Infrastructure Interdependencies and Homeland Security
Yacov Y. Haimes · Journal of Infrastructure Systems · 2005
As we can see from the following quotes, infrastructure interdependencies have a strong impact on homeland security. “The speed, virulence, and maliciousness of cyber attacks have increased dramatically in recent years. More and more people are capable of launching significant assaults against the nation’s infrastructure and cyberspace because of the increasing sophistication of computer attack tools. The consequences of a cyber attack on our critical information networks and infrastructures, which are composed of private and public institutions in many different sectors under the guidance of federal-led departments and agencies, can have significant negative effects on the United States” ~Dept. of Homeland Security, 2004!. “Our national defense, economic prosperity, and quality of life have long depended on the essential services that underpin our society. These critical infrastructures—energy, banking and finance, transportation, vital human services, and telecommunications—must be viewed in a new context in the information age. The rapid proliferation and integration of telecommunications and computer systems have connected infrastructures to one another in a complex network of interdependence. This interlinkage has created a new dimension of vulnerability, which, when combined with an emerging constellation of threats, poses unprecedented national risk” ~President’s Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection 1997!. The quantification of infrastructure interdependencies is central to an effective assessment and management of risks of terrorism to critical infrastructures.