Critical Infrastructures: IT Security and Threats from Private Sector Ownership
Douglas L. Warfield · Information Security Journal A Global Perspective · 2012
The critical infrastructures of industrialized countries depend on an interconnected “system of systems” that physically spans the globe and exists virtually everywhere. Often, the governments and industries responsible for the critical infrastructures are unaware of the extension and integration of the “web” on which their infrastructures rely. The safety of the citizens and the economies of these countries rely on the continuous operation of these systems to provide the services vital to the country and its people. The proliferation of interconnectivity and dependencies of these critical infrastructure systems has led to vulnerabilities, with attacks possible against nearly every country's critical infrastructures from nearly anywhere in the world. The vulnerable infrastructures' systems include banking and financial institutions, transportation systems, electricity and natural gas generation and distribution, petroleum distribution, and phone and cell communications. The threats may originate from unintended incidents, attacks by criminals, terrorists, and adversarial foreign nations with malicious intent, any of which could cause significant damage, bringing the critical systems to a halt. This literature review looks at various aspects of critical infrastructures and the governmental approaches to address the problem of government dependency on the private sector's ownership and control of critical infrastructures.