Conference On A Infrastructure Protection - Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Conference On A Infrastructure Protection? Answer: Introduction The transportation industry has been creating various critical issues to the human over several centuries. The railway transport has to evolve and reaching its peak point of providing transportation services. This report discusses the Acela Express between Washington D.C. and Boston USA. This report focuses on the critical condition of this railway and weakness that can be exploited during a terrorist attack. This report explains the intention of any terrorist group to attack this railway system. Various risks involved in this railway have been identified and critically analyzed in the report. This report outlines the risk assessment and risk management of the Acela Express between Washington D.C. and Boston USA. Various steps and strategies have been suggested for mitigating these risks including threats of terrorist attacks on the railway system in the USA. These strategies include both protective and resilience measures. Overview The Acela Express is a train under the Amtraks flagship service providing services along the Northeast Corridor in the Northeastern United States between Washington, D.C. and Boston (Edwards 2014). This train has 14 intermediate stops during its journey including Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York City. A huge number of passengers are travelling on this train approximately 3.4 million passengers in 2016. It has provided a huge revenue of $585 million to the Amtrak. Lewis (2014) commented that these trains use tilting technology that provides controlled centripetal forces for travelling at high speed. Acela operates routes used by freight and slower passenger traffic. It reaches maximum speed in only a few stations. This train travels through high-density population area of the country. Therefore, it does not travel through its maximum speed. Risk Assessment Various risks have been identified in the railway system including the Acela trains. These risks have created a critical situation for the railway system. Alcaraz and Zeadally (2015) mentioned that there have been various attacks and accidents recorded that have created a havoc among passengers during travelling in the Acela trains. Various strategies have been used by the culprits to create a critical situation among the passengers. Therefore, risks and threats have been increasing in the trains. Therefore, risks assessment process have to be implemented on the railway system of the Acela trains. These trains used to travel through crowded areas of the country that have created most attack prone zone for them. As commented by Betts (2015), there are various weak points of the trains that have created the vulnerability to risks and threats. The speed of the train is the main reason for accidents. Edwards (2014) stated that these trains used to travel at 150 MPH, which is a huge speed for a vehicle. As these trains travel through the populated area, the chances of accidents increases. The track inspection of the train has been of poor quality. Therefore, it creates the high risk for trains to dislocate from the railway tracks and might meet with an accident. The track configuration at Penn Station New York has a complex maze of slip switches that can be unique in various ways. Around 1,200 train movements are happening within this 21 track, seven-tunnel station area in downtown Manhattan. However, there are 12 tunnels in 20.6 miles (Stergiopoulos et al. 2016). Track Geometry Measuring System (TGMS) Track Description Inspection Frequency FRA Regulation Minimum EP2007 Preferred EP2007 Segments with track speed =125 MPH Twice within 60- days Every 30 days Every 15 days Segments with track speed = 110 MPH Twice within 120-days Every 30 days Every 30 days Segments with track speed = 90 MPH Not Regulated Every 90 days Every 45 days Other main tracks, terminals, turnouts, and crossovers Not Regulated Annually Every 6 months Contract Carrier Routes Not Regulated Every 2 years Annually Commuter Contract Operations Not Regulated As required by contract Table 1: Track Geometry Measuring System (Source: Stergiopoulos et al. 2016, pp.247) The electrification of the Pennsylvania Railways main line between New York and Washington D.C. and other suburban lines have radiated from Philadelphia faster schedules and increasing congestion region of the north-eastern region in the US. The checking of IDs and luggage screening have been a great problem in the US railway system. On 10 September, Khalid al-Khalil and Muammar al-Nadir returned to Boston. On 11 September, two men retrieved the cobalt-60 sources Khalid al-Kahlil has pre-positioned at Boston (Bennett 2017). Using Muammar al-Nadirs access to secured areas of Amtrak, the two men boarded an Acela Express train in the early morning hours prior to the trains first commute from Boston to New York City. The company have not properly maintained its duties and responsibilities in the market. Various divisions of the railway network have been suffering from enormous financial crisis due to these terrorist attacks on the railways. Fekete, Tzavella and Baumhauer (2017) commented that the management structure of the company has been suffering from the corruption and other illegal activities at a workplace. The terrorist attacks done by Al-Qaeda have disrupted the moral of the employees and passengers of the company. Effective Risk assessment methodologies are included in this case for implementing