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Strategic Objective
Ensure Preparedness to Provide Services and Protect People and Assets Continuously and in Time of Crisis
Strategic Objective
Overview
Hurricane Sandy (2012), the bombing at the Boston Marathon (2013), the emergence of the H7N9 influenza strain in China (2013), and the fertilizer plant explosion in West, TX (2013) all serve as recent reminders that natural, public health, and technological disasters and terrorist attacks can occur at any time, in any place, and with little or no warning. VA must protect against and prepare to respond to as well as recover from all hazards to ensure the safety and security of Veterans and eligible beneficiaries, volunteers, employees, and visitors at VA facilities while integrating, improving, and increasing VA’s resilience through operational continuity and preparedness.
VA defines “readiness” as the ability to serve Veterans and eligible beneficiaries now and on a day-to-day routine basis, and “preparedness” as the ability to serve Veterans and eligible beneficiaries in times of crisis and to serve as a national asset to the Nation. These aspects of “readiness” and “preparedness” define the Department’s 4th Mission. The priorities of the 4th Mission include personnel accountability (e.g. Veterans and eligible beneficiaries, employees, contractors, and others on VA property); establishing and maintaining command, control, and communication; continuing to provide services to Veterans and eligible beneficiaries; and for VA to serve as a National asset following an emergency or disaster.
Strategies:
VA will continue to develop and refine our Continuity Program in accordance with HSPD-20 – National Continuity Policy. Through the VA Comprehensive Emergency Management Program, VA will support DoD, DHS/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and other Federal Departments and Agencies in support of Presidential Policy Directive-8 – National Preparedness. VA will utilize the VA Integrated Operations Center (VA IOC) in order to provide the Secretary a single office responsible for proactively collecting, coordinating, and analyzing information in order to make recommendations to VA leadership. VA will continue to develop a comprehensive Department Exercise, Training, and Evaluation Program in accordance with DHS National Exercise program.
VA will standardize the on-boarding, monitoring, and off-boarding process for VA employees, contractors, and affiliates. VA will fully implement HSPD-12 to include the Personal Identity Verification (PIV) card as the standard process for provisioning logical access to VA information systems (LACS) and standardize Physical Access Control Systems (PACS) to VA facilities to ensure the safety and security of Veterans and eligible beneficiaries, volunteers, employees, and visitors.
VA will evaluate and streamline vulnerability assessment programs of VA facilities to mitigate against natural and technological disasters and terrorist attacks. VA will establish a comprehensive Active Threat/Active Shooter Incident Response Program to maximize response success in any VA facility.
VA will develop and implement an Insider Threat program in accordance with Executive Order 13587 - Structural Reforms to Improve the Security of Classified Networks and the Responsible Sharing and Safeguarding of Classified Information in order to protect classified material in the VA.
Read Less...Progress Update
Final Assessment: VA, in consultation with the Office of Management and Budget, determined that performance toward this objective is making noteworthy progress.
Achievements: As noted in Objective 3.3, in FY 2015 VA established the MyVA SSE Priority to increase operational efficiency in the Department. The Security and Preparedness support service is currently in the pilot phase and the team has identified 9 “Quick Wins” to improve security and preparedness services in the Department with a goal to implement by December 2016. On July 31, 2015, the team provided a third update to the Deputy Secretary and Executive Steering Committee on progress.
VA led additional initiatives to ensure preparedness for the Department. VA developed Insider Threat VA Directive 0327[1] and identified funding requirements and awarded funding for
FY 2016. VA met all Insider Threat Minimum requirements, which placed the Department in the Initial Operation Capability. Also, 120,000 security clearance and suitability background investigation cases were digitized from closed file providing 24/7, VA-web enabled access to complete case files previously accessible only by hard copy. Furthermore, 77 percent of the Department’s primary suitability adjudicators are trained and 33 percent are scheduled or pending scheduling in Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) Essentials of Suitability Adjudication Program course to comply with OPM and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence National Training Standards for Personnel Security and Suitability. The Phase II Suitability Adjudications Course is in development. Also, Identity Credential Access Management will release requirements documents every 6 months in order to achieve initial operation capability by November 2016.
The Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 program office issued PIV cards for approximately 98 percent of the VA’s workforce to include contractors, affiliates, and government employees. Also, the Department implemented Significant Physical Access System upgrades at over 100 VA facilities including duress alarms; planning next generation Physical Security Information System at four pilot sites.
Challenges: There are several challenges in achieving Objective 3.5. VA is unable to fully implement training, oversight, and compliance as required due to lack of resources (personnel and budget) for the Security and Suitability program. Also, the PIV Card Management System is outdated and unreliable; 180 vendor and VA software applications require remediation and prevent full implementation and use of the PIV card. Also, VHA reports an adverse impact to health care by implementing use of PIV card for logical access. Another challenge is fully understanding the “as-is” state and standardizing tasks/processes across the enterprise for the MyVA SSE priority.
The authorities in the Executive Order 13587, which calls for the protection of classified systems and classified information, presents challenges in resourcing a viable Insider Threat Program to protect Unclassified information that has national security implications. Compromise of this information could potentially damage national security and should be protected by establishing requirements and resourcing Insider Threat protection initiatives.
[1] http://www.va.gov/vapubs/search_action.cfm?dType=1
