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Volume 23 — Issue 5 | February 2, 2023

Focus on firefighter cardiac health in February

February is American Heart Month, and this is a great time for firefighters and EMS providers to focus on their health.

Heart disease is a leading cause of death in the United States, claiming the lives of more than 650,000 people each year. Cardiac-related events are also a leading cause of firefighter line-of-duty deaths, according to the United States Fire Administration’s (USFA’s) firefighter fatality statistics.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommends that fire departments and fire fighters follow established medical screening guidelines, adopt risk reduction measures during firefighting operations, and develop and participate in comprehensive wellness and fitness programs.

The First Responder Center for Excellence (FRCE) created a Cardiac Trailer, a short video promoting the development of health screening and fitness programs among firefighters and fire-based EMS providers. The video emphasizes that when implemented, these programs really work to prevent illness and death due to cardiac events.

To participate in promoting firefighter cardiac health and fitness this month, you can join the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) for a live discussion on Feb. 21 from 2-3 p.m. EST, Serve Strong — The Importance of Firefighter Physicals.

NVFC members and subject matter experts will discuss why it is important for responders to get an annual medical evaluation, how firefighter physicals are different from regular physicals, how departments can implement a physicals programs, and options for firefighters who don’t have a department-wide program.

You can watch the event on the NVFC’s Facebook page or register to attend on Zoom.

(Sources: NIOSH, FRCE, NVFC)

Highlights

Focus on firefighter cardiac health in February

CISA releases “Secure Your Drone: Privacy and Data Protection Guidance”

America’s first responders give NIST their communications tech wish lists

NETEC releases online course, “EMS Biosafety Transport: Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers - Ebola Virus Disease”

Cyber Threats

The U.S. Fire Administration operates the Emergency Management and Response – Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC).

For information regarding the EMR-ISAC visit www.usfa.dhs.gov/emr-isac or contact the EMR-ISAC office at: (301) 447-1325 and/or fema-emr-isac@fema.dhs.gov.

CISA releases “Secure Your Drone: Privacy and Data Protection Guidance”

Public safety agencies are increasingly using drones for emergency response operations, often to improve situational awareness or to perform tasks that would be too dangerous for responders to perform themselves. Drones are quickly becoming integrated into our everyday lives. As drones grow in popularity, they could become easy targets for those who want to exploit the vulnerabilities of connected devices to compromise our individual privacy.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has just released a guidance document, Secure Your Drone: Privacy and Data Protection Guidance. This resource provides guidance for drone users to protect their data and privacy before, during, and after flying their drone.

The guidance is targeted primarily to individual drone users, but its overview of the privacy and data security issues with drone technology would be useful to anyone using this technology, including emergency response and law enforcement agencies. In addition to addressing individual privacy and data security concerns, the document lists additional resources to augment organizational preparedness, response, and resilience.

For questions regarding this resource, please email SUASsecurity@cisa.dhs.gov.

(Source: CISA)

America’s first responders give NIST their communications tech wish lists

The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST’s) Voices of First Responders project reveals what the country’s police, fire, emergency medical and 911 dispatch responders think about the communications technology they use on a regular basis and how they would like developers to improve it in the future.

This project is an ongoing, multi-year effort by NIST, reflecting the input of 7,182 respondents to a NIST survey of first responders across the country, from large cities and suburbs to small towns and rural areas. The results of the study, the largest of its kind ever to investigate public safety personnel user experiences, provide a wealth of data intended to help developers of communications technology create more useful devices for the field.

In 2021, NIST’s Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) Usability Team provided public access to the entire data set from its first responder surveys and interviews by creating the PSCR Usability Results Tool: Voices of First Responders. Over 20,000 first responder quotes from the first responder interview data, as well as the 7,182 survey responses are available within the tool.

Last month, NIST released a four-part Special Publication based on NIST’s analysis of its survey and interview data:

• Part 1 - Voices of First Responders - Communication Center & 9-1-1 Services.
• Part 2 - Voices of First Responders - Emergency Medical Services.
• Part 3 - Voices of First Responders - Fire Service.
• Part 4 - Voices of First Responders - Law Enforcement.

This four-part Special Publication series is intended for use by technology designers, developers, vendors, and researchers of public safety communication technology, as well as for public safety administrators and decision-makers. In each part of the series, each of the six user-centered guidelines are discussed, along with supporting data, to provide a succinct view for how to optimize the user experience for each of the four first responder disciplines.

Additional information can be found in the previous nine volumes of the Voices of First Responders Series which are cited on the final page of each part in the series. This Special Publication is available on NIST’s User Interface/ User Experience Publications page, along with all past publications associated with its Voices of First Responders project.

(Source: NIST)

NETEC releases online course, “EMS Biosafety Transport: Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers - Ebola Virus Disease”

The National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center (NETEC) recently released an online course targeted to emergency medical services (EMS) providers entitled EMS Biosafety Transport: Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers - Ebola Virus Disease.

This course was released right before the end of the recent Ebola outbreak in Uganda, which ended on Jan. 11, 2023. Although the outbreak has been declared over, the World Health Organization (WHO) is advising health authorities to maintain surveillance to rapidly identify and respond to any re-emergence.

