Homeland Security and Homeland Defense

Introduction

Homeland Security and Defense are essential bodies that ensure the American people are protected from any form of destructive operations that make them feel insecure while carrying out their daily activities. The Department of homeland security works together with local police to ensure that they provide the homeland maximum protection from external threats (Alperen, 2017). The two bodies are designed to ensure that a nation is secured from internal and external threats, an objective that the government’s military strategy prioritizes in its agenda. Each Department contains different intelligence sections devoted to conducting significant information gathering that is relevant in making judgments on multiple investigations. Despite the two bodies having joint endeavors, they have different missions, tasks, responsibilities, and operations, which the paper will focus on explaining.

Topic 1

Homeland Security

Primary Missions

Homeland Security ensures that a nation is safeguarded and protected against any form of terrorist attack. Private sectors and governments collaborate and utilize their efforts to ensure that US citizens are free from any form of danger or threat (Khan & Hussain, 2023). Significantly, another critical mission is that Homeland Security ensures to utilize integrity to protect the American individual. The Department’s missions are well outlined so that individuals can understand how it protects them from danger.

Tasks

The homeland security tasks include preventing the illicit conveyance of radioactive materials and ensuring the nation is free from any form of terrorist attack. Department of Homeland Security has intelligent individuals who work steps ahead in stopping terrorist attacks. With the help of state and international agencies, they collaborate to ensure that they collect information regarding terrorists or any individual who might have plans of harming a nation.

Responsibilities

Homeland security ensures the security of its borders and sea ports. Within the Department of Homeland Security, the United States Border Patrol ensures that it secures the US borders between the ports of entry. For instance, the United States Border Patrol was created in 1924 to prohibit the entry of immigrants into America (Bavery, 2022).

Moreover, the homeland security department protects American citizens from terrorist attacks. With the rise of terrorist threats, the American people are expected to always live in a readiness constant and not fear.

Operations and Resources

Detecting fraud, protecting nuclear sites, securing aircraft, enforcing the law, and protecting chemical plants are just a few of the operations related to homeland security. Information sharing network, bureau of Justice, COPS office (Department of Justice), CBP office of state, law enforcement partnerships, INTERPOL, ICE Homeland Security investigators, Uniform Crime Reports, and FLETC (Federal Law Enforcement Training Center) are some of the resources utilized by Homeland Security in carrying out its operations and accomplish its goals.

Homeland Defense

Primary Missions

The primary missions of Homeland Defense include protecting the entire nation of the United States, its citizens and eliminating some infrastructure from any form of external threat (Bronk & Conklin, 2022). Here, the external threats include the intrusion of any harmful plan beyond the United States border initiated by terrorists. The terrorist plans negatively affect people, businesses, and families and even result in massive death of individuals. However, by securing the United States territory, the homeland defense department involves the government and private sector, who work together to achieve the mission statements.

Tasks

Looking at a scenario where the United States is invaded by pandemic influenza, the Department of Defense will ensure that they protect the critical infrastructure, offer quarantine assistance to relevant authorities and offer security when the vaccine is being distributed. However, homeland defense is tasked to identify any underlying threats and formulate better measures that will eradicate those threats.

Responsibilities

Among the duties allocated to Homeland Defense are putting armed units back in mint condition after fights, conducting global operations against threats from foreign terrorist organizations, and protecting computer networks from cyberattacks (Ross, 2023).

Operations and Resources

Hiring nonlethal weapons that effectively ensure that the rate of injury and deaths decreases drastically is one of the operations of Homeland Defense (Grocholski et al., 2022). In the event that assault prevention fails, another procedure is to attack the enemy. However, the president of the United States directs all operations, and individuals in the Department of Defense must ensure that all operations are carried out successfully.

Joint Endeavors between HLS and HLD

Homeland security and homeland defense share the same endeavors because they ensure to protect the United States’ borders and mitigate terrorist actions within the nation. Department of Defense ensures to defend a nation against any form of physical threat (Bellavita, 2019). The two bodies have similar efforts because they ensure that they engage in intelligent investigations involving the government and private sectors in identifying the underlying threats and formulating measures that can be effective in the mitigation process.

Won Definition For Homeland Security.

A defination of homeland security is a body that aims at protecting individuals from natural calamities such as floods and hurricanes and, in the process, aims at helping those affected by the disaster.

Topic 2

Strategies to Counter Cybersecurity

In countering cybersecurity, all the software and systems must be up to date. When these systems are not up to date, cyber attackers will probably exploit the systems to have access to a network. Therefore, investing in a patch system that can always keep the systems updated will help curb the attackers. Additionally, installing firewalls will mean that the cyber attackers cannot force an attack on any network because the firewall will block that force.

Within a security working department, members must keep their systems’ Wi-Fi passwords secure and avoid sharing them with any third party. With the evolving wireless technologies today, more devices can connect to a network, which can compromise an individual. However, there should be managed admin rights to access a system and be able to block other staff members from accessing critical data. Similarly, passwords should be different every time an individual uses an application. Having a similar password for different applications is risky since cyber attackers can hack a system and invade private data.

Conclusion

Homeland Security and Homeland Defense have a joint venture of accomplishing their missions, responsibilities, and tasks. Homeland Security ensures to protect the homeland from terrorist attacks. An investigation is critical in homeland security because it ensures that department members collect accurate data to formulate better ways of mitigating various threats. Homeland Defense protects its people from external threats. It works with collaboration from various private and governmental entities to ensure they achieve their missions. Homeland Security and Defense are similar in that they protect US citizens from external threats. Cybersecurity is a significant threat to individual security, and various strategies are formulated to mitigate the risk.

References

Alperen, M. J. (2017). Foundations of homeland security: Law and policy. John Wiley & Sons.

Bavery, A. J. (2022). Militarizing the Northern Border: State Violence and the Formation of the US Border Patrol. Journal of American History, 109(2), 362-374.

Bellavita, C. (2019). How to learn about homeland security. Homeland Security Affairs, 15.

Bronk, C., & Conklin, W. A. (2022). Who’s in charge and how does it work? US cybersecurity of critical infrastructure. Journal of Cyber Policy, 7(2), 155-174.

Grocholski, K. R., Savitz, S., Litterer, S., Cooper, M., McKinney, C., & Ziebell, A. (2022). Assessing the Impact of Diverse Intermediate Force Capabilities and Integrating Them into Wargames for the US Department of Defense and NATO.

Khan, F. A., & Hussain, M. S. (2023). Comparative Analysis of Various Measures Taken by Different States around the World in Disaster Management vis-à-vis Individual Liberty. Journal of Survey in Fisheries Sciences, 10(1S), 4281-4291.