Brooke’s post:
Brooke’s post was excellent. This is mainly because Brooke’s forum post tackles some of the performance measures that I have mentioned in my original forum. The performance measure that I called performance measure 2 in my forum is cited in Brooke’s forum post. It talks about the percentage of federal executive branch civilian networks monitored for cyber intrusion with advanced technology (NPPD). In Brooke’s forum post, we have his document mentioning that the DHS is committed in increasing public awareness. The DHS wants the individuals in the private sector to be empowered about what to do in the cyber world. In my forum, I talk about a performance measure where DHS wants to strategically lower the cost of the loss incurred due to the level of cybercrime that is being experienced within the country. This is also cited in Brooke’s forum post. This is a positive direction towards the attainment of the desired goal, the goal of having cyber terrorism completely thwarted or at least minimized.
Education is another key issue that Brooke has cited. In my forum, I seek to find out the percentage of young people with sufficient knowledge about cyber security. Brooke on the other hand wants to illustrate that it is important for the people interacting with the cyber world to be adequately educated so that they can have proper knowledge on preventive measures. In both cases, the issue is knowledge on the part of the people who need protecting from the cyber criminals. The only way they can be secure is if they have the right knowledge to follow the right steps to manage cyber terrorism, and increasing the number of those with the knowledge increases the security levels.
Michael’s post:
Michael’s forum post was also excellent and very informative. This is mainly because Michael’s post was much broader as compared to my forum post. Michael relates what is expected of the department of Homeland Security. He does not zero in on the cyber-crimes that I took keen note of. He looks at what is generally the expectation by the common citizen from the Homeland Security. In my forum, I looked at the reports that rated satisfactory or higher in customer feedback. This is with regards to cyber space. However, in Michael’s forum the same is looked into, but not for the benefit of cyberspace alone. This is also looked into for the case of other types of physical security. Such is the case with border patrol and the coast guard.
Michael stated in his forum that the performance measurements seemed accurate and applicable. These performance measures show how well the department of homeland security was able to achieve its goals. The same is true throughout my forum. All the performance measures that I have mentioned in my forum are meant to show if the department of Homeland Security are achieving their desired goals. Without these performance measurements, the DHS could be going round and round without making their goals a reality.
In Michael’s forum, the performance measurements are used to directly measure the number of operations that were held in conjunction with the Mexican law enforcement. This was all in the goal of securing the air and land borders. Without these measures, the effectiveness of the group effort would not be measurable and therefore the performance would be rather ineffective. The mistakes that would definitely have been done at one point or another would not be pin pointed, corrected and learnt from.
Bibliography:
Nakaya, Andrea C. 2005. Homeland security. Detroit: Greenhaven Press.
DHS. "DHS Annual Performance Report." Department of Homeland Security. February 13, 2012. www.dhs.gov/xabout/budget/editorial_0430.shtm (accessed October 21, 2012).
