Hsep seminar presentation Capstone Project for Securing Virginia from different hazards.pdf

Securing virginia by Identifying hazards and mitigation tactics for each hazard looking towards the future of VA

1. Securing Virginia
By Andy Torres

2. 1.Natural Disasters
a.Stats & Mitigation
2.Man-made Hazards
a.Stats & Mitigation
3.Cyber Threats
a.Stats & Mitigation
Content

3. Natural Disasters
-Virginia is known for its seasons, as you
can experience Spring, summer, fall, and
winter throughout the year.
-With that being the case you can also
expect to encounter different natural
events all year round.
-This is all because of the geographical
location and diverse landscape in virginia.
-Coastal areas are more susceptible to
hurricanes and tropical storms
-This comes with threats such as
storm surge, heavy rainfall, and wind
damage.
-Hurricanes
-Hurricane Irene (2011) $15.8 Billion (overall)
-Hurricane Florence (2018) $34M in damage
-Hurricane Michael (2018) $37M in damage
-Hurricane Ida (2021)
-Flooding
-Occurs more often in inland areas, mainly
cities found along major rivers
-Tornadoes
-Relatively common, mainly in western and
central parts of the state (peak season is
spring and early summer)
-Earthquakes
-2011 Earthquake, reported 5.6 magnitude
-Earthquakes are less likely to occur, but since the state
of virginia is found close to the “Central Virginia Seismic
Zone” there is a possibility for activity.

4. Statistics
Where much is it costing
us?
From 1980-2024, there have been 107
confirmed weather/climate ‘disaster events’
with losses surpassing $1 billion EACH to
affect virginia.
-Those events included;
-12 droughts
-5 flooding events
-3 freeze events
-48 severe storm events
-21 tropical cyclone events
-18 winter storm events
How often?
Natural disasters in Virginia have increased by
almost 140% over the past 20 years.
-Instead of getting better it’s getting
worse so we have to look ahead and
mitigate, as natural disasters can't be
stopped and only mitigated.
-We must place priority on mitigating
severe storms damage as it is the most
common natural disaster.

5. Main Characters
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6. Mitigating natural disasters
-Implementing and enforcing strict building
codes and regulations that ensure
buildings and structures can withstand
natural disasters.
-Floodplain management
-Restricting development in flood-prone
areas and encourage the use of
flood-resistant construction techniques.
-Early Warning systems
-Provide citizens advanced notice of
incoming natural disasters.
-Such as Sirens, mobile alerts, and public
announcement systems.
-Evacuation plans
-Especially for hurricane, flood, and tornado
prone areas.
-Infrastructure improvements
-Levees, floodwalls, stormwater drainage,
and tornado shelters.
-Vegetation management
-Planting trees and maintaining natural
vegetation can reduce the risk of soil
erosion, landslides, and flooding.
-Public Education and outreach
-Raise awareness of the community about
the risks of natural disaster, helps promote
resilience and preparedness.

7. Man-Made Threats
Complex Coordinated Terrorist Attack (CCTA)
-Although we have not seen a full blown
terrorist attack in Virginia it has been
identified as a priority due to the high
possibility it may happen.
Virginia because of its close proximity to the
Washington DC metropolitan area is at higher
risk of terrorist attacks
-Key Government and military installations
nearby.
-Dense population found in NoVA/DC area.
Civil Unrest
-Protests and demonstrations can
sometimes turn into riots or violent
confrontations, especially in urban areas
-Can pose a risk to public safety and
property
Examples
-Charlottesville Unite the Right Rally (2017)
-George Floyd Protests (2020)
-Israel-Palestine Protests (2023-2024)

8. Man-made Threats Statistics
Civil Unrest
-In 2024 alone there has been 125
confirmed arrests across 4 VA universities
amid nationwide protests over
Israel-Hamas war
-80 arrested at Virginia Tech
-13 arrested at VCU
-25 arrested at UVA
-7 arrested at Univ. of Mary Washington
Complex Coordinated Terrorist Attacks
-New Zealand authorities reported that
Neo-Nazi group ‘The base’ plotted to carry
out attacks at a 2020 rally in VA.
-Lionel Williams (2017) of Suffolk, VA
arrested for attempting to provide material
support to ISIS, and plotting attacks
against the U.S. via “Hard Targets” such as
Police and Military targets.
-In the US there have been 97 prevented
terrorist attack since 9/11.

