View as a webpage / Share

Volume 24 — Issue 35 | September 5, 2024

Chemical exposure risks associated with lithium-ion batteries: New research and learning opportunities

Chemical exposure is a health risk that first responder’s face when responding to incidents involving electric vehicles or other large energy storage systems. Lithium-ion batteries contain toxic chemicals and heavy metals that may harm first responders, the public and the environment when these batteries are damaged or improperly handled.

The following are a few upcoming research projects and learning opportunities that provide the latest science on the evolving environmental and health risks associated with lithium-ion batteries:

(1) Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) held its TEEX Electric Vehicle / Energy Storage Systems Summit in October 2023. The report on this Summit identified chemical exposure as a risk of lithium-ion batteries that have been compromised in some way. It identified the need for more research in this area to determine risks to first responders’ safety. TEEX has been conducting several lines of effort to address the needs and unresolved issues identified at the Summit. TEEX is continually updating the following page with its latest research results and educational opportunities: Current Practices: Electric Vehicle and Energy Storage Systems.

(2) The Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI), part of UL Research Institutes, has just announced the launch of a new project, Emerging Issues Related to Personal Protective Equipment. This project addresses the evolving challenges that firefighters face, particularly in relation to chemical and thermal hazards. The project will expose firefighter turnout gear to electric vehicle (EV) fires and characterize the resulting chemical contamination. It will do the same testing for traditional fuel-based vehicle fires. One of the research goals will be to evaluate how well personal protective equipment performs under fireground conditions and against emerging hazards like lithium-ion batteries.

(3) The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) will hold a webinar on Thursday, Sept. 12 at 10 a.m. EDT, Environmental Impact of Lithium-Ion Battery Incidents Compared to Other Types of Fires. In addition to the acute chemical exposure risks to responders and the public, there are also longer-term risks. These toxic chemicals can travel through air and deposit in distant places. This webinar will present the latest research on how the environmental impact on air, soil, and water from lithium-ion battery fires compares to other common fires. Register for this webinar on Zoom.

(Sources: TEEX, FSRI, NFPA)

Highlights

Chemical exposure risks associated with lithium-ion batteries: New research and learning opportunities

HDIAC report on autonomous platforms for casualty evacuation in military medicine

FEMA releases National Resilience Guidance and informational webinar series

DHS announces 2025 Master Trainer Program for its National Threat Evaluation and Reporting Program

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.

HDIAC report on autonomous platforms for casualty evacuation in military medicine

Emergency medicine on the battlefield has shaped pre-hospital care throughout history, and modern-day civilian emergency medical services (EMS) are part of this long history. Civilian EMS today continues to improve itself through adaptation of many military technologies and medical practices.

A new State-of-the-Art (SOAR) report from the Department of Defense’s Homeland Defense and Security Information Analysis Center (HDIAC) explores the state of the art within the military for casualty evacuation using autonomous systems.

EMS practitioners may benefit from the information in this report as it relates to future trends and best practices for pre-hospital care.

In recent military history, the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan led to improvements in combat casualty care, where casualties were treated on the battlefield and then evacuated to a higher level of care. Additionally, the ongoing War in Ukraine has involved significant use of drones and autonomous vehicles in large-scale combat operations.

The 60-page report, “Autonomous Platforms for Casualty Evacuation,” outlines how the latest practices in combat casualty care are being integrated with advances in autonomous vehicle technology on the battlefield for casualty evacuation (CASEVAC). The report refers to this integration of CASEVAC with the use of autonomous vehicles or systems as “autonomous casualty evacuation” (ACE).

The report distills the findings of an extensive research effort that included a literature review, online search, and interviews with experts. One outcome of this research was the identification of two major trends within ACE:

• The growing use of multipurpose-use, agnostic autonomous platforms.
• Pushing advanced medical care closer and closer to the point of injury.

Sections of the report focus on profiles of the types of autonomous ground, air, and sea systems and vehicles currently being used for autonomous medical transport in military arenas. A section on the current limitations, challenges, and barriers to implementing these technologies and practices on the battlefield discusses the ethical and safety implications of autonomous (non-human) delivery of advanced medical monitoring and critical medical care.

Access the report at HDIAC.org.

(Source: HDIAC)

FEMA releases National Resilience Guidance and informational webinar series

National resilience is a complex topic and building it requires whole community effort. Last month, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) released National Resilience Guidance: A Collaborative Approach to Building Resistance (NRG).

With the goal of increasing community and national resilience, the Guidance:

• Promotes a common understanding of resilience.
• Emphasizes the critical relationship between chronic community stressors and acute shocks.
• Addresses the roles of individuals, organizations, and all levels of government.
• Provides an actionable approach to resilience planning and implementation.
• Incorporates a community resilience maturity model that walks through concrete steps to build resilience.

FEMA will host a series of 60-minute webinar sessions in September and October to discuss the NRG and additional resources available to help new and experienced resilience practitioners improve their communities’ resilience:

Visit FEMA’s webinar series page to register for the following webinars:

• Webinar 1- Tuesday, Sept. 24, 1-2 p.m. EDT.
• Webinar 2 – Thursday, Sept. 26, 3-4 p.m. EDT.
• Webinar 3 - Tuesday, Oct. 1, 1-2 p.m. EDT.
• Webinar 4 – Wednesday, Oct. 9, 3-4 p.m. EDT.

