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Volume 24 — Issue 41 | October 10, 2024

NIOSH seeks input from emergency services on truck-mounted attenuators for roadway safety

Secondary crashes during responses to roadway incidents contribute to about 50 emergency responder fatalities and injuries annually. Crashes during roadway incident responses can also cause extensive property damage to agency equipment, such as ambulances and fire apparatus.

Truck-mounted attenuators (TMAs) are commonly used in the construction sector. These devices attach to the rear of trailers or trucks and are designed to reduce the force of impact. Fire and emergency medical services are beginning to use TMAs to protect their workers and equipment during roadway incident responses.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a blog this week, Protecting Workers on the Roadways: The Use of Truck-Mounted Attenuators in the Fire and Emergency Services. The blog summarizes findings from a meeting conducted by NIOSH’s Public Safety Program, Center for Motor Vehicle Safety, and Construction Program with federal agency partners and emergency services stakeholders.

The blog article summarizes knowledge shared by meeting participants on the history of TMA use; the rationale for their use by fire and emergency services; how TMAs are being adopted as part of emergency services operating procedures; and current knowledge gaps and lessons learned from the construction and highway maintenance industries that can benefit emergency responders.

At the end of the blog, NIOSH poses several questions to the fire and emergency services community about current use of TMAs and key factors used in the decision to adopt TMAs. Please consider sharing your responses to these questions with NIOSH and the emergency services community using the comments form at the end of the blog.

(Source: NIOSH)

Highlights

NIOSH seeks input from emergency services on truck-mounted attenuators for roadway safety

PHMSA notice to first responders: Hydrogen awareness

National Disaster Recovery Framework version 3 draft now open for comment

FEMA webinar: Navigating the Evolving Cyber Threat Landscape

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.

PHMSA notice to first responders: Hydrogen awareness

Hydrogen is becoming an increasingly important part of the future energy economy of the United States. The 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invested over 8 billion dollars in creating regional clean hydrogen hubs to ramp up the use of hydrogen as a clean energy carrier.

As hydrogen becomes more prevalent, emergency responders should be prepared for incidents involving hydrogen gas in transportation. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) released a notice for first responders last week in its quarterly newsletter, Attention First Responders: Hydrogen Awareness.

PHMSA’s notice acknowledges the unique challenges of hydrogen gas incidents for emergency responders.

The notice cites a major hydrogen transportation incident - a tube trailer containing hydrogen that caught fire in Diamond Bar, California, on Feb. 11, 2018. The incident, caused by the incorrect installation of a burst disc into the cylinder, resulted in the evacuation of up to 2,000 people and $175,000 in equipment damage. The NTSB’s investigation report on this incident explains several challenges responders faced. Two notable challenges are:

• Hydrogen fires are difficult to detect because they burn with an invisible flame. Emergency responders may need to use an alternate method of detection, such as a thermal camera or broom handle, to detect a hydrogen fire.
• A common method of transportation for high-pressure gases, like hydrogen, is in a large, open-sided trailer known as a "tube trailer," which allows responders to visually identify the presence of high pressure compressed gas cylinders at a glance. However, tube trailers in hydrogen service can look different, and may appear to be a common box-truck.

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has done significant work to characterize the risks posed by hydrogen incidents, and to provide emergency responders with training modules to help prepare for, and better protect themselves during, response to these incidents. A free elearning course is now available: Introduction to Hydrogen Safety for First Responders, which includes modules on transportation and storage, stationary facilities, and hydrogen-fueled vehicles. A free Micro Training Learning Plan on Hydrogen Safety for First Responders is also available.

As hydrogen transport grows, PHMSA will continue to engage with the emergency response community to share lessons learned from incidents and accidents, and to incorporate the appropriate guidance into the Emergency Response Guidebook.

Read the full notice from PHMSA to learn more and please share this safety information widely.

(Source: PHMSA, NTSB, PNNL)

National Disaster Recovery Framework version 3 draft now open for comment

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) National Planning Frameworks foster a shared understanding of our roles and responsibilities from the firehouse to the White House. They help us understand how we, as a nation, coordinate, share information and work together to achieve the National Preparedness Goal – which ultimately results in a more secure and resilient nation.

The National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF) is one of the five National Planning Frameworks. The NDRF explains the federal government’s roles and responsibilities for organizing and deploying disaster recovery assistance. The primary value of the NDRF is its emphasis on preparing for recovery in advance of disaster. This Framework is always in effect, and elements can be implemented at any time.

FEMA is currently working on the third revision to the NDRF. Once finalized, this version will supersede the second edition, which was released in 2016.

Key revisions in version 3 focus on clarifying roles and responsibilities, detailing the Federal Recovery Support Function structure and its role in supporting local recovery goals, enhancing collaboration across the whole community, and providing practical resources to assist in community recovery planning efforts.

The updates also incorporate feedback from Tribal Nations, territories, state and local partners, nonprofits and voluntary organizations. FEMA engaged business, industry and academic partners to gather lessons learned, best practices and other input to maximize the usefulness of the framework.

