A scientific approach to the new field of critical infrastructure protection This book offers a unique scientific approach to the new field of critical infrastructure protection: it uses network theory, optimization theory, and simulation software to analyze and understand how infrastructure sectors evolve, where they are vulnerable, and how they can best be protected. The author demonstrates that infrastructure sectors as diverse as water, power, energy, telecommunications, and the Internet have remarkably similar structures. This observation leads to a rigorous approach to vulnerability analysis in all of these sectors. The analyst can then decide the best way to allocate limited funds to minimize risk, regardless of industry sector. The key question addressed in this timely book is: What should be protected and how? The author proposes that the answer lies in allocating a nation's scarce resources to the most critical components of each infra-structure--the so-called critical nodes. Using network theory as a foundation, readers learn how to identifya small handful of critical nodes and then allocate resources to reduce or eliminate risk across the entire sector. A comprehensive set of electronic media is provided on a CD-ROM in the back of the book that supports in-class and self-tutored instruction. Students can copy these professionally produced audio-video lectures onto a PC (Microsoft Windows(r) and Apple Macintosh(r) compatible) for repeated viewing at their own pace. Another unique feature of the book is the open-source software for demonstrating concepts and streamlining the math needed for vulnerability analysis. Updates, as well as a discussion forum, are available from www.CHDS.us. This book is essential for all corporate, government agency, and military professionals tasked with assessingvulnerability and developing and implementing protection systems. In addition, the book is recommended for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students studying national security, computing, and other disciplines where infrastructure security is an issue.

Originally published in 2005. By weaving together three distinct fields - public policy, technology studies and management of critical infrastructure - this volume shows how public policy can help to improve the management of large technical systems. A much-needed analytical framework, based on approaches drawn from established work in science and technology studies, is applied to a case study of the development of a new public safety service for mobile telephones. This example of emerging growth and change in critical infrastructure allows Gordon Gow to identify current problem areas and to refine a more general set of strategies aimed at improving public policy processes in the management of technology. The work also discusses a range of contemporary issues in telecom policy and regulation, such as public consultation, technical standards, network unbundling and interconnection. This insightful work provides observations and recommendations for policy makers, regulators, industry and consumer groups alike, furthering the improved coordination of efforts across these domains of interest.

Critical infrastructures are the backbone of modern, interconnected economies. The disruption of key systems and essential services - such as telecommunications, energy or water supply, transportation or finance - can cause substantial economic damage. This report looks at how to boost critical infrastructure resilience in a dynamic risk landscape, and discusses policy options and governance models to promote up-front resilience investments. Based on an international survey, the report analyses the progressive shift of critical infrastructure policies from asset protection to system resilience. The findings are reflected in a proposed Policy Toolkit for the Governance of Critical Infrastructure Resilience, which can guide governments in taking a more coherent, preventive approach to protecting and sustaining essential services.

Originally published in 2005. By weaving together three distinct fields - public policy, technology studies and management of critical infrastructure - this volume shows how public policy can help to improve the management of large technical systems. A much-needed analytical framework, based on approaches drawn from established work in science and technology studies, is applied to a case study of the development of a new public safety service for mobile telephones. This example of emerging growth and change in critical infrastructure allows Gordon Gow to identify current problem areas and to refine a more general set of strategies aimed at improving public policy processes in the management of technology. The work also discusses a range of contemporary issues in telecom policy and regulation, such as public consultation, technical standards, network unbundling and interconnection. This insightful work provides observations and recommendations for policy makers, regulators, industry and consumer groups alike, furthering the improved coordination of efforts across these domains of interest.

This book creates a framework for understanding and using cyberpower in support of national security. Cyberspace and cyberpower are now critical elements of international security. United States needs a national policy which employs cyberpower to support its national security interests.

We depend on information and information technology (IT) to make many of our day-to-day tasks easier and more convenient. Computers play key roles in transportation, health care, banking, and energy. Businesses use IT for payroll and accounting, inventory and sales, and research and development. Modern military forces use weapons that are increasingly coordinated through computer-based networks. Cybersecurity is vital to protecting all of these functions. Cyberspace is vulnerable to a broad spectrum of hackers, criminals, terrorists, and state actors. Working in cyberspace, these malevolent actors can steal money, intellectual property, or classified information; impersonate law-abiding parties for their own purposes; damage important data; or deny the availability of normally accessible services. Cybersecurity issues arise because of three factors taken together - the presence of malevolent actors in cyberspace, societal reliance on IT for many important functions, and the presence of vulnerabilities in IT systems. What steps can policy makers take to protect our government, businesses, and the public from those would take advantage of system vulnerabilities? At the Nexus of Cybersecurity and Public Policy offers a wealth of information on practical measures, technical and nontechnical challenges, and potential policy responses. According to this report, cybersecurity is a never-ending battle; threats will evolve as adversaries adopt new tools and techniques to compromise security. Cybersecurity is therefore an ongoing process that needs to evolve as new threats are identified. At the Nexus of Cybersecurity and Public Policy is a call for action to make cybersecurity a public safety priority. For a number of years, the cybersecurity issue has received increasing public attention; however, most policy focus has been on the short-term costs of improving systems. In its explanation of the fundamentals of cybersecurity and the discussion of potential policy responses, this book will be a resource for policy makers, cybersecurity and IT professionals, and anyone who wants to understand threats to cyberspace.

Electricity, natural gas, telecommunications, railways, and water supply, are often vertically and horizontally integrated state monopolies. This results in weak services, especially in developing and transition economies, and for poor people. Common problems include low productivity, high costs, bad quality, insufficient revenue, and investment shortfalls. Many countries over the past two decades have restructured, privatized and regulated their infrastructure. This report identifies the challenges involved in this massive policy redirection. It also assesses the outcomes of these changes, as well as their distributional consequences for poor households and other disadvantaged groups. It recommends directions for future reforms and research to improve infrastructure performance, identifying pricing policies that strike a balance between economic efficiency and social equity, suggesting rules governing access to bottleneck infrastructure facilities, and proposing ways to increase poor people's access to these crucial services.