The 911 Aftermath

The 9/11 Aftermath

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Introduction

The 9/11 incident was one moment that cannot be forgotten in the American history. There were a series of organized attacks that were four in number and were orchestrated by an Islamic terrorist group called al Qaeda. The attacks targeted the Washington, DC, the Metropolitan area and New York cities (Dolewski, 2008). A total of 3,000 people lost their lives with an estimated $ 10 billion of infrastructure and property damaged (Rountree & Castrillo, 2013). The terrorist groups hijacked four passenger planes which they used as tools of attack. The planes were crashed into key government buildings such as the Pentagon and the World Trade Centre. Of the four flights, only three crashed into buildings while the fourth one landed on a field in Pennsylvania (Buchannan & Hedblom, 2013). There were several lessons learnt from the scenario in terms of security. Among the highlighted levels of security that required beefing up were the online and internet security of data. The federal government too imposed Patriotic Act to ensure cooperates boost their disaster recovery abilities.

The government saw the necessity of risk management and preventing any loopholes that could be used by terrorists to plan another attack on American soil (Buchannan & Hedblom, 2013). More funds were allocated to boost upgrade and improve servers so that any suspicious transactions would be pin pointed and timely dealt with before it was late. The Patriotic Act provided the guidelines for the implementation of the law.

After the Merrill Lynch Company lost its primary data in a period of six weeks, and the Cantor Fitzgerald LP Company suffered a double tragedy of losing an estimated 658 employees and its primary data center destroyed during the attacks, it was clearly unmistakable that cooperates and companies were vulnerable to hacking related activities (Dolewski, 2008). Backups were necessary to ensure that even if there could be a possibility of losing data recovery would be easy. The use of VPN to secure data was implemented. According to research done by the Tower Group, after the 9/11 incident the companies budgetary allocation on IT escalated by great margins with great improvements in integrated backing up of systems, introduction of new software and upgrading of IT infrastructures were and still are observed (Dolewski, 2008).

The use of social media is instrumental in response to a disaster has been viewed as a forward of reaching a large number of people over a big geographical area within the shortest time possible (Marks & Lozano, 2010). While regular interaction with the public is important, in case a member of public realizes that there is a suspicion of a terrorist attack targeting a particular firm, he/ she informs them and the necessary measures are taken to counter the situation before the disaster is orchestrated.

Backups are vital in data recovery. Firms should consider distanced geographic locations when backing up data to prevent occurrence of a double tragedy (Marks & Lozano, 2010). If a major tragedy occurs and the main production site is close to the recovery site, there is a possibility that both could be destroyed at the same time. A 24/7 well-coordinated and running RPO and RTO system ensures that the all data is backed up in the shortest time and at the same time incidences of data loss are minimal (Marks & Lozano, 2010). A good integration of the two systems is the key in times of crisis because data is recovered in the shortest time possible.

The cloud computing system is essential in accessing the data regardless of the geographical location. Cloud computing is defined as a system of storage of files and resources on servers and making the data accessible in any location globally. The data is stored on the internet. In recent years, many companies have developed much secure and better cloud storage sites that are cheap (Marks & Lozano, 2010). The key component when choosing a company to offer cloud computing and data storage is that the firm should not be on the same power grid (Rountree & Castrillo, 2013). This ensures that there is no simultaneous shutdown of the firm and the other one that has been contracted to offer cloud computing. The increased and effective implementation of cloud storage reduces the cost of establishing of recovery centers as backups. The cloud storage system is the best option because the data can be retrieved within the shortest time possible and the operation of the firm continues as usual (Dolewski, 2008). While the system can be viewed as the best and most convenient way, the system provides limited storage of data because only critical information is stored in the cloud. Only critical data that is essential for the running of the company is stored.

The cloud storage system provides an almost unlimited storage of data and the system is less costly. The firm only needs to pay little cost to the cloud storage service provider and save costs instead of purchasing data storage devices that are expensive and can easily be infected by viruses (Rountree & Castrillo, 2013). The cost of investing in hardware is cut down because the data is stored in the cloud. Encrypting of stored data is key in ensuring that the stored data is not accessible to hackers who may target to alter, destroy or modify the backed up data (Marks & Lozano, 2010). Installation and very frequent updating of antiviruses ensures that the data is not subjected or prone to cyber-attacks that may be sent by terrorists who have ill intentions of coordinating terrorist attacks.

Conclusion

After the 9/11, there was a revolution of a collective responsibility of ensuring that all loopholes and possible vulnerable points are countered. The steps taken have been fruitful because after the 2001 incident the USA has been subject to terrorist threats but none has been successful (Dolewski, 2008). Technological advancement and improvements have been key in pinpointing possible vulnerable areas that could be used as leeway by terrorists to organize crimes. Implementation of the Patriotic Act has been essential in the advancement of the technological security of America.

References

Buchannan, S., & Hedblom, R. (2013). Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager 2012. Birmingham: Packt Publishing.

Dolewski, R. (2008). System i Disaster Recovery Planning. Chicago: MC Press.

Marks, E. A., & Lozano, B. (2010). Executive’s guide to cloud computing. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley.

Rountree, D., & Castrillo, I. (2013). The basics of cloud computing understanding the fundamentals of cloud computing in theory and practice. Burlington: Elsevier Science.

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