Introduction
Nowadays, emergency management is one of the main aspects since its principles are used to develop effective contingency and action plans to respond to natural and manmade disasters (Rubin 137). It could be said that it is one of the vital components to ensure the sufficient functioning of the homeland security and safety of the citizens at national and regional levels in the United States of America. Despite having initial positive intentions, the manmade terrorist attacks (9/11) and natural disasters including hurricanes Katrina and Wilma showed deficiencies of the contingency and emergency strategies and plans and defined gaps that had to be filled (Rubin 1). A combination of these events along with the rapid integration of technology in daily transactions and activities required Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to expand its responsibilities and duties and take into account cyberterrorism and other related types of crimes that incur on the Internet. Cyber security became one of the fundamental constituents of emergency management’s preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery stages, and quick restoration of IT systems and recovery of organizations were discovered as the major duties of FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the United States of America (Rubin 137). Thus, these changes triggered the development and rise of the popularity of cyber preparedness as a separate phenomenon that helps respond, mitigate, and recover from a cyber-attack.
On this occasion, the primary goal of the paper is to review the role of cyber preparedness in emergency management. To establish a foundation for discussion, it is vital to discover the working mechanism of this phase by defining key terms and concepts of emergency management. Instantaneously, it is essential to portray a relationship between cyber preparedness and different stages in emergency management, as this dependence will assist in identifying critical issues and problems. Alternatively, it could be said that reviewing relevant public policies, agencies, and grant programs will portray the working mechanism of the emergency from an entirely different angle while discovering its importance for ensuring the safety of the society and rapid recovery of the systems. Apart from the sufficient modeling of the concept and active support by social institutions, there are a plethora of contemporary issues related to cyber preparedness, and they will be deliberated in detail in the context of this paper. Reviewing all factors from a historical perspective will help understand the progress and make a sufficient transition between the problems of the past and current ones.
Key Terms and Concepts
In the first place, it is indispensable to discuss key terms and concepts related to emergency management, as they will help gain profound insights into this topic. As it was stated earlier, emergency management was a critical element of homeland security, as it measured whether different organizations had sufficient contingency and recovery plans at national and regional levels. To describe the actions and standards that have to be considered, emergency managers create plans that include procedures for the identification of risks, selection of the most appropriate strategies, resource management, and creation of the managerial framework to respond to the incident (Rubin 137). Apart from that, contemporary principles of emergency management tend to cover actions that have to be discovered before a disaster, communication approaches, and evaluation of the accident (Rubin 75). Alternatively, pre-incident activities usually focus on training and availability of the required equipment and funding while communication implies using effective means and tools to inform about disaster rapidly (Rubin 137). They can be referred to as prevention strategies to decrease the outcomes of natural and manmade disasters. These aspects are vital to consider since they help emergency management comply with its goals and initial intentions.
Phases of Emergency Management
Thus, to establish a sufficient theoretical framework for the following discussion, it is essential to define the principle stages of emergency management, and they are mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. As it was demonstrated earlier, emergency managers paid critical attention to the prevention of the incident from an occurrence. This fact underlines the superior importance of the mitigation phase. From a historical perspective, in the 1990s, FEMA focused on reducing losses associated with various disasters while the importance of mitigation was firstly addressed in the Disaster Relief Act of 1974 (Rubin 141). Only after the devastating incidents such as Hurricane Andrew and the flood of the Mississippi River, the irregularity of the funding for mitigation was pointed out and addressed by the governmental authorities (Rubin 141). A combination of these factors attracted attention to this issue and made mitigation one of the important phases of emergency management. Currently, this stage focuses on the analysis of possible disasters and designs prevention strategies and adjustments to minimize losses.
