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An introduction to critical infrastructures
Modern life has become dependent on several services and facilities that we take for granted. We take the availability of electricity and water supply as well as the existence of transportation and telephone systems as given. It is not easy to define the term “infrastructure” in the context of the dependency of modern life on it. Even more difficult is the definition of what constitutes a critical infrastructure. The notion of criticality depends on the standpoint. A government has different priorities for classifying infrastructure as critical than an organization or an individual. Typically, in the civic sense infrastructure includes (a) transportation, e.g. roads, railways, airports, (b) utilities, e.g. electricity, water supply, sewers, telephone, broadcast, and (c) municipal services, e.g. police, fire protection, refuse collection. At the government level the term “critical infrastructure” is very broad, although it should be less inclusive as not all infrastructure should be considered critical. In some definitions it even includes support, e.g. for banking, and other such processes not necessarily critical to survival. One issue is the necessity of means of protection in increasing the quality of life. Another issue is whether means of persuasion, like computer or broadcast technology, can qualify as infrastructure in any sense, as it is more belief-sustaining than life-sustaining. A more narrow definition would include only the services and facilities whose protection, especially in emergency response, is critical to survival. Classifying criticality Criteria for classifying a facility or service as critical infrastructure have evolved over time. For an infrastructure to be judged critical it must be vital to one or more broad governmental functions. This set of functions has expanded over time, including national defence and economic security as well as public health and safety. In order to classify their criticality, the sectors are identified and assessed with respect to the functions. Telecommunications and information networks, for example, can be classified as critical for the national defence and economic security. Interdependencies A number of facilities and services depend on each other. Airports and railways depend on electricity and communications. The power grid itself depends on communication among power plants and distribution nodes, and the telecommunications network depends on power supply for the transmission links and the exchange nodes. Analysing the infrastructures and their interdependencies one will soon discover that the telecommunications and information networks, together with energy, are at the heart of almost all other infrastructures. This is reason enough for this issue of Eurescom mess@ge to address the critical dependency of our quality of life on the telecommunications and information networks. The article on ”Internet security and critical infrastructures” by Luis Cardoso provides an overview on the issues involved in network security and its important role for enabling the information society. In particular, the security of the networks is a prerequisite for building confidence in users. The network operation support system (OSS) has long been recognised as a critical business success factor for telecommunication operators and service providers. Furthermore, the OSS contributes and supports the critical infrastructure of the information society as well. The further development of OSS interconnection standards will take into account the need for interchange of critical network and service management information between service providers. This exchange requires cooperation at the international level, a fact that has been recognised at the relevant standardisation bodies. Other contributions of communication technologies to public safety and disaster relief in Europe are the two major radio systems TETRA and TETRAPOL, which have been specifically designed for reliable use during incidents. Both systems are standardised and supported by international telecommunications standards bodies. At the European Union level The establishment of emergency services like police and fire department is a major achievement of civilisation. In case of emergency the network infrastructure will support the dispatch of an emergency call to the right service. The requirements on the availability of such services are very high. At European level, the unified emergency calling number 112 is operational in all counties. The next step is the location-enhanced 112 service. This service might prove vital in the case of a car accident in a remote area. Even if you might be able to call 112 from your mobile phone, you might not be in the mental or physical position to specify exactly the location of the accident. The location-enhanced 112 service will close this gap. In the context of efforts to protect critical infrastructures, the new European Network and Information Security Agency, ENISA, has to be mentioned. ENISA was set up in March 2004 and is expected to become fully operational in autumn 2004 with the nomination of its executive director. Its primary objective is to enhance the capability of member states and companies in the European Union to prevent, address and respond to network and information security incidents. However, the security challenges go much further. One of the fundamental roles of government is to help ensure the security and quality of life of its citizens. Studies show that the threats of terrorism, organised crime, and natural disasters are among Europeans’ worst fears. Making Europe more secure for its citizens while increasing its industrial competitiveness is the goal of European security research. The European Commission has recently launched a preparatory action on ”Enhancement of the European industrial potential in the field of Security Research 2004-2006” for addressing key security challenges facing Europe and its partners. The report of the Group of Personalities, which preceded the launch, identifies, among other areas, security against cyber-attacks, secure digital communications, and many other network related aspects as fundamental capabilities of critical infrastructures. In conclusion, the telecommunication and information network infrastructure has become a vital element enabling our quality of life as well as a key aspect in the mission to protect us from various threats. We are not only exploiting the benefits of the technologies, but have also recognised the urgent need to develop coherent European strategies to protect our critical infrastructure. Please send us your comments on this article. |