9. Man-made threats Mitigation
-Law enforcement Preparedness
-Training officers to effectively respond to
civil unrest and terrorist threats.
-Tactical training, crowd control
techniques
-Coordinating with other agencies
-Intelligence Sharing
-Virginia shares information at the local,
state, and federal levels by gathering
intelligence on potential threats of civil
unrest and terrorism.
-Allows law enforcement to respond
effectively to any emerging risks.
-Engagement with community
-Surveillance and Monitoring
-Infrastructure protection
-Securing high risk targets to deter potential
attacks.
-Perimeter fencing, access control, Surv.
cameras, and patrolling security personnel.
-Emergency response planning
-Legislation and Legal Measures
-Laws put in place to allow Law
Enforcement to effectively investigate and
act upon credible reports of terrorism or
violence via protests
-Public Education
-See something, Say something
-Collaborating with Federal Agencies

10. -Colonial Pipeline Ransomware Attack
(2021)
-Caused gas outages
-Affected everyday people from getting to
and from work
-Caused uncertainty and panic buying
which later led to another issue of
dangerous gas storage practices.
-Colonial paid a sum of 75 bitcoin
($4.4m USD)
-Was caused because an employee at
colonial re-used his work password to sign
into a VPN app he was using.
Cybersecurity (recent events)
-Department of Veterans Affairs Data
Breach (2023)
-Exposed sensitive financial information of
up to 46,000 Veterans
-Diverted online health payments and
sensitive data by exploiting ‘authentication
protocols’
-Basically gave themselves
administrative rights to allow them
access to all information.
-Financial Services Center stated that
hackers gained access through a specific
application found on the website that was
meant for Veterans Medical Treatment.

11. Cybersecurity
-Fairfax County Public Schools
Ransomware Attack (Oct 2023)
-Ransomware group ‘Maze’ claimed
responsibility.
-Was first reported as “technical
difficulties with Verizon” by the
schools.
-It Was later reported that the
schools system had suffered a
ransomware attack, that potentially
accessed private information.
-After the breach, Ransomware group
‘Maze’ publicly posted a file with
information they had stolen as
‘proof’.
-Cyber Attack on Acuity Inc (April 2024)
-Acuity is a government contractor
Technology consulting firm with about 400
employees and a $100 million annual
revenue
-The threat actor (known as IntelBroker)
describes the files as containing classified
information belonging to the ‘Five Eyes
intelligence alliance’.
-According to their claims, the leaked data
includes the full names, office numbers,
and personal cell numbers of government,
military, and Pentagon employees, as well
as their email addresses.

12. Stats & Mitigation
-In Virginia during 2021 alone, there were
34 Million cyber attacks, 600,000 of those
were malware attack all on Virginia
Executive Branch Systems
-In the U.S. $65 BILLION was stolen from
15.4 Million US customers in 2016.
-Cyber attacks can affect Government,
Critical infrastructure, education, and
everyday citizens.
-Nation state threat actors can physically
damage our infrastructure without ever
stepping foot on US Soil.
-Like it or not this is going to be the new
threat frontier for the future. We have to
adapt with the world as tactics advance
everyday
-How to mitigate Cyber Attacks
-Invest in Technological security
-Invest in employee training
-Collaborate with federal partners such as
the FBI and CISA.
-Patch your systems and keep them
constantly updated with new patches.

13. References
-https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/state-summary/VA#:~:text=These%20ev
ents%20included%2012%20drought,events%20(CPI%2Dadjusted).
-https://seculore.com/cyber-attacks/state/virginia/
-https://www.heritage.org/terrorism/commentary/foiled-virginia-attack-brings-total-us
-terror-plots-97-911
-https://toolkit.climate.gov/tool/historical-hurricane-tracks
-https://hazards.fema.gov/nri/report/viewer?dataLOD=Counties&dataIDs=C51650
-https://www.vaemergency.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/cova-hazard-mitigation
-plan.pdf
-https://www.insidenova.com/headlines/more-than-125-arrested-at-four-virginia-universities-amid-
nationwide-protests-over-israel-hamas-war/article_0bbb7272-0bad-11ef-ad90-0bc627147eb3.html
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