The subsequent stage is preparedness, and it includes training, planning, and organizing the activities that will be essential during the phases of response and recovery (Faltas). It could be said that the development of technology boosted the effectiveness of this stage since IT systems increased the transferability of information and assisted in controlling inflows and outflows of required resources while making recovery fast. The next stage is a response, and it implies implementing the actions of the emergency plan to minimize the adverse outcomes of the disaster and react to the accident quickly (Rubin 221). The recovery phase is the last one, and it deals with the negative consequences of the incident. Meanwhile, after Hurricane Katrina, providing psychological support also became one of its basic services along with offering required medical assistance and resources since it was discovered that it hurt the mental health of the affected individuals (Remley 431). Nowadays, these procedures have well-developed control mechanisms, but, in the recent past, the lack of sufficient monitoring and management instruments led to a high percentage of deaths and devastating demolition of private houses and organizational buildings.
Cyber Security and Cyber Preparedness
To understand the following discussion, it is of preeminent importance to review the principles of cyber security. This concept implies ensuring the safety of transactions that take place online with the help of Internet technologies and advanced communication techniques (Rubin 137). Since the 1990s, cyber security was included as one of the vital elements of emergency management while expanding its initial duties from controlling physical structures such as airports and roads in 1979 to ensuring the consistency and safety of shared information today (Rubin 137). Apart from that, cyber security and IT system’s constituents found their reflection in other matters and components of emergency management such as preparedness and recovery phases, where cyber preparedness could be defined as the ability of the organization to recover from a substantial cyber incident or crime and respond to it rapidly (CNA).
The Relationship of Cyber Preparedness and Different Phases in Emergency Management
Emergency management is a complex phenomenon, as it consists out of interdependent components and a sequence of phases. As for cyber security, this concept is rapidly gaining popularity in the world while being reflected in contingency and emergency management (FEMA). Today, the importance of IT systems is highlighted in different parts of recovery, emergency, and contingency plans such as exercises and training, funding, prevention, and responsiveness to the incident (FEMA). These presence and reflection are rational, as the preparedness of the cyber component defines the ability of the systems and organizations to recover rapidly after natural and manmade disasters (Faltas). Generally speaking, cyber preparedness has a vehement impact on other elements of emergency management.
Mitigation
Per the previous chapter “Key Terms and Concepts”, the mitigation stage refers to introducing effective measures to minimize the consequences of natural, manmade disasters, and cyber accidents. Mitigation tends to measure various factors including the possibility of the occurrence of disasters and aims at designing effective tools to diminish the risk (Kapucu and Liou 215). In this case, cyber preparedness expands the knowledge of emergency managers by unveiling the important insights of the IT industry and enhancing the flow of information (CNA). This advantage can be actively used to design statistical frameworks and databases that contribute to “non-structural mitigation actions” including educational sessions (Kapucu and Liou 215). Thus, cyber preparedness ensures that this information is stored successfully in the long term and can be retrieved, used, and exchanged promptly. Consequently, the principles discovered during the process of cyber preparedness could be actively used to develop effective prevention strategies that would not only address the problems with cyber security but also other disasters.
Preparedness
In general, the preparedness phase focuses on ensuring that the organizations and society of the region have all the required resources and training to respond to the incident promptly. However, the continuous development of technology changed its original meaning by highlighting the importance of proposing relevant strategies to react to cybercrimes, attacks on the World Wide Web, and restore technological systems rapidly (CNA). As seen earlier, the rising popularity of IT and increasing occurrence of cyber-attacks required to include cyber preparedness in emergency and contingency plans (FEMA). Now, the significance of IT is actively present in different preparation activities including training, educational sessions, planning, and organization (FEMA). This approach helped discover preparedness from an entirely different perspective and improve its effectiveness.
Response
The subsequent stage is a response to the incident or natural disaster, and it is represented by implementing emergency action plans before, during, and after disasters or accidents. It could be said that one of the key components of this stage is a well-developed communication network (Rubin 75). In this case, this matter vehemently interferes with cyber preparedness since this stage provides technological support and ensures that all the required instruments are present and used to minimize the consequences of the accident. In the interim, cyber preparedness helps evaluate the damage and start recovery from the backup to diminish the physical outcomes of a cyber-attack or any other accident. Consequently, discovering this matter from the perspective of cyber preparedness cannot only help react to the cyberattack but also increase the quality and effectiveness of response during manmade and natural disasters and avoid panic.