FEMA is currently seeking feedback from states, local governments, Tribal Nations and territories, as well as nonprofits across the whole emergency management community on its draft of the third edition of the NDRF. Any remarks received during the comment period will be reviewed and considered for the final version of the framework.

Please visit FEMA’s page, National Disaster Recovery Framework Public Comment Period, to access the version 3 draft and downloadable Comment Matrix. Please use the Comment Matrix file to capture your comments. Then submit the completed Comment Matrix file by email to fema-recovery-icd-pdb@fema.dhs.gov, with the subject line “NDRF V3 Public Comment Feedback.” The 30-day public comment period opened Sept. 24, 2024, and written comments may be submitted through Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024.

(Source: FEMA)

FEMA webinar: Navigating the Evolving Cyber Threat Landscape

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month. FEMA's Region 2 Individual Community Preparedness Program and the New Jersey Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell (NJCCIC) will host a webinar on Wednesday, Oct. 23 from 1-2:30 p.m. EDT, Navigating the Evolving Cyber Threat Landscape.

The cyber threat environment, including the tactics and techniques used, is constantly evolving. New lures and scams are developed to target individuals, business, and organizations with the goal of siphoning funds, accessing accounts, and stealing information. As such, this presentation will cover those prevalent threats and tactics, ways to identify them, and how to protect ourselves from becoming victims of cybercrime.

This webinar is open to everyone, including individuals, parents, students, and families; businesses, volunteer organizations, and civic and faith-based organizations’ leadership; and federal, state, local, territorial and Tribal Nation governmental agencies’ staff.

Advanced registration is required to attend.

(Source: FEMA Region 2)

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 and FBI warn of Iranian-backed cyber activity to undermine U.S. democratic institutions

On Oct. 8, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) published a fact sheet, How to Protect against Iranian Targeting of Accounts Associated with National Political Organizations. Actors affiliated with the Iranian Government’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are using social engineering techniques across email and chat applications probably to stoke discord and undermine confidence in U.S. democratic institutions. This fact sheet provides recommended actions to protect against this malicious activity.

IRGC actors target and compromise the personal and business accounts of Americans, in particular. individuals associated with national political organizations. They also target individuals and organizations working or have worked on issues related to Iranian and Middle Eastern affairs.

(Source: CISA)

NSA issues updated guidance on Russian SVR cyber operations

The National Security Agency (NSA) joins the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the United States Cyber Command’s Cyber National Mission Force (CNMF), and the United Kingdom National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to warn network defenders about ongoing Russian Federation Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) cyber threats and to recommend rapid countermeasures for security patching and mitigating systems.

The joint Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA), “Update on SVR Cyber Operations and Vulnerability Exploitation,” highlights how Russian SVR cyber actors are currently exploiting a set of software vulnerabilities and have intentions to exploit additional vulnerabilities. It provides a detailed list of publicly disclosed common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) and a list of mitigations to improve cybersecurity posture based on the SVR cyber actors’ operations.

Since 2021, the SVR actors – also tracked as APT29, Midnight Blizzard (formerly Nobelium), the Dukes, and Cozy Bear – have consistently targeted U.S., European, and global entities in the defense, technology, and finance sectors. Their intent is to collect foreign intelligence and enable future cyber operations, including in support of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

A CSA published in April 2021, “Russian SVR Targets U.S. and Allied Networks,” highlighted the SVR’s exploitation of CVEs for initial access. Since then, SVR cyber actors have exploited vulnerabilities at a mass scale to target victims worldwide across many sectors. A CSA released in February 2024, “SVR Cyber Actors Adapt Tactics for Initial Cloud Access,” highlighted additional information on the exploitation of cloud environments and the use of proxies.

(Source: NSA)

Security provider ADT discloses second cybersecurity incident in two months

An unauthorized party stole encrypted internal data related to employee user accounts from home and small business security provider ADT, the company said Monday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The company detected the unauthorized access Oct. 2, according to the filing, and said the “unauthorized actor had illegally accessed ADT’s network using compromised credentials obtained through a third-party business partner.”

The incident is the second cyberattack disclosed by the company in two months. In an Aug. 7 SEC filing, the company disclosed that during a “cybersecurity incident … unauthorized actors illegally accessed certain databases containing ADT customer order information” that included email addresses, phone numbers and postal addresses.

(Source: Cyberscoop)

American Water Works investigates unauthorized cyber intrusion

American Water Works said it learned of an unauthorized cyber incident Thursday that gained access to its computer networks, according to a Monday securities filing.

The Camden, New Jersey-based water utility said it took steps to protect its computer network, including disconnecting and deactivating certain systems in order to protect data, and will continue to do so in the future. The firm said none of its water and wastewater facilities or operations have been affected by the hack.

The company immediately enacted its incident response plan and brought in third-party experts to help investigate. The full scope of the incident is not fully known, but the company does not expect a material impact on its financial condition or results of operations.

(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.

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