Learn more about FEMA’s National Resilience Guidance at FEMA.gov.

(Source: FEMA)

DHS announces 2025 Master Trainer Program for its National Threat Evaluation and Reporting Program

The Department of Homeland Security, Office of Intelligence & Analysis (I&A), National Threat Evaluation and Reporting (NTER) Program Office offers an instructor development and certification program called the Master Trainer Program. The program is for federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial (F/SLTT) partners working in public safety, emergency response, or violence prevention fields.

The goal of this program is to train these public sector F/SLTT partners in the instruction of Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management (BTAM) techniques and best practices. These certified homeland partners can then train their local communities to help mitigate threats and aid in preventing acts of targeted violence.

Last month, DHS I&A announced its 2025 Master Trainer Program. The course that provides instructors with certification to teach within the Master Trainer Program is called the Instructor Development Threat Evaluation and Reporting Course (ID-TERC).

The ID-TERC is a four-day in-person, or five-day virtual course provided by the Louisiana State University's National Center for Biomedical Research and Training, in collaboration with the DHS NTER Program Office. It is exclusively available to those who are accepted into NTER's Master Trainer Program.

The course announcement provides all dates that that ID-TERC will be offered in 2025. Applications for the 2025 Master Trainer Program are due by Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024.

Access the 2025 Master Trainer Program course announcement flyer in the DHS Publications Library. Learn more about NTER’s Master Trainer Program at DHS.gov/mtp.

(Source: DHS)

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

CISA launches new portal to improve cyber reporting

On Aug. 29, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) announces its cyber incident reporting form moved to the new CISA Services Portal as part of its ongoing effort to improve cyber incident reporting.

The Portal is a secure platform with enhanced functionality for cyber incident reporting, including integration with login.gov credentials. The portal’s enhanced functionality includes the ability to save and update reports, share submitted reports with colleagues or clients for third-party reporting, and search and filter reports. A new collaboration feature allows users to engage in informal discussions with CISA.

CISA encourages all organizations to take advantage of its new streamlined portal and voluntarily report cyber incidents.

Learn more by visiting the CISA Services Portal and Voluntary Cyber Incident Reporting Resource.

(Source: CISA)

Russian Military Cyber Actors Target U.S. and Global Critical Infrastructure

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), CISA, and National Security Agency (NSA) assess that cyber actors affiliated with the Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) 161st Specialist Training Center (Unit 29155) are responsible for computer network operations against global targets for the purposes of espionage, sabotage, and reputational harm since at least 2020. GRU Unit 29155 cyber actors began deploying the destructive WhisperGate malware against multiple Ukrainian victim organizations as early as January 13, 2022. These cyber actors are separate from other known and more established GRU-affiliated cyber groups, such as Unit 26165 and Unit 74455

Read the full joint Cybersecurity Advisory on the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) for more information and mitigation steps.

(Source: FBI IC3)

#StopRansomware: RansomHub Ransomware

The FBI, CISA, the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are releasing this joint advisory to disseminate known RansomHub ransomware IOCs and TTPs. These have been identified through FBI threat response activities and third-party reporting as recently as August 2024.

RansomHub is a ransomware-as-a-service variant—formerly known as Cyclops and Knight—that has established itself as an efficient and successful service model (recently attracting high-profile affiliates from other prominent variants such as LockBit and ALPHV).

Since its inception in February 2024, RansomHub has encrypted and exfiltrated data from at least 210 victims representing the water and wastewater, information technology, government services and facilities, healthcare and public health, emergency services, food and agriculture, financial services, commercial facilities, critical manufacturing, transportation, and communications critical infrastructure sectors.

Read the full joint Cybersecurity Advisory for more information and mitigation steps.

(Source: FBI IC3)

Schools, colleges faced record-breaking year of ransomware attacks in 2023

Comparitech compiled its data on ransomware attacks by looking through specialist IT news, data breach reports and state reporting tools. Schools and colleges saw a record-breaking number of ransomware attacks in 2023, with 121 incidents last year compared to 71 in 2022, according to an analysis released Tuesday by Comparitech, a cybersecurity and online privacy product review website.

On average, the education sector lost 12.6 school days in 2023 as a result of ransomware attacks, slightly rising from the average downtime of 8.7 days in 2021, the report found. Based on the overall ransomware recovery costs reported across 26 educational institutions between 2018 and 2024, Comparitech estimates the average cost of downtime to total $548,185 per day.

(Source: Cybersecurity Dive)

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

Fair Use Notice:
This InfoGram may contain copyrighted material that was not specifically authorized by the copyright owner. The EMR-ISAC believes this constitutes “fair use” of copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use copyrighted material contained within this document for your own purposes that go beyond “fair use,” you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Linking Policy and Disclaimer of Endorsement:
The appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement of the linked websites, or the information, products or services contained therein. We provide these links and pointers solely for your information and convenience. When you select a link to an outside website, remember that you are subject to the privacy and security policies of the owners/sponsors of the outside website. To view information and resources on the policies that govern FEMA web content visit FEMA Website Information.

Section 504 Notice:
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act requires that FEMA grantees provide access to information for people with disabilities. If you need assistance accessing information or have any concerns about access, please contact FEMAWebTeam@fema.dhs.gov.