity has become a key element of personal, national and international concerns (Office & America, 2002). Several steps have been taken by different countries to protect the integrity of its citizens’ private data and the military (Collier, Linkov, & Lambert, 2013). The countries’ cybersecurity programs are two-fold defensive and offensive with regards to the need and situational analysis.

Security of information is an important aspect in the cyber landscape and a major concern for governments and companies; who are investing a lot of resources to prevent cybercrime. The ability to receive and send data at the click of a button raises alarm over the integrity data being transmitted. Many nations are modernizing critical infrastructure as internet use has now become a backbone of government service delivery and developments. It is in this regard that the governments are imposing tough measures to curb cybercrime. This paper focuses on cyber-crimes, ethics and cyber security of key facilities under the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND

The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is a joint formation of engineers within the United States Army mandated to undertake all engineering design, construction and demolitions for the Army. With the high degree of internet connectivity and spending within the Army, USACE is tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that new projects and facilities with control systems owned by USACE are secured and authorization is done according to the Department of Defense and the Army regulations (Yusta, Correa, & Lacal-Arántegui, 2011). The

On January 2014, USACE recognized the critical nature of the control system cybersecurity and a national information assurance manager was appointed (Gisladottir, Ganin, Keisler, Kepner, & Linkov, 2017).

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

This paper aims to discuss the concerns, perception and impact of cybersecurity for USACE with regards to the challenges of information technology integrated control systems (Colbert & Kott, 2016) both by civilians and the military personnel. The integrity of data is critical as leakages would compromise the security of our country. The military designs for assault systems, military operations data and intercommunication held secretly and any data would compromise the security status of the nation (Linkov, Anklam, Collier, DiMase, & Renn, 2014). This study aims at pointing out the emerging trends in the cybersecurity landscape, its implications to safety and the ways in which they can be combated.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

By pointing out the vulnerabilities of the existing cyber infrastructure of USACE, areas of improvement becomes known. This will help in mobilization of resources and human intellect to help mitigate the problems. It will help USACE with a better view of data safely and would incorporate data integrity features into the current and future designs for military installations, facilities, and military gear. The study aims to create awareness on cybersecurity and the methods that both the military and civilians can employ, explore systems vulnerability and corrective measures. Also, ensure that USACE’s developed facilities are cybersecure and promote collaboration between the organization and cybersecurity experts.

MAIN RESEARCH QUESTION AND SUB QUESTIONS

The main research question of this paper is: what are the major systemic issues that makes USACE facilities vulnerable to cyberattacks. This research aims to answer the following sub-questions: What are the cybersecurity policy and military doctrine of the Army? What is the cybersecurity organizational command of the Army? What is the public perception of cybersecurity? Is there any law enacted to govern information confrontation and electronic warfare? Does synergy exist between cybersecurity experts and the USACE?

THEORY OF CHANGE AND ASSUMPTIONS

IF the Army Corps of Engineers utilized a risk-based approach for assessing the security of a water dam system, THEN the control systems’ threat and vulnerability will be mitigated, THEN cyber threat detection and monitoring will be improved, THEN technology budget savings would increase.