Recovery
Alternatively, one cannot underestimate the role of the recovery phase, as it can be referred to as follow-up activities that improve organizational performance and minimize the consequences of the disasters. As it was examined in Chapter “Key Terms and Concepts”, cyber preparedness defined the ability of an organization to restore quickly after the incident (FEMA). Nowadays, many companies store their operational data electronically, and it can be discovered as an advantage and threat simultaneously. The primary reason for this controversy is the fact that it increases the vulnerability of the organizations to cyber-attacks, but it speeds up the process of data and system recovery (FEMA). Consequently, cyber preparedness can be discovered as one of the elements of the recovery process because it not only establishes structured databases that help avoid losses of important data but also offers an effective follow-up mechanism. It could be said that cyber preparedness modified and revolutionized the concept and principles of recovery while making them more advanced with the well-developed sequence of steps.
Relevant Public Policies, Agencies, and Grant Programs
Apart from the significance of the theoretical concepts, the ideas of emergency management and cyber preparedness are highly related to society. This aspect required various organizations including FEMA pay vehement attention to the recognition and importance of this aspect. Consequently, its ideas are actively supported by different grants programs and reflected in various public policies. The primary rationale for this trend is the fact that it is one of the most effective instruments to cultivate the growth and popularity of cyber preparedness in emergency management and contingency plans. In this situation, the discussion will not only cover cyber preparedness as a separately existing phenomenon but also provide background for regulations and social programs concerning cyber security and emergency management.
Public Policies
In different spheres, policies are often discovered not only as a control mechanism but also as a guidance that helps the companies minimize threats and avoid adverse consequences such as high mortality rates during disasters. As it was emphasized in previous sections, cyber preparedness was highly linked to the principles of cyber security except for being slightly different in the implementation process and having dissimilar intentions (Rubin 137). Consequently, initially, it is vital to review public policies related to general concepts of cyber security, and in subsequent paragraphs unveil the details of governmental apparatus concerning emergency management and cyber preparedness.
The first attempt to resolve the issue of cyber security incurred during the Bush presidency was by introducing the documents such as the National Strategy for Security Space (NSSS) in 2003 (Harknett and Stever 455). These policies raised the awareness of the federal authorities about cyber problems while equating them to more important threats such as nuclear war. In 2008, the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative (CNCI) was established to fill the gaps of NSSS and promote a substantial role of leadership in cyber security policy development (Harknett and Stever 455). Thus, President Barak Obama did not take this initiative but continued with an entirely different approach. In 2009, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) was selected as a central institution to evaluate cyber security policy (Harknett and Stever 457). It established grounds for policy development, but it did not introduce effective measures that could be actively promoted across the country to enhance the quality of cyber security at both national and regional levels. Nevertheless, these policies shaped a novel image and helped integrate the concepts of cyber security in different phases of emergency management.
Simultaneously, to enhance organizational productivity, performance, and safety, many regulations emphasize the vehement importance of cyber preparedness. For example, Executive Order 13636 depicted that companies had to prioritize efficiency, development, innovation, and risk-orientation in their technological structures (Faltas). This procedure underlines the importance of cyber preparedness for the sufficient performance of the organization since ensuring the adequate functioning of technological processes has a direct impact on the efficiency of other departments and operations. This policy can be used as a basis for the development of reforms concerning cyber preparedness and emergency management, but its main limitation is the generalization of its principles and recommendatory nature.
