Computer-Mediated Communication in Security

We live in an age of heightened national security concerns as well as home and personal security concerns. Since the events of September 11, 2001 and the events surrounding Hurricane Katrina, we have concerns for any additional attacks on our homeland as well as concerns for the safety and security of our families, friends as well as ourselves. Fortunately, we live in an age of advanced technology which allows for faster and perhaps more efficient means of communication. We must better understand the role of computer-mediated communication in our homeland security as well as our home and personal security.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was created in 2002. The goals of the newly created Department of Homeland Security were to “Prevent terrorist attacks within the United States; Reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism; and Minimize the damage and recover from attacks that do occur.” (www.dhs.gov, n.d.)

According to their web site, the strategy of the Department of Homeland Security was to, “prepare our Nation for the work ahead in several ways by: providing direction to the federal government departments and agencies that have a role in homeland security, suggesting steps that state and local governments, private companies and organizations, and individual Americans could take to improve our security and offered incentives for them to do so, and recommending certain actions to the Congress.” (www.dhs.gov, n.d.) Please refer to the following link in order to read the “First National Strategy for Homeland Security” which was issued in July 2002: http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/nat_strat_hls.pdf

Since the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and the advent of Hurricane Katrina, several additional issues had to be addressed. In 2007, the Department of Homeland Security published the following directive regarding information sharing strategies.

“Fostering information sharing is a core Department mission. The Department must use the established governance structure to make decisions regarding information sharing issues. The Department must commit sufficient resources to information sharing. The Department must measure progress toward information sharing goals. The Department must maintain information and data security and protect privacy and civil liberties. Department employees share information every day in support of our mission, and the Department as a whole has made significant strides in improving our collaboration internally and with our federal, state, local, and international partners. This strategy outlines the path forward for focusing our efforts on achieving specific goals that will benefit the Department and our stakeholders, especially the American public whom we serve.” (www.dhs.gov, n.d.) Please refer to the following link to in order to read the “Department of Homeland Security Information Sharing Strategy” which was issued in October 2007: http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/nat_strat_homelandsecurity_2007.pdf

On April 18, 2008, the Department of Homeland Security issued an additional publication addressing information sharing. Within this publication, the Department of Homeland Security outlines their “multi-faceted mission” which is to “prevent and protect against terrorist attacks; respond to both man-made and natural disasters; perform the law enforcement and other crucial functions of the Department’s component agencies; and play a central role in augmenting the Nation’s ability to gather, analyze and disseminate information and intelligence.” (www.dhs.gov, n.d.) Please refer to the following link in order to read the “Department of Homeland Security Information Sharing Strategy” which was issued on April 18, 2008: http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/dhs_information_sharing_strategy.pdf

The Department of Homeland Security has provided links to learn more about “information sharing & analysis, prevention & protection, preparedness & response” (www.dhs.gov, n.d.). They have also provided means to receive e-mail updates and RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds from a variety of homeland security web sites (www.dhs.gov, n.d.).

Aside from the information available from the Department of Homeland Security, I personally recommend the following two (2) web sites as means to stay informed regarding our homeland security as well as our home and personal security. The first of the two is http://www.ready.gov/. This web site provides information through hyperlinks to help prepare American citizens, businesses, and kids for a wide variety of emergencies (www.ready.gov, n.d.). The second of the two is “The Emergency Email & Wireless Network” located at http://www.emergencyemail.org/. Emergency Email Network, Inc. operates this web site. Their mission is to “Provide notification to citizens of local, regional, national and international emergencies utilizing the Internet and electronic mail (email) in a secure and expedient manner” (www.emergencyemail.org, 1999). This is a free public service which provides emergency notification by email, cellular telephone, or pager (www.emergencyemail.org, 1999).

The computer-mediated communication tools provided at these web sites will go a long way to help make American citizens more secure. It is clear that users of computer-mediated communication are using “new media to become informed” and “to inform others” (Kahn and Kellner, 2004). In light of this, “We need to appreciate how” computer-mediated communication tools “affect our lives at home and at work and how we can use them wisely to preserve our perception, priorities, and, above all, principles” (Bugeja, 2005).

Not everyone has access to computer-mediated communication via the internet. This “digital divide” defined as “the troubling gap between those who use computers and the internet and those who do not” (Mehra, Merkel, and Peterson, 2004) is significant. Mehra, Merkel, and Peterson (2004) cited The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) who addressed this “digital divide by saying “Disparities in technology access and use are related to socioeconomic status, with income, educational level and race among the factors associated with technological attainment.” Efforts must be made to bridge this “gap” so that more and more people can have access to the computer-mediated communication tools that will notify and inform them of an emergency.

The following journal article provides an interesting insight as to how computer-mediated communication was applied in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Brian Thevenot (2005) reported how computer-mediated communication assisted him in reporting and writing about the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He mentioned that “Since the storm hit, our Web site traffic on nola.com has exploded to more than 30 million page views a day” (Thevenot, 2005). He reported what he was observing so people in the path of the hurricane as well as those looking on from a distance could get an accurate account of what happened and become informed of how to obtain assistance if needed.

With the advancement of computer-mediated technology, more people can secure themselves, their families, and their homes with warning systems that will notify them and inform them of impending disaster and emergencies. Computer-mediated communication does play and will continue to play a vital role in securing ourselves, our homes, as well as our homeland.

References

Bugeja, M. (2005). Interpersonal divide: The search for community in a technological age. New York: Oxford.

Department of Homeland Security. (n.d.). Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved August 3, 2008, from http://www.dhs.gov/index.shtm.

Emergency Email Network, Inc. (1999). Emergency Email. Retrieved August 3, 2008 from www.emergencyemail.org.

Kahn, R., & Kellner, D. (2004). New media and internet activism: From the ‘battle of Seattle’ to blogging. New Media and Society, 6, 87-95.

Mehra, B., Merkel, C., & Petersen, B. A. (2004). The internet for empowerment of minority and marginalized users. New Media and Society, 6, 781-802.

Ready. (n.d.). Ready. Retrieved August 3, 2008 from http://www.ready.gov/.

Thevenot, B. (2005). Apocalypse in New Orleans. American Journalism Review, October/November 2005. Retrieved August 3, 2008, from http://www.ajr.org/article.asp?id=3959.