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Despite near-continuous pronouncements on the topic of resilience, the Administration decided not to define resilience in its latest Presidential Policy Directive/PPD-8: National Preparedness. It is precisely the difficulty of nationally defining resilience that should compel the government to do so. Deciding not to define resilience and its application to the Nation’s infrastructure condemns America to continuous validation of Einstein’s definition of insanity: “Doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result.”

By Michael Hendrix
Critical infrastructures are the veins and arteries carrying the lifeblood of America’s economy and society. In a recent National Chamber Foundation event, Admiral Thad Allen described critical infrastructure as especially susceptible to “Black Swans.” To minimize the unexpected risk to critical infrastructure, we need a set of best practices, a sort “Black Swan toolkit.”

There was a time when the United States’ transportation infrastructure was the envy of the world. Times are changing and U.S. infrastructure isn’t. This poses a significant threat to America’s profitability, economic recovery and international competitiveness. Recognizing this, the National Chamber Foundation – the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s think tank – put on a program in conjunction with the Chamber’s Let’s Rebuild America initiative, “Infrastructure: What We Want, What We Need.” Here’s a breakdown.

America’s infrastructure could use a makeover. Many of the things that help this country “GO” – roads, bridges, utilities and more – are in poor shape and in many places, crumbling before our eyes. Yet, the country has seen little in the way of real change when it comes to building a stronger, more resilient America. Not enough of us are talking and thinking strategically about infrastructure investment priorities, how risk and resilience are considered, and how we are going to pay for these much-needed updates. Enter Adm. Thad Allen, former commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard.

Yesterday, the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) released the recommendations of its Community Resilience Task Force (CRTF), which argue that it is impossible to build a resilient nation upon protected yet aged, overstressed, exploitable and consequence-amplifying infrastructure foundations.

One of the more interesting parts of the rejuvenated Anarchist movement has been the adoption of Guy Fawkes as a hero. The Internet movements like Anonymous and a number of other Lulzs have been doing their level Guy Fawkes’ best to flex their muscles against the man. And so Uncle Sam, in the guise of the U.S. Government, is finding out the wild frontier of cyber space is not about to be intimidated by Washington laws or declarations. We focus on nation states. In the new frontier, all the Guy Fawkes are the same.

It’s a basic lesson any semi-decent carpenter or weekend handyman knows. If you have the right tools, you can do your job a lot easier and a whole lot better. As basic as this premise might be, it is one that we have failed to follow in terms of dealing with fire and ice in this country. With a median age of several decades and enormous wear and tear, the reliability and safety our firefighting planes is in serious question.

Black swans are another name for Secretary Rumsfeld’s famous category of “known” unknowns, things we know we don’t know – but maybe we should. The Japanese anticipated the double-shot of earthquakes and tsunamis, but not the triple whammy of earthquake-Tsunami-massive release of low-dose radiation from nuclear power plants. It is hard to believe that Washington would not screw up a nuclear incident just as badly as Toyko, particularly if the event happened in the midst of another catastrophe.

It has been a busy couple of days for me, but they have been good ones. I flew down to Maxwell AFB in Alabama to offer the Industry Perspective on Cyber as part of the AF Cyber Operations Executive Course. I also served as moderator for an Executive Luncheon sponsored by the Homeland Security and Defense Business Council, where the guest was Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense, the Honorable Paul Stockton.

Regardless of circumstance or event, be it flood, fire, tornado or terror, the American Red Cross has always been there. With the release of the Ready Rating Program, the American Red Cross has once again shown their capacity to do just about anything they set their mind too. When you compare this effort to those of DHS in its Private Sector Preparedness (PS-Prep) Program, it’s not even a fair comparison.

Many commentators will point out that the biggest hindrance to wide acceptance of the cloud model for enterprise computing is doubts to its security. For many folks, this concern is real. Can the cloud be secured? Absolutely yes! But we should not be unwise. If the cloud is beckoning you, you have responsibilities as a potential consumer.

The cyber conference world continues to grow. There are several dozen cyber-specific events in the next few weeks. This is indicative of a couple things. First, it shows the entire cyber field is still growing unabated and that we are taking it seriously, and second, it shows that lots of conference builders are riding the train. For my part, I’ll be participating in some upcoming cyber events this month.

In this final installment of my five-part interview with Virginia Task Force 1’s Capt. Joe Knerr and Lt. Rodney Vaughan, the two veteran rescuers reflect on the resiliency of the people of Japan, the lessons they’ve learned along the way and how their experiences in Japan compare with other disasters to which they have responded.

The leadership of the Financial Sector has met in Miami to discuss and learn how to improve their cyber security posture. The financial sector is frankly one of the most lucrative targets available to cyber criminals and other miscreants. For a nation like ours, which is built on democratic capitalism, what sector carries more symbolic value than the financial sector?

Last week, Brian Kamoie, Senior Director for Preparedness Policy with the White House’s National Security Staff, shared the contents of the Presidential Policy Directive 8 on National Preparedness Policy. It is the guidance document for how we move forward in making the country more resilient. While I applaud the end product, the wait to get here begs the question: what took it so long?

Please join the GW Homeland Security Policy Institute for a discussion about Presidential Policy Directive – 8: National Preparedness, featuring Brian Kamoie, Senior Director for Preparedness Policy on the White House National Security Staff. President Barack Obama signed a new Presidential Policy Directive on National Preparedness last week and the Directive will be publicly released at this event.

The images coming out of quake-damaged Japan are truly indescribable. Incidents like the 8.9 earthquake and its follow-on tsunami give us all a reason to pause from our daily lives to wonder what would we do if something like that happened here. That’s just the question the people behind the National Level Exercise 2011 have been asking themselves for nearly a year, as they have been working to pull all of the pieces together for the full-scale drill on the nation’s preparedness that will take place this coming May.

Many people see cybersecurity as simply a matter of building a better castle. If we only have higher and thicker walls, and a strong cavalry, we’ll be safe. Yet, the bad guys are always going to get through, and it does not matter much if the cavalry is preemptive or reactive. We still need the sensors and decision-making protocols to get the right action at the right time.

GreenPeace wasted little time showing off its true colors last Friday when the group’s legislative director, Rick Hind, decided to protest during a House Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing on chemical security. Waving flip-flops over his head, Rick managed to interrupt the hearing and wag the proverbial middle finger to the water sector. The fact is, GreenPeace is less concerned about chemical security than they are about just banning chlorine.

One of the most successful (I did not say perfect) cybersecurity programs in the Federal Government is being run by the Department of State. That is because they have about as close to a continuous monitoring system as possible. They are an example for the rest of the government. How has State done this?