Alternatively, the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) could be viewed as another valuable document, as it combined the initiatives of both emergency management and cyber preparedness (Faltas). It provides guidelines and includes stages and actions that have to be taken, but this publication can be discovered as recommendations that are not mandatory to follow. Sequentially, it could be said that many policies cover the issues of cyber security such as maladversting, espionage, and digital threat (Bayuk et al. 223). Additionally, the organizations consider privacy and security of personal data as highly important, and various policies and white papers covering consumer protection were published (Glist et al. 45). This matter reveals that the problem of cyber security is covered and described in different policies and governmental documents, but the concept of cyber preparedness is not fully discussed and controlled. In this instance, the governmental authorities have to work in collaboration with different agencies and develop sufficient legal frameworks that will help control the stages of cyber preparedness in different organizations and business entities.
Agencies
Various agencies and governmental institutions play a pivotal role in supporting cyber security as an indispensable component of the emergency management and preparedness phase. It remains apparent that many of these entities emphasize the significance of proactive and collaborative approaches to develop effective prevention strategies, determine threats, and increase “resilience from natural and manmade disasters” (Faltas). These initiatives help minimize the adverse consequences and utilize effective methods that comply with the safety needs of society. In this case, FEMA is one of the most important agents that address the problems debated above. For example, in 2006, the organization developed a plan to discover different threats and design effective emergency management strategies (Faltas). This document was focused on 16 infrastructural segments and implied that the emergency management strategies of the organizations had to be designed while taking into account characteristics such as “comprehensive, progressive, risk-driven, integrated, collaborative, coordinated, flexible, and professional” (Faltas).
Due to a connection of the concepts of cyber preparedness with the ideas of cyber security management, one could not underestimate the role of different authorities, who were responsible for this matter at different periods in history. As described in chapters before, the role of the president and his/her administration could not be underrated, as both Bush and Obama showed concerns about the issue and developed a sufficient set of policies to improve the situation (Harknett and Stever 457). The organizations such as the GAO actively contributed to this process and reviewed the policies during Obama’s presidency in 2009 (Harknett and Stever 457). A substantial role of these policies could not be misjudged, as they helped understand the significance of cyber security and the need to integrate it in the concepts and process of emergency management.
Some agencies and governmental institutions were actively involved in integrating and controlling the procedures concerning emergency management, cyber preparedness, and cyber security and combining their principles. Along with FEMA that expanded its duties, the DHS in a collaboration with the local communities designed the NIPP (Faltas). This document offered a unified framework of different procedures that would not only underline the significance of cyber preparedness but the need to reflect it in different phases of cyber management (Faltas). In this case, the contribution of the DHS to the development of cyber protection was immense, as it clearly defined the cyber practices that could be implemented along with emergency management standardized approaches. Today, the DHS determines the main strategies that every organization should use to ensure security and sufficient functioning of the systems, and they focus on working in collaboration with diverse teams of specialists, mitigating external and internal risks and evaluating them regularly, controlling the actions of employees, and enhancing organizational policies based on their needs (Faltas).
Alternatively, the agencies such as the MITRE Corporation and Center for Naval Analyses Corporation (CNA) are currently working on improving the understanding of cyber preparedness and creating international terminology (Lessons Learned Information Sharing). The agencies focus on the specifics of the topic and issue and have a desire to fill the gaps. It could be said that the agencies described above provide effective frameworks that can be actively used to cultivate the concepts of cyber security in emergency management and its phases. They provide substantial support and improve the recognition of these policies in society and among other governmental institutions. However, one of the drawbacks is the fact that these policies and orders have a nature of recommendations, and they are not considered mandatory while decreasing the effectiveness of control instruments. The lack of a unified legal framework decreases the control of this important sphere of emergency management and resilience to internal and external incidents and disasters. This matter increases the vulnerability of technological infrastructures while making organizations susceptible to cyber-attacks and their physical consequences.
Grant Programs
Despite a substantial role of agencies and policies, other social tools are different grant programs that tend to encourage the integration of cyber security into emergency management. The role of this social mechanism cannot be underestimated since it not only supplies the companies with the required resources to pursue innovation in the sphere of cyber security but also highlights the need to develop effective IT infrastructures to mitigate, prepare, respond, and restore from cyber accidents and natural disasters. Simultaneously, grant programs help increase the awareness of the organizations about the predominant importance of cyber security, emergency management, and cyber preparedness.
