CISA Publishes 2020 Chemical Security Webinars Agenda

Sometime this week (they still have not resumed dating web page changes) the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) updated their Chemical Security Summit web page to provide updated information for the 2020 Chemical Security Summit. As I had noted earlier, CISA will be holding this mostly-annual summit this year as a three-day virtual event held on consecutive Wednesday’s in December. This week’s update provides an agenda for the three-day event.

I misunderstood the previous update to mean that CISA would be holding one seminar on three-separate dates. The agenda published this week makes it clear the CISA will be holding three separate seminars, one on each day of the scheduled event. This closely parallels the organization of the Chemical Sector Security Summits that have been held over the last 10+ years.

While there are (currently?) no speaker names included in the published Agenda, there are some topics that look to be very interesting (all would appear to be worthwhile). These call-out topics include:

• Jack Rabbit III Demonstration – 12-2-20,

• Security Incidents Trends & Challenges During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Supply Chain Constraints – 12-2-20,

• Chemical Security Threat Briefing – 12-2-20,

• Hurricanes, Wildfires, Floods, and Pandemics – 12-9-20,

• TSA Surface & USCG MTSA Program Updates and Information – 12-9-20,

• Cybersecurity & Physical Security Working Together, 12-16-20, and

• Chemical Security Tools (Virtual Expo), 12-16-20

Registration information is still not available.

2015 CSSS Agenda and Registration Info

Yesterday DHS updated the 2015 Chemical Sector Security Summit (CSSS) web page to include a link to registration and agenda information. As I mentioned in an earlier post the CSSS will be held on July 21^st thru 23^rd in Alexandria, VA. It will be held at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center and for the first time portions of the CSSS will be webcast for those not able to attend in person.

The preliminary agenda shows a host of potentially interesting topics. They include:

∙ Cybersecurity and Industrial Control Systems;

∙ Port Security – U.S. Coast Guard;

∙ What to Expect During a CFATS Inspection;

∙ Alternative Security Programs (ASPs) and Expedited Approval Program (EAP) Site Security Plan (SSP);

∙ Site Security Plans (SSP) and Compliance Inspections Trends; and

∙ Unmanned Aircraft Systems: Legal Background and Enforcement

Two sessions will be webcast over the Homeland Security Information Network (HSIN). Registration is required, but no special vetting or secure connections are required. The two sessions currently planned to be available will both be webcast on Wednesday:

∙ Keynote Address; and

∙ Infrastructure Security Compliance Division (ISCD) Regulatory Update

I would have like to have seen more sessions broadcast, but the second one will be one of the more important sessions of the Summit so I can’t really complain too much. Maybe if there is an extensive early sign up, NPPD will consider adding more sessions. I have already signed up for the web cast. Unless of course, someone wants to sponsor my attendance in Alexandria.

Agenda Being Changed for 2014 CSSS?

With just about a month left until the 2014 Chemical Sector Security Summit, it looks like maybe changes are afoot. Last week I reported that the agenda was available for the 2014 CSSS. This morning the web site for that meeting is now missing the link to that agenda. The link is still functional but NPPD is apparently no longer providing it to the public.

This could, of course, just be a web site programing glitch, but it could also mean that some sort of change was being made to the agenda. I’ll try to see what DHS has to say about this.

DHS Updates Chem Sector Security Summit Page

Today DHS updated their web page for the 2011 Chemical Sector Security Summit (CSSS) which will take place in Baltimore on July 6th and 7th (and 5th and 8th if you include the pre- and post-summit programs) this year. The updated information includes the agenda for the summit and procedures for getting your name on the standby list for attendance at the summit.

Agenda

The general outline of the agenda is pretty much the same that was outlined in the preliminary agenda (there is still a link to the preliminary agenda on the current page; kind of odd in a pleasantly quirky way) that I discussed in an earlier blog post. The main difference is that there is a lot more detail provided in the descriptions of the agenda items.

Given the recent reorganization of ISCD it is interesting to note that there will be some familiar faces from the old regime making presentations at this Summit. Sue Armstrong will be reprising her presentation on the status of the CFATS – Ammonium Nitrate programs and Larry Stanton will be updating his presentation from last year (and the two years before that) on Theft and Diversion Chemicals.

Recorded Presentations

There is another interesting development mentioned in this agenda that I certainly applaud. On the listing for the 9:30 session on July 6th on “DHS Voluntary Programs and Resources Panel” there is a special note; “This session may be recorded and may be posted on the Web after the Summit.” I would have preferred to see all of the sessions recorded and posted, but it is a new technique for the organizers of this Summit, so a limited trial is certainly reasonable.

I personally would have liked to see one of the other presentations used for this trial (based upon my personal interests, of course), but I do have to admit that this presentation has the largest potential audience in the chemical community. That makes this a very reasonable choice for this experiment.

Hopefully this will be a wildly successful experiment and will attract wide spread attention in the chemical security community. The more hits/views that this presentation logs in the coming months, the more likely that this will be expanded next year; providing the bulk of the chemical security community with virtual access to this Summit.