Establishing a strategic framework for protecting the Nation's critical communications infrastructure is crucial to ensuring national security. The National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) provides the overarching framework for integrating protective programs and activities that are underway in the various critical infrastructure and key resources (CIKR) sectors. The NIPP includes 18 Sector-Specific Plans (SSPs) that detail the application of the overall risk management framework for each specific sector. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), National Communications System...

The National Response Framework is a guide to how the Nation responds to all types of disasters and emergencies. It is built on scalable, flexible, and adaptable concepts identified in the National Incident Management System to align key roles and responsibilities across the Nation. This Framework describes specific authorities and best practices for managing incidents that range from the serious but purely local to large-scale terrorist attacks or catastrophic natural disasters. The National Response Framework describes the principles, roles and responsibilities, and coordinating structures...

We are writing to transmit the Banking and Finance Sector-Specific Plan (SSP), which was prepared and approved in 2010. The U.S. Department of the Treasury, as the Sector-Specific Agency for the Banking and Finance Sector, developed this SSP through close collaboration with the members of the Financial and Banking Information Infrastructure Committee (FBIIC) and with the private sector members of the Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council for Critical Infrastructure Protection and Homeland Security (FSSCC). Collectively, input was received from over 100 organizations representing all...

The Defense Industrial Base (DIB) is an unmatched element of national power that differentiates the United States from all potential opponents. In 2009, the Secretary of Homeland Security published the updated National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP). The NIPP provides the overarching approach for the nation's critical infrastructure and key resources (CIKR) protection initiatives as a single integrated national effort. The Department of Defense (DoD) as the Sector-Specific Agency (SSA) for the DIB is responsible for leading the collaborative, coordinated effort to identify, assess, and...

The Emergency Services Sector (ESS) is a system of preparedness, response, and recovery elements that form the Nation's first line of defense for preventing and mitigating the risk from physical and cyber attacks, and manmade and natural disasters. The sector consists of emergency services facilities and associated systems, trained and tested personnel, detailed plans and procedures, redundant systems, and mutual-aid agreements that provide life safety and security services across the Nation via a first-responder community comprised of Federal, State, local, tribal, territorial, and private...

The Healthcare and Public Health (HPH) Sector constitutes a significant portion of the U.S. economy. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) estimates that 16.2% ($2.2 trillion) of our Nation's 2007 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was spent on healthcare and this percentage was expected to increase to 17.6% in 2009. Privately owned and operated organizations comprise the vast majority of the sector and identify themselves with the delivery of healthcare goods and services. The public health component consists largely of government agencies at the Federal, State, local, tribal, and...

The 2010 Water Sector-Specific Plan addresses risk-based critical infrastructure protection strategies for drinking water and wastewater utilities, regulatory primacy agencies, and an array of technical assistance partners. The Plan describes processes and activities to enable the protection, and increased resilience, of the sector's infrastructure.

The Privacy Technology Implementation Guide (PTIG) offers assistance to technology managers and developers in understanding privacy protections as they design, build, and deploy operational systems. The guide is offered pursuant to the DHS Chief Privacy Officer's responsibilities under Section 222(1) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as amended, to assure that the use of technologies sustain privacy protections related to the use, collection, and disclosure of personally identifiable information. The PTIG is designed to allow each Component the flexibility to adapt privacy considerations...

The United States is poised at the outset of a new era in homeland security that reflects long-term changes in the security environment and key advances in homeland security capabilities. The 2014 Quadrennial Homeland Security Review describes the challenges and opportunities of this new era and how the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and our homeland security partners must strategically posture ourselves to address those challenges. The 2014 Quadrennial Homeland Security Review also takes an important foundational step toward a Secretary-level priority: strengthening Departmental...

In most instances, the CBP Miami Field Office complied with CBP policies and procedures. We found only minor deficiencies in CBP Miami Field Office operations for cargo targeting and seized asset management. For passenger screening, Miami International Airport leveraged an existing system to track passengers who have records for violations of laws or other significant events. Other Miami Field Office ports of entry could benefit from this "one-stop system" that would allow them to document, monitor, and report on targeting passengers in real time. The field office could improve the...