The DHS could be considered as one of the major financial sources that support cyber security, emergency management, and cyber preparedness. In the first place, this organization and FEMA offer assistance to the individuals in need by providing grants and transportation (U.S. Department of Homeland Security). This matter supports the response and recovery stages of emergency management since providing this help can minimize the percentage of victims and reduce the consequences of the disaster or accident. The governmental institution examined above also focuses on providing additional funding to prepare the organizations for the incident (U.S. Department of Homeland Security). The primary goal of these programs is to focus on the preparedness stage and ensure that organizations can respond to different types of incidents including terrorism and cyber-attacks (U.S. Department of Homeland Security). This program clearly shows that cyber security and emergency management are interdependent matters, and cyber preparedness has to be considered as important as other stages. Providing additional funding expands opportunities for the companies and organizations and supplies them with the required financial resources to improve cyber preparedness and technological activities along with other necessary activities.
Alternatively, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) could be considered as another important organization that provides grants to various organizations to enhance their preparedness and mitigation phases (U.S. Department of Homeland Security). The central aim of this grant program is to focus on R&D and supply organizations with the required financial resources to support innovation and development of new technologies (U.S. Department of Homeland Security). It could be stated that this grant not only emphasizes the significance of emergency management but also supports the development and advancement of cyber preparedness. It is necessary to mention that other specialized programs tend to enhance the functioning of the organization and ensure their compliance with the guidelines of the emergency management stated in the public policies and various documents. Some of them also underline the paramount importance of cyber preparedness in the context of emergency management while others focus on addressing issues covering both consequences of disasters and other social problems such as terrorism (U.S. Department of Homeland Security).
Based on the analysis and description of grants, different governmental organizations and agencies actively support emergency management and cyber security. The presence of various programs clearly shows that the concepts of cyber security and emergency management are interdependent and have to be discovered contemporaneously. Focusing on R&D and encouraging the development of technology and innovation in the organizations reflect that governmental authorities and agencies understand the involvement of technology in the principles of emergency management. In turn, they underline the importance of cyber preparedness and its substantial role in different phases. It remains apparent that the government should invest additional financial resources to support the development of cyber preparedness and security, as the role of these aspects is still underestimated.
Contemporary Issues Associated with Preparedness Phase and Emergency Management
As it was highlighted previously, emergency management has a complicated mechanism and consists out of different crucial elements that have to be considered. Consequently, ensuring compliance and the sufficient flow of information between different phases may be associated with several challenges. Discovering this matter from a historical perspective will help make a smooth transition from the past to the current issues related to emergency management. This analysis will unveil the important insights of the problem and discover the increased importance of IT and the need to enhance policies concerning cyber preparedness.
Problems of the Past
Apart from the novelty of the term, emergency management and the associated mechanisms tended to exist due to the complicated nature of this phenomenon. As it was indicated earlier, the actions of FEMA were rather limited in the recent past. It could be said that these restrictions and gaps could be considered as the major triggers for the occurrence of the incidents such as the 9/11 terrorist attack and the devastating consequences of hurricanes Katrina and Wilma (Rubin 1). To fill these gaps, the duties of FEMA were expanded while paying substantial attention to emergency and contingency plans to ensure that any organization has all required resources and information to react to the incident promptly (Rubin 1). It helped the government bring emergency management to a new level and devote substantial attention to the development of new public policies and agencies to monitor and underline the importance of this matter.
Apart from expanding the responsibilities of FEMA, the insufficient functioning and the lack of a well-developed legal framework created difficulties for it. For example, despite being conferred in the Disaster Relief Act of 1974, the mitigation stage was not fully addressed and funded until hurricane Andrew took place (Rubin 141). Focusing on funding helped pay equal attention to each stage and devote substantial financial resources to the development of emergency management from dissimilar perspectives. In turn, some states such as preparedness were not fully recognized for a long period. Unfortunately, funding and redistribution of finances did not resolve the problems with policy-making, and some of them continued to exist. The development of technology provoked the era of globalization and the Internet (Faltas). The governmental authorities were not prepared for these changes and were not able to readapt strategies and processes to become more efficient.
