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Class B Week 13 Assignment
Class B: Week 13 Assignment
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Class B: Week 13 Assignment
The Dirty War movie presented by Magenta16V (2012) exhibits a scenario revolving around the movement of hazardous and lethal radioactive materials mixed with other volatile or explosive components cloaked in some vegetable oil containers from Turkey to England. This scenario aligns with our comprehension of systems from the perspective of intelligence. Specifically, it reflects our understanding that the logic of systems thinking is crucial in the development of helpful, coherent, and effective models of intelligence that allow us to buttress our intelligence, hence allowing us to survive in systems characterized by uncertainties. In the film, DA Stroma explains that the sole purpose of establishing a reconnaissance cell is to gather essential intelligence on intended targets as such targets are closer to the planning of a terrorist attack within the national security system. With such intelligence, national security officers can competently enhance crisis communication and decisions aimed at thwarting such an attack. This aligns with our understanding of systems in that gathering, analysing, and assessing intelligence helps us to generate outcomes that support communication and informed decision-making necessary in improving the systems within which we live.
From a critical outlook, I think that Meadows’ approach to systems thinking enables us to identify, categorize, and manage the elements of intelligence portrayed in Dirty War. Meadows and Wright (2008) suggest that intelligent system thinkers establish resilient systems based on a rich structure of multiple feedback loops that enable the restoration of such systems in the event of large disturbances. The national security agents in Dirty War needed such resilience to restore the national security system to stability after being perturbed by the attack. This resilience could be attained through positive emergency drills aimed at sending positive messages to Londoners about attack preparedness. I also think that intelligent system thinkers should demonstrate the ability to exercise all seven critical thinking skills suggested by Richmond (2018). These include closed-loop thinking, dynamic thinking, forest thinking, operational thinking, quantitative thinking, scientific thinking, and system-as-cause thinking.
References
Magenta16V. (November 05, 2012). Dirty war [Video file]. YouTube. Retrieved November 19, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poZXRUxlaqk&t=2752s.
Meadows, D. H., & Wright, D. (2008). Thinking in systems: A primer. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing.
Richmond, B. (2018). The “thinking” in systems thinking: How can we make it easier to master?. Leverage Networks, Inc. Retrieved November 19, 2019, from https://thesystemsthinker.com/the-thinking-in-systems-thinking-how-can-we-make-it-easier-to-master/.
Class B Discussion 1
Class B: Discussion 1
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Class B: Discussion 1
Security professionals face numerous challenges, some of which are discussed in detail. One of the primary challenges they face today is the augmentation of sophistication and volumes of cyber-attacks. Perpetrators of cyber-attacks today have refined their tactics to increase the sophistication of these attacks that become manifest in the form of ransomware attacks, growing phishing volumes, and new methods of propagating malware development. Holt, Bossler, and Seigfried-Spellar (2017) attest to this challenge by acknowledging that between 2014 and 2015 only, ransomware or scareware attacks increased by a whopping 35%, targeting mobile devices, some operating systems, and web servers. Ransomware attacks are a challenge to security professionals because technological advances continue to trigger massive transformations in cybersecurity breaches. These breaches shift the cybersecurity goalposts, making it exceedingly difficult for these professionals to stay operationally ahead of such threats.
Another challenge for security professionals the broadening skill gap. Today, finding, training, and sustaining qualified employees, along with retaining the exceptional talent needed in dealing with new cybersecurity threats continue to be a big challenge. Cybersecurity requires specialized scientific and technical skills, knowledge, and experience. However, statistics provided by De Zan (2019) reveal that currently, there are about 3 million cybersecurity job posts that have not been filled globally because there are not enough security professionals to fill these posts. The same source estimates that the skill gap will become worse because it will widen to 3.5 million by 2021. What this means is that teams of security professionals will face a growing skill challenge because they simply cannot find additional and new next-generation security workforce with the experience, expertise, and talent needed to fulfill fundamental security functions.
The third challenge for security professionals is the problem of overwhelming priorities. According to Knapp and Langill (2014), reducing and mitigating the risks, vulnerabilities, and threats in cybersecurity require high-level prioritization. However, these priorities may become overwhelming to security professionals when juggling them. This is because these professionals end up being pulled in different directions as they work hard to meet the needs of their respective departments. Apart from having many priorities, security professionals have to deal with large volumes of security alerts of different complexities. As they compete with these alerts, it becomes had to cope with their volumes and complexities, and they become overwhelmed developing what is termed alert fatigue (Miliard, 2019). Other challenges include increasing complexities of business security environments, development of stricter global security regulations, issues associated with data interoperability, and budgetary restraints in implementing and managing security infrastructure.
