Critical Infrastructure: Understanding Its Component Parts, Vulnerabilities, Operating Risks, and Interdependencies

Critical Infrastructure (CI) is fundamental to the functioning of a modern economy, and consequently, maintaining CI security is paramount. However, despite all the security technology available for threats and risks to CI, this crucial area often generates more fear than rational discussion. Apprehension unfortunately prompts many involved in CI policy to default to old-fashioned intuition rather than depend on modern concrete risk assessment as the basis for vital security decisions. Going beyond definitions, Critical Infrastructure: Understanding Its Component Parts, Vulnerabilities, Operating Risks, and Interdependencies looks at the iron triangle within CI: power, telecom, and finance. It introduces the concept of CI as an industrial and enterprise risk conductor, highlighting the reality that a CI failure can propagate a crisis with far-reaching repercussions. Focuses on Canada and the US Equally for a Useful Cross-Border Security Analysis With $2.5 trillion at stake in United States’ CI alone, supreme standards and metrics are mandatory for solid protection of such a sophisticated and complex area. This powerful volume is dedicated to moving CI security into the 21st century, illustrating the danger in basing critical CI policy decisions on the existing legacy frames of reference. It represents one of the first complete departures from policy, planning, and response strategies based on intuition and anecdotal evidence.