The purpose of this course is to help EMS providers understand the most important biosafety considerations for transporting patients suspected or confirmed to be infected with viral hemorrhagic fevers, including Ebola Virus Disease.

The course consists of a 25-minute video presentation by a Professor of Emergency Medicine Emory University and member of the NETEC EMS Biosafety Transport Consortium. The presentation discusses:

• All types of viral hemorrhagic fevers, their mortality rates and how they are transmitted.
• How EMS providers can follow the Identify, Isolate, and Inform framework to assess the risk, including how to screen and determine the likelihood that a patient is infected with one of these viruses, and communicate with system partners.
• How to implement a Hierarchy of Controls to prevent transmission of these biological agents.
• An overview of the resources associated with the course.

The video is supported by links to the resources discussed in the presentation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), NETEC, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response’s Technical Resources, Assistance Center, and Information Exchange (ASPR TRACIE).

To take this course, visit NETEC’s course page, EMS Biosafety Transport: Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers: Ebola Virus Disease. The course is free and there is no registration required to access the course.

(Sources: NETEC, WHO)

Cyber Incident Assistance

MS-ISAC
SOC@cisecurity.org
1-866-787-4722

IdentityTheft.gov

IC3

Cybercrime Support Network

General Information

StopRansomware.gov

CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog

FTC scam list

CISA alerts

Law Enforcement Cyber Center

TLP Information

NIST revises the Foundational PNT Profile for Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Services: NIST IR 8323r1

On Jan. 31, NIST published NIST IR 8323r1, Foundational PNT Profile: Applying the Cybersecurity Framework for the Responsible Use of Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Services. This revises the original Foundational PNT Profile that was released in February 2021.

This project is part of NIST’s response to the February 12, 2020, Executive Order (EO) 13905, Strengthening National Resilience Through Responsible Use of Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Services. The EO notes that “the widespread adoption of PNT services means disruption or manipulation of these services could adversely affect U.S. national and economic security. To strengthen national resilience, the Federal Government must foster the responsible use of PNT services by critical infrastructure owners and operators.” The Order also calls for updates to the profile every two years or on an as-needed basis.

No substantive changes were made to the original Foundational PNT Profile; NIST only sought comments on the changes made in this revision.

See the publication details for a copy of the profile and link to the comments received. All revision 1 changes are captured in Table 26: “Change Log” for easy reference to reviewers.

(Source: NIST)

ISC releases security advisories for multiple versions of BIND 9

The Internet Systems Consortium (ISC) has released security advisories that address vulnerabilities affecting multiple versions of the ISC’s Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND) 9. A remote attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities to potentially cause denial-of-service conditions and system failures.

CISA encourages users and administrators to review the following ISC advisories CVE-2022-3094, CVE-2022-3488, CVE-2022-3736, and CVE-2022-3924 and apply the necessary mitigations.

(Source: CISA)

CISA’s public-private cyber collaborative to focus on energy, water

The public-private cybersecurity super group, the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative, is turning its attention to a 2023 agenda that will address risks to vulnerable industries and sensitive elements of civil society.

JCDC will assess risk in energy and water infrastructure sectors alongside the use of open-source software in industrial control systems, the group revealed Thursday.

It also wants to increase cybersecurity and reduce risk for small- and medium-sized critical infrastructure providers. JCDC will collaborate with managed service providers, managed security service providers and remote monitoring and management as part of the effort.

(Source: Cybersecurity Dive)

U.S. Department of Justice disrupts Hive ransomware variant

The Justice Department announced on Jan. 26 its months-long disruption campaign against the Hive ransomware group that has targeted more than 1,500 victims in over 80 countries around the world, including hospitals, school districts, financial firms, and critical infrastructure.

Since late July 2022, the FBI has penetrated Hive’s computer networks, captured its decryption keys, and offered them to victims worldwide, preventing victims from having to pay $130 million in ransom demanded. Since infiltrating Hive’s network in July 2022, the FBI has provided over 300 decryption keys to Hive victims who were under attack. In addition, the FBI distributed over 1,000 additional decryption keys to previous Hive victims.

Since June 2021, the Hive ransomware group has targeted more than 1,500 victims around the world and received over $100 million in ransom payments.  

Hive ransomware attacks have caused major disruptions in victim daily operations around the world and affected responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. In one case, a hospital attacked by Hive ransomware had to resort to analog methods to treat existing patients and was unable to accept new patients immediately following the attack.   

According to the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Hive affiliates have gained initial access to victim networks through a number of methods, including: single factor logins via Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), virtual private networks (VPNs), and other remote network connection protocols; exploiting FortiToken vulnerabilities; and sending phishing emails with malicious attachments. For more information about the malware, including technical information for organizations about how to mitigate its effects, is available from CISA, visit https://www.cisa.gov/uscert/ncas/alerts/aa22-321a.

(Source: DOJ)

The InfoGram is distributed weekly to provide members of the Emergency Services Sector with information concerning the protection of their critical infrastructures.

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