I have been responsible for the security and protection of a physical asset, specifically manufacturing equipment. What I wished I had known going into this assignment are the industry-specific security solutions for protecting that equipment from theft, misuse, and hazards that are beyond human control. If I had not known these, the one issue that might cause me to stay up at night if given this assignment would include how to acquire and get acquainted with industrial controls in manufacturing processes. Another issue would include equipment insurance and related data integrity.
References
De Zan, T. (2019). Mind the gap: the cyber security skills shortage and public policy interventions. Oxford University.
Holt, T. J., Bossler, A. M., & Seigfried-Spellar, K. C. (2017). Cybercrime and digital forensics: An introduction. Routledge.
Knapp, E. D., & Langill, J. T. (2014). Industrial network security: Securing critical infrastructure networks for smart grid, SCADA, and other Industrial Control Systems, 2 Ed. Syngress.
Miliard, M. (August 30, 2019). Alert fatigue a big problem for cybersecurity professionals too. Healthcare IT News. Retrieved January 14, 2020, from https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/alert-fatigue-big-problem-cybersecurity-professionals-too.
Class B Case Study Review
Class B: Case Study Review
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Class B: Case Study Review
The case study selected for this review exercise is the one by Rasmussen and Ramsayer (2015) on the release and absorption of carbon and how it influences the climate. The purpose of this case study is to discuss and analyze seven case studies considered as pressing concerns regarding carbon release and its effects on the warming of the climate. Two of the seven cases include the radical changes in Arctic carbon and the ever-growing concentration of atmospheric methane and its greenhouse warming effects. The others are the carbon storage capacity of tropical forests, carbon release from wildfires, carbon storage and carbon-related changes to North American forests, oceanic abortion of carbon, and carbon absorption by phytoplankton.
In the case study, the authors have addressed the topic of carbon absorption and release by Earth’s ecosystems comprehensively and sufficiently in a way that appeals to policymakers and practitioner audiences to take active actions in limiting carbon release to the environment. Specifically, Rasmussen and Ramsayer (2015) use these seven cases as examples of extreme carbon-related events that continually interact with the environment, shaping the current state of climate warming and causing other harmful events such as wildfires, reduced forest growth, and acidification. The case study also allows policymakers to have a framework for predicting the future of the climate based on the current carbon footprint in the seven key areas addressed.
From an analytical outlook, this case study will contribute meaningfully to the development of Security and Disaster Management studies as an academic field and professional domain in three ways. Firstly, it points to the availability of satellite and remote sensed data from NASA space expeditions, which can assist scholars and professionals to track changes to the climate and make useful predictions regarding climate warming. Secondly, the case study sensitizes environmental professionals about the design, establishment, and adoption of scientific models and instruments for modeling the extreme events that have been identified to have a massive impact on climate change and warming. With such modeling and instrumentation, these professionals can better quantify climate change based on the projections of severity and frequency of extreme events that cause climate change. Lastly, the case study will contribute by the development of such studies by providing current and evidence-based facts and data that will add value to these studies.
Having been published in 2015, this case study retains its value with the time distance from the seven events or case concerns. The rationale for this argument is that carbon release and absorption have continued to shape climate change since the time Rasmussen and Ramsayer (2015) authored this article. What this means is that the article is currently relevant to informing contemporary policy, professional, and scholarly actions relating to regulating the amount of carbon released to the environment. Since climate change due to carbon footprint is expected to be a continuing issue, the article will likely be read with interest in the future to guide decisions on strategic climate change and disaster control actions and measures.
Rasmussen and Ramsayer (2015) have presented their arguments in a clear, concise, and compelling way. The quality of their work is outstanding as they back their claims with evidence from proven and accurate facts from NASA data repository. They express high levels of originality and timeliness in the points judging from the fact that they convey them using professional language without bias and subjectivity while acknowledging sources from which they obtained information used to corroborate these points. This makes it valuable to subject matter experts within the environment study area and other disciplines of interest. By using clear subheadings for each of the seven cases, Rasmussen and Ramsayer (2015) express acceptable clarity of presentation. From a systems analysis perspective, the modeling of climate change suggested in this article should be done with caution. The reason is that the establishment of competing models would generate complicated analyses that would generate too much information, which would obscure real solutions to the systemic problems that cause climate change such as the reduction of carbon dioxide, Meadows and Wright (2008) suggest. In summary, this case study illustrates the weight of carbon release on aggravating climate change, indicating the need for proactive measures to lessen the carbon footprint.
References
Meadows, D. H., & Wright, D. (2008). Thinking in systems: A primer. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing.
Rasmussen, C. & Ramsayer, K. (November 11, 2015). Seven case studies in carbon and climate. Global Climate Change. NASA. Retrieved December 2, 2019, from https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2365/seven-case-studies-in-carbon-and-climate/.