It remains apparent that some issues reflected in the past continue to exist today, as technology evolves regularly, and it is difficult for companies to keep their IT systems and processes up-to-date. The evaluation of the problems of the past clearly shows that emergency evolves and develops in a positive direction. Thus, the analysis of current issues will help see this progress and understand an active involvement of technology in everyday activities, strategies, and stages of emergency management.
Current Issues
When discussing current issues of the preparedness phase, it remains apparent that the continuous advancement of technology resolved some of them. However, this environmental change could be considered as one of the drivers for the development of more complicated and advanced issues. Nowadays, computers, mobile applications, and the Internet are regarded as irreplaceable attributes of everyday activities, and PC is viewed as one of the modern conveniences that can be used as “a tool for cataloging recipes and essential for launching cruise missiles” (Harknett and Stever 455). At the same time, this trend contributed to the rise of globalization and multiculturalism, as it created opportunities for international companies while enabling worldwide transactions and increasing their international presence (Faltas). Apart from having a beneficial impact on the quality of life and upgraded efficiency of information exchange, the established networks and the Internet created security vulnerabilities including online bank robberies, cyber-attacks, systems failures, and problems with software coding (Harknett and Stever 455). It could be stated that a combination of these factors established favorable conditions for the development of cybercrimes while questioning not only the safety of confidential digital information and security of different governmental structures such as government but also the ability of the organization to recover its IT systems after cyberattacks.
To establish a basis for discussion, the previous sections highlighted various policies, agencies, and regulations that paid vehement attention to the issues with cyber security, cyber preparedness, and emergency management since the importance of these interdependent components cannot be underestimated. It was revealed that both Obama and Bush attempted to address this issue by introducing various procedures to optimize online security (Harknett and Stever 457). Unfortunately, their efforts could not be discovered as effective since even after the implementation of the proposed measures, the CNCI was not able to meet the proposed benchmarks (Harknett and Stever 457). This matter could be regarded as one of the triggers that contributed to designing a matrix for the sufficient assessment of the proposed cyber policies by creating standards that had to be followed (Harknett and Stever 458). These policies have only recommendatory nature, and this fact depicts that the lack of effective policies is still a major issue for both cyber security and cyber preparedness. In this instance, the proposed policies have to become more detailed to avoid the consequences and fill the existent gaps concerning cyber security.
At the same time, one could not underestimate the fact that the development of technology was one of the reasons for the disrupted flow of information and a high percentage of misunderstandings when designing emergency plans (Lessons Learned Information Sharing). In 2012, FEMA conducted a series of exercises, and it was revealed that lack of common terminology not only created difficulties during the process of communication but also questioned the efficiency of cyber security (Lessons Learned Information Sharing). In the past sections, it was unveiled that cyber preparedness was a critical aspect to support and speed up a potential future recovery. Subsequently, establishing common terminology has to be discovered of vehement importance since it will make the implementation of the following phases more effective.
Analysis of Issues and Recommendations
The previous section of the report indicated that the contemporary issues tended to be complicated, but different strategies can enhance the current situation and improve the quality of cyber preparedness in the context of emergency management. In the first place, the organizations have to prioritize the efficiency of cyber security during the preparedness phase. The primary reason for this act pertains to the fact that the development of technology provoked the rapid spread of information and trends such as globalization and multiculturalism (Faltas). Alas, it also contributed to the spread of different pandemics and cybercrimes while causing dysfunction in society (Faltas). Consequently, assuring the efficient implementation of cyber preparedness by conducting continuous analysis of inner and outer threats and ensuring the effectiveness of IT systems are necessary aspects of sufficient emergency management and contingency plans.
