Member Newsletter: 2015 Year End Update ChicagoFIRST in Transition Administration Changes Office Relocation ChicagoFIRST Web Hosting and Crisis Communicator New Members ChicagoFIRST Events & Services Power Outage Workshop & Tabletop Exercise Sixth Annual Telecommuting Exercise Quarterly Strategic Partner & Member Meetings Regulatory Roundtable Business Continuity Work Group Security Work Group Situational Awareness Chicago Public/Private Task Force Business Recovery Access Program Info Video Initiative EOC Activations City Wide Evacuation and Shelter in Place Document Initiative Joint Counter-Terrorism Awareness Workshop Important Operational Reminders ChicagoFIRST 2015 Members Survey SAVE THE DATE: 2016 Telecommuting Exercise, Friday, September 16 th Upcoming Meetings & Events: January through June 2016 Month Date Event January 20 Quarterly Strategic Partner & Member Meeting 28 Members Meeting February 18 Business Continuity Work Group 12:00 pm -2:00 pm March 8 Security Work Group 8:30 am -10:30 am 22 Tabletop Exercise April 20 Quarterly Strategic Partner & Member Meeting May 19 Business Continuity Work Group 12:00 pm -2:00 pm 26 Regulatory Roundtable 8:30 am -10:30 am June 14 Cyber Work Group 8:30 am -10:30 am 19 Business Continuity Work Group 12:00 pm -2:00 pm 1
ChicagoFIRST in Transition New Leadership, New Office, New Possibilities Administration: 2015 was a transitional year for ChicagoFIRST. Michael Carano joined in May after having been associated with ChicagoFIRST during his tenures at the Chicago Fed, LaSalle/ABN AMO and Cook County. Founding Executive Director Brian Tishuk accepted the leadership position at the FSSCC in July. While ChicagoFIRST will miss Brian s leadership here, we are delighted to have his advocacy on initiatives important to us at the national level. Martha Meegan accepted the position as Deputy Director in late August bringing law enforcement and government agency contacts at the local, state and federal level; expertise on life safety and emergency preparedness; and association management experience. Office Relocation: In August, ChicagoFIRST relocated its office from Bank of America to the CME Group. Many thanks to both of these members for their generous support of our operations. ChicagoFIRST Web Hosting and Crisis Communicator: The FS-ISAC is providing free web hosting and crisis communication software to ChicagoFIRST. Many thanks to the Options Clearing Corp hosting and supporting our website for over 10 years. The members section of our website is currently under re-development. Our new mass communication tool is AlertFind. New Members: ChicagoFIRST welcomes new members Lockton and Guggenheim Partners and we look forward to their participation in meetings and events. ChicagoFIRST Events Power Outage Workshop & Tabletop Exercise: On August 13th, ChicagoFIRST s Executive Director, Michael Carano and ComEd Senior Emergency Preparedness Administrator, David Bunge, facilitated a workshop and tabletop exercise on the complexities of managing the response to a widespread power outage affecting the Central Business District and Midway Airport. Sixty ChicagoFIRST members participated, along with representatives from Chicago and Cook County s Office of Emergency Management; Police and Fire Departments; Metra; and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The workshop focused on the fundamental objectives of crisis management: communications; information-sharing; on-site incident management; business continuity plan validation; and physical security. ChicagoFIRST and ComEd provided members an After Action Report documenting the outcomes and discussion with the public sectors. Sixth Annual Telecommuting Exercise: The sixth annual ChicagoFIRST Telecommuting Exercise took place on September 18th. Partnering with both the Financial Services- Information Sharing & Analysis Center (FS-ISAC), this year s exercise included approximately 911 participants from over 440 zip codes. 2
ChicagoFIRST provided members two sets of data analysis: (1) Overall 2015 Participant Survey Results; and (2) a Sixth Year Comparison of Survey Results (2010-2015). The sixth year comparison illustrated trends developed since the initiation of these exercises in 2010, including increases in the number of daily telecommuters, and technology and connectivity advancements. Additionally, participating firms received their employees post-exercise survey responses revealing comments and lessons learned specific to their firm s protocols and technology. Quarterly Strategic Partner & Member Meetings July 22 nd : The summer Quarterly Meeting featured Gary Schenkel, Executive Director Office of Emergency Management and Communications discussing private sector response to widespread emergencies, such as tornados, and a tour of the Emergency Operations and 911 Center. October 29 th : The fall Quarterly Meeting featured Matt Doughtie from the Office of Emergency Management and Communications discussing the Chicago Urban Area's 2015 Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA) process completed in collaboration with Cook County. THIRA is a Capability-Based Planning tool, with outcomes that include identifying specific capability targets and required resources to support strategic planning, operational planning, mitigation activities and investment decisions. The presentation and discussion provided an opportunity to understand government planning for worst-case emergencies in the Chicago area, and how business plans could be better coordinated with first responder plans. Additionally, Metra CEO Don Orsen and John Plante, Director on the Metra Board, provided an update on the state government and Metra s response to the Rail Safety Act of 2008, which requires all railroads carrying passengers and toxic-by-inhalation hazardous materials to install Positive Train Control (PTC) by December 31, 2015. Mr. Plante also discussed the limited alternative transportation options, if a shutdown were to occur. Regulatory Roundtable: On December 3 rd, over 40 members participated in a robust Regulatory Roundtable discussion featuring a panel of experts offering guidance on vendor management for business continuity and disaster recovery planning, and resiliency for cyber incidents. Panelists included Donald Hirata, Securities Exchange Commission; Paul Neff, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago; and Matthew Regan, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Members were provided with a document summarizing panelists responses to questions