the critical infrastructure protection (CIP) in the railway industry. Pat?Cornell et al. (2017) mentioned that the CIP program has created several substantial academic resources for enhancing protection, resilience and preparedness of the Nations critical infrastructure. Methodologies are developed for mitigating various threats and risks in the railway industry. Sustainable policy needs to be implemented under the CIP cycle in order to maintain efficiency and vulnerability in the railway system. The terrorist attacks have been creating potential threats and risks in the railway system of USA. Gharehyakheh, Tolk, Fritts and Cantu (2017) stated that the policymakers and stakeholders of the railway system have been looking for implementing strict laws and CIP cycle in this context. The consequences including death of passengers, financial loss and harassment have been prevailing among individuals of the country. Steering between markets approaches has helped in providing several aspects of the risks assessment process. Various catastrophic changes have been done by government in order to implement CIP cycle. These changes include the change in the policies of railway and implementation of several railway security acts including Rail Safety Improvement Act 2008 (Meyer-Nieberg et al. 2017). A cost-effective security system has been installed in the trains that have helped in alarming in any terrible condition during the terrorist attack or an accident. The security of the rail system has been a prior function of government. The CIP program has created several substantial academic resources for enhancing protection, resilience and preparedness of the Nations critical infrastructure. Kitagawa, Preston and Chadderton (2017) commented that the CIP program has acted as a third party in order to maintain the security proposal in the railway industry of USA. Global leaders have provided funding in the implementation of this program in the railway industry. Pescaroli and Kelman (2017) stated that after the catastrophic situation of 9/11 attack, the government has been strict in implementing laws and policies in the state. The stakeholders of the company have been ordered to implement this CIP program in their company for providing security to the passengers from various threats and risks. The CIP program provides timely analysis of the current issues in the railway system including the safety and terrorist attack. A theoretical based approach has been taken in order to implement CIP program in order to minimize risks threats involved in railways. Public and government support have been a key opportunity of the CIP cycle that initiates different liabilities in the railway system. Resilience can be addressed with the help of RI that is a preliminary phase (Ani, He and Tiwari 2017). Therefore, the evaluation of the RI has been based on the same methodology including design and data collection method. Data is based on the robustness and res ourcefulness of the facility provided by the railway system. Risk Management Risk management is a concept that aligns identifying, quantifying, mitigating risks and reviewing the solution. Gustavsson et al. (2017) commented that Risk management process depends on the various factors that are creating the risks in the system. In this case, railway system of the US has been facing several risks including accidents, poor management and terrorist attack. Therefore, risk management imposes a proper control over possible future events in order to manage risks in the railway system. Terrorist attacks have been a major risk and threat in the Acela Express train. After the 9/11 attack in the US, the government have been terrified of the terrorist attack and taking useful steps in order to minimize this threat. Implementation of strict laws and acts have been initiated in the country (Ouyanget al. 2017). The security of sensitive areas including railway station, airport, hospitals and shopping malls have been increased. This has helped in maintaining the security of the state. There have been various loopholes and weaknesses in the railway system in the USA. The Acela train travels through high-density population area. Therefore, the speed of the train is a major problem for the railway system. This train is not able to run at a high speed through this area. The facilities on the train have been degraded from past years. This has created the decrease in the interest of the passengers to travel through this train (Pant et al. 2017). One of the major weaknesses is the security of the train. There has been the increase in the terrorist attacks on the train. Small robbery including snatching of ornaments and money has been a common problem in this train. Therefore, the system has been suffering from the security problems. Therefore, a risk management policy has to be implemented in the railway system to mitigate these problems. The government of the company have been focusing on maintaining the effort done by the council of the railways. The use of the security guards at each train, checking luggage and id have helped in providing security to the railway. The disastrous impact of the terrorist attacks has affected potential measures for development of the railways in the country. The use of various methods including Information and communication technologies (ICT) have helped in providing reliability, security and system safety in the railway system. It also provides seat availability, operations and minimizing the cost of the railways. Alcaraz and Zeadally (2015) mentioned that ICT devices have helped in providing visual surveillance to the system. CCTV cameras are installed in the trains and platforms that provide the continuous update of the activities. Multiple cyber components can be secured with the help of ICT. Various methods including wireless communication and data transfer have been secured that have an intersection of information by the terrorist groups. Therefore, terrorist attacks in the trains and railway system can be minimized. Terrorist activities can be both physical and technological. However, terrorist used to perform cyber-attacks on the server of the railway systems. Various viruses and malware are injected into the server of a railway system. These viruses and malware used to intrude into databases of a system and cause data loss. Therefore, the blueprint and train route maps are in danger due to cyber-attacks. The Critical Infrastructure Protection Decision Support (CIPDSS) is a tool that helps in decision-making system for critical infrastructures. This tool is applicable for every infrastructure and helps decision makers to decide upon mitigating strategies from the risks involved in the systems. This methodology helps in maintaining an appropriate approach in order to function towards a concrete decision related to problem-solving approach. The terrorist attack can be minimized by the use of CIPDSS. Alcaraz and Zeadally (2015) mentioned that impacts of terrorist attack have been deadly on the mind of the passengers. There have been many deaths occurred due to the terrorist attacks on the trains. However, these impacts have been aggregated with different sectors with common metrics. Therefore, evaluation of these impacts has helped in mitigating various risks in the railway systems. Counteract The cluster of User Network in Transport and Energy related to Anti-Terrorist Activities (COUNTERACT) is based on providing security to the railway system for strategies to mitigate terrorist activities. Pat?Cornell et al. (2017) mentioned that this concept has focused on terrorist attacks in energy and transport sectors. The security measures in transport sectors including railway have been focused on the non-structural infrastructure. The disastrous impact of the terrorist attacks has affected potential measures for development of the railways in the country. These attacks have hampered the development of the railway system. The vulnerability of the probability assessment has helped in detecting gaps and loopholes in the security system of the railways. The weak points have been detected in the cost, effectiveness, insurance and time for implementing daily basis operations. The traditional risk management process has been removed with the modern approaches to the risk management pr ocess. Severity levels of the risks have been initiated in which, terror attacks have been rated as the topmost high-risk level in the system. Increase in the terrorist attacks has created a critical situation for the railways. The implementation of the advanced technology has helped in maintaining a proper approach for mitigating terrorism in the railway systems. Gustavsson et al. (2017) commented that the use of biometrics in the transport system for making entry into the station might help on maintaining the record of each passenger in the train. The use of x-ray machines helps n checking the body of any individual carrying any metal thing with them. As commented by Betts (2015), therefore, it helps in detecting any harmful metal things on the train. These parameters might help in minimizing the terrorist activities in the trains as the railway system. The combination of the probability assessment and the risk management helps in maintaining a methodology of creating strategies f or mitigating terrorism. Conclusion It can be concluded that the railway system of the USA has been suffering from the terrorist attacks. The Acela Express travels through Washington DC to Boston, USA. These routes have been terrified with various terrorist activities over the tine. Various risks have been identified over time including high cost, accidents and terrorist activate in the trains. The government of the country have been terrified with these activities and creating strategies for mitigating these activities. The use of various tools and techniques have helped in reducing these risks. The CIP cycle has helped in maintaining the policies and laws prepared by the government in order to mitigate terrorism in the railway system. The terrorist has targeted the database of the company by the cyber-attacks. Hackers have intruded into the online database of the railway and breached personal and important data from it. These things have triggered terrorist activities in the railway system. The risk management proces s has helped in maintaining the risks and threats prevailing in the railway system. The use of several tools and techniques have contributed in controlling terrorist activities in the railway system. The Critical Infrastructure Protection Decision Support (CIPDSS) is a tool that helps in decision-making system for critical infrastructures. The security measures in transport sectors including railway have been focused on the non-structural infrastructure. References Alcaraz, C. and Zeadally, S., 2015. Critical infrastructure protection: Requirements and challenges for the 21st century.International journal of critical infrastructure protection,8, pp.53-66. Ani, U.P.D., He, H. and Tiwari, A., 2017. 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