Broadly speaking, focusing on IT management is a central goal that has to be aimed at every organization to minimize the consequences of disasters and reduce threats. When reviewing this matter from an entirely different angle, paying attention to the effectiveness of human resource management can be considered as one of the potential solutions. The implementation of cyber preparedness is dependent on the awareness and educational background of the employees. In this instance, the management of the company has to collaborate with HRM and develop effective training programs, propose relevant plans, and inform employees about different operational procedures (Faltas). It could be said that a combination of these actions defines the efficiency of cyber preparedness and shapes the overall resilience to manmade and natural disasters.
In the context of this section, it is vital to target collaborative decision-making when filling the gaps related to the lack of common technological language and issues with communication, and it can be discovered as another important resolution (Lessons Learned Information Sharing). In this instance, different governmental and social agencies and organizations have to work in teams to develop a sufficient language that can be used in this sphere. In this case, the problem has to be reviewed at the national and international levels simultaneously since these issues are present worldwide.
In turn, the analysis of the previous section clearly showed that there are some problems with the legal framework and governmental support that have to be resolved to improve the effectiveness of emergency management and cyber preparedness in its context. In this instance, it will also be effective and relevant to rely on collaborative strategy, as policymakers will have to work together with governmental institutions such as FEMA and social agencies. Relying on these policies will not only help control and monitor the compliance of the companies with different emergency management and cyber preparedness guidelines but also improve their efficiency.
It is evident that the previous section clearly showed that the intervention of the government in the sphere of emergency management is critical since it supports an active integration of cyber preparedness in its phases and working principles. Proving financial support and grants is one of the types of collaboration that exists today. Nevertheless, it may seem that some important matters are still not discovered and addressed in detail. For example, there are a plethora of grant programs that support innovation and the continuous technological advancement of organizations. This program focuses on the enhancement of mitigation and preparedness stages to minimize and address the consequences of the accident quickly. Nevertheless, the problem of cyber preparedness is still not fully discovered, and the governmental authorities should design specific programs to encourage its development.
Conclusion
In the end, it could be said that this paper helped build a sufficient understanding that the cyber security and preparedness stage were fundamental elements of emergency management. The paper attempted to discover cyber preparedness from entirely different angles and focus on cyber security and emergency management. Concurrently, it underlined the need to include both of these ideas when discussing policies, grants, agencies, and their connection with other principles. Today, one cannot underestimate the role of cyber preparedness, as it not only ensures the ability of the organization to respond to various cyber crimes and attacks but also interferes with other phases such as mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. Meanwhile, the analysis also contributed to the fact that cyber preparedness integrated and united the stages discussed above while making them interdependent. It was revealed that it could be discovered as one of the crucial matters that enhanced the effectiveness of these procedures while adding an important technological component to their functioning. Overall, it improved collaboration during the incident, speeded up the recovery, and helped introduce effective prevention measures.
The government actively underlines the importance of cyber preparedness by developing public policies, agencies, and grants. The organizations such as FEMA and the DHS tend to monitor new environmental and social trends and reflect them in dissimilar policies, documents, and publications. They offer different grants to show their concerns with cyber security and underline the need to focus on innovation and technological development. A combination of these actions helps fill the gaps and resolve some problems of the past related to emergency management.
The lack of a well-developed legal framework and low recognition of cyber preparedness can be considered as the issues that were transferred from the past. At the same time, the problems with cyber security effectiveness continue to exist, as technology and the IT sphere are constantly evolving and contribute to the active spread of information and globalization. This matter creates new opportunities for hackers while their actions may hurt physical objects. The absence of a collaborative approach and common technological language creates favorable conditions for the rising percentage of manmade disasters and cyber-attacks.
In this case, to resolve these issues, there are different prevention strategies and actions that have to be considered. In the first place, the governmental authorities and agencies should aim at underlining the importance of cyber preparedness. Developing various grant programs and policies can be viewed as the most effective instruments not only to increase awareness but also to improve the efficiency of emergency management. Lastly, applying the principles of a collaborative approach can help develop internationally recognized technological language and avoid misunderstandings.
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