to include third party exercises, PCI initiatives, vendor compliance solutions, cyber attack recovery, and subcontractor review. Business Continuity Work Group: On August 27 th, the BCWG featured Wally Schroeder, Commander of the Public Education Division of the Chicago Fire Department and Ron Tabaczynski, Director of Government Affairs from the Building Owners and Managers Association of Chicago discussing the City s life safety evacuation team requirements, the responsibilities of property management, and best practices in evacuation planning and testing. Attendees disclosed the challenges of maintaining on-site safety evacuation teams in light of telecommuting and hoteling workforce patterns. Members received a summary document on Evacuation Best Practices compiled from responses to attendees questions. Security Work Group: On September 29th, ChicagoFIRST invited representatives from the Chicago Police Department and the Office of Emergency Management and Communications to offer insight into the public sector resources incorporated in identifying, monitoring, and communicating activist movements to the private sector. Updates on the 1st and 18th District criminal activity were also provided. Members received a summary 3
document entitled Flash Protests-The Activist Movement, which consisted of responses to questions and discussed best practices. Situational Awareness: ChicagoFIRST engaged in significant protest monitoring and reporting related to the release of a police-involved shooting video in December, the Flood the Banks campaign, and San Bernardino, California and Paris terrorist acts. Members were provided real time notification of activities through ChicagoFIRST s monitoring of WebEOC, social media as well as communications received from the Chicago Police Fusion Center and ChicagoFIRST members. Chicago Public/Private Task Force Through co-chairmanship of the City s Office of Emergency Management & Communications Public/Private Task Force, ChicagoFIRST continues to foster collaboration across all sectors and initiate projects for effective public and private emergency response and recovery. Business Recovery Access Program Info Video Initiative: The City of Chicago s credentialing system, named the Business Recovery Access Program (BRAP), is designed to allow access for critical private sector personnel into restricted properties following a major emergency or disaster. In 2015, with the completion of BRAP protocol testing, ChicagoFIRST began collaborating with the City of Chicago on the creation of a video to be posted on the City s Facility Information Management System (FIMS) webpage to educate the public about the BRAP procedures. In addition, a separate video is being created to educate First Responders on the process. EOC Activations: ChicagoFIRST coordinates private sector representation at the EOC during activations and provides members with real-time updates from the EOC. ChicagoFIRST has staffed the EOC this year for activations related to the Blackhawk s final game and parade, July 4, the Chicago Marathon, and the Festival of Lights Parade, which was on high alert this year in the wake of the Paris attacks. ChicagoFIRST member Sara Alexander from CME Group also represented the private sector at the EOC during the Chicago Marathon. ChicagoFIRST members who volunteer must take DHS and WebEOC training to qualify. Please let Mike or Martha know if you are interested in volunteering. City Wide Evacuation and Shelter in Place Document Initiative: ChicagoFIRST, in collaboration with the Public /Private Task Force, created a one page document for educating the public on central business district evacuation and shelter in place procedures. This document will be presented in the 1 st Quarter of 2016 to the public and will also be available on the City of Chicago s Emergency Website. Joint Counter-Terrorism Awareness Workshop: On November 17 th -18 th, ChicagoFIRST was invited to participate at the Chicago JCTAW held at McCormick Place as co-facilitators for the private sector breakout group. The Workshop, which focused on responses to scenario based acts of terrorism, featured over 200 + First Responders from all levels of government including FBI, DHS and NCTC. An After Action Report of the event is expected in the spring. 4
Important Operational Reminders As a reminder, ChicagoFIRST offers members a variety of work groups and notification lists as described below. Please email info@chicagofirst.org to let us know if you would like to be added or removed from any of these lists. ChicagoFIRST General Member Email List Provides routine updates for all members about events, meetings, projects, and overall ChicagoFIRST organization updates. ChicagoFIRST Advisory Emergency Notification System - AlertFind Business Continuity Work Group An email list used to disseminate emergency alert information received from trusted public or private sources. The information ranges from dayto-day, in-progress incidents in the Central Business District to special events and national emergencies. ChicagoFIRST utilizes the AlertFind mass notification system to contact members on their landline, mobile phone and e-mail to inform them of critical information and emergency conference call/ meeting arrangements. Meets quarterly and features presentations from member firms and subject matter experts about business continuity issues and best practices. Security Work Group Meets biannually and features presentations from public sector representatives and member firms about physical security and life safety topics. Cyber Security Events CPD Daily Homeland Security Bulletin ChicagoFIRST Website Account An email informing of Cyber Security Roundtable and Workgroup events, additional events in the region, and relevant information security bulletins. An email providing The Chicago Police Department s Fusion Center (the Crime Prevention & Intelligence Center) daily report of significant Chicagoland protests, special events, and national and international intelligence. This daily bulletin is classified as For Official Use Only. Certain material on the ChicagoFIRST website (www.chicagofirst.org) is restricted to members-only, requiring the establishment of an account for individual users. For more information about ChicagoFIRST activities and communications, please email either Michael Carano, Martha Meegan or info@chicagofirst.org Michael Carano Executive Director michael.carano@chicagofirst.org ChicagoFIRST Martha Meegan Deputy Director martha.meegan@chicagofirst.org 5