Modern societies are widely considered to harbour an increased propensity for breakdowns of their critical infrastructure (CI) systems. While such breakdowns have proven rather rare, Hurricane Katrina has demonstrated the catastrophic consequences of such breakdowns. This article explores how public authorities can effectively prepare to cope with these rare events. Drawing from the literature on crisis and disaster management, we examine the strengths and weaknesses of traditional approaches to crisis preparation and crisis response. We argue that the established ways of organising for critical decision-making will not suffice in the case of a catastrophic breakdown. In the immediate aftermath of such a breakdown, an effective response will depend on the adaptive behaviour of citizens, front-line workers and middle managers. In this article, we formulate a set of strategies that enhance societal resilience and identify the strong barriers to their implementation.

The issue of protecting essential infrastructure against the threat of terrorist attack is one which continues to concern governments worldwide. But terrorism is not the only threat this infrastructure may face: environmental hazards, industrial accidents and sabotage are also major concerns. Protecting critical infrastructure is expensive, but many of the solutions apply whatever the cause of the problem, and in these days of scarce resources, multi-sector or multi-threat solutions are preferred. This book presents the proceedings of the NATO Centre of Excellence – Defence against Terrorism (COE-DAT) Advanced Research Workshop entitled Critical Infrastructure Protection, held in Ankara, Turkey, in May 2012. The workshop brought together 44 participants from 13 countries and consisted of five sessions: a general overview of policy, tools and techniques; the realities of implementation; protection of energy infrastructure; protection of communications and information infrastructure; and protection of transport infrastructure. The papers were presented by 16 expert speakers – military and civilian practitioners, business leaders, diplomats, and academics – from 6 countries, and each was followed by a detailed discussion and debate. The workshop concluded with a summary of all the topics reflected in the individual papers presented. This book represents a significant contribution to furthering the science of counterterrorism, and will be of interest to all whose work involves all aspects of Critical Infrastructure Protection and the terrorist threat to infrastructure.

The economic prosperity and the well-being of our nation's communities depend on the reliable functioning of critical infrastructures: transportation, banking and finance, information and communications, water supply systems, emergency services, and especially energy (electric power, oil, and natural gas). In the new economy, these infrastructures are increasingly reliant on information technologies and are strongly affected by restructuring and other market forces. They are much more heavily interconnected than ever before, and disruptions in one system can have significant adverse consequences, both locally and regionally. Communities often are not well prepared to deal with widespread infrastructure failures, which could become commonplace in the new millennium. This report, prepared on behalf of the partnership, is a first-of-a-kind effort to compile this type of information on the electric power system in a form that municipal governments can use and adapt to local conditions. ComEd and Harza Engineering Company have provided valuable support for this effort. Argonne National Laboratory's Infrastructure Assurance Center compiled and integrated the planning information.

Management and Engineering of Critical Infrastructures focuses on two important aspects of CIS, management and engineering. The book provides an ontological foundation for the models and methods needed to design a set of systems, networks and assets that are essential for a society's functioning, and for ensuring the security, safety and economy of a nation. Various examples in agriculture, the water supply, public health, transportation, security services, electricity generation, telecommunication, and financial services can be used to substantiate dangers. Disruptions of CIS can have serious cascading consequences that would stop society from functioning properly and result in loss of life.Malicious software (a.k.a., malware), for example, can disrupt the distribution of electricity across a region, which in turn can lead to the forced shutdown of communication, health and financial sectors. Subsequently, proper engineering and management are important to anticipate possible risks and threats and provide resilient CIS. Although the problem of CIS has been broadly acknowledged and discussed, to date, no unifying theory nor systematic design methods, techniques and tools exist for such CIS. - Presents key problems, solution approaches and tools developed, or necessary for, assessing and managing critical infrastructures - Investigates basic theory and foundations of current research topics, related challenges, and future research directions for CIS - Offers an interdisciplinary approach, considering management, engineering and specific challenges (dynamism and scalability) surrounding the digitization of CIS services

This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-proceedings of the 8th International Workshop on Critical Information Infrastructures Security, CRITIS 2013, held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in September 2013. The 16 revised full papers and 4 short papers were thoroughly reviewed and selected from 57 submissions. The papers are structured in the following topical sections: new challenges, natural disasters, smart grids, threats and risk, and SCADA/ICS and sensors.

Addressing the vulnerabilities in today's critical infrastructure to natural disasters and terrorism, this practical book describes what public safety and other officials need to do to protect should be doing to pipelines, power plants, telecommunications, and other essential services before the unthinkable happens. The book explains how to maintain command and control in any disaster, and how to predict the probability of those disasters. Written by two highly regarded experts in the field, this one-of-a-kind guidebook shows how to simplify risk assessments and emergency response procedures to disasters affecting our critical national and local infrastructure.

This book deals with both actual and potential terrorist attacks on the United States as well as natural disaster preparedness and management in the current era of global climate change. The topics of preparedness, critical infrastructure investments, and risk assessment are covered in detail. The author takes the reader beyond counterterrorism statistics, better first responder equipment, and a fixation on FEMA grant proposals to a holistic analysis and implementation of mitigation, response, and recovery efforts. The recent Oklahoma tornadoes and West Texas storage tank explosion show the unpredictability of disaster patterns, and the Boston Marathon bombings expose the difficulty in predicting and preventing attacks. Egli makes a compelling case for a culture of resilience by asserting a new focus on interagency collaboration, public-private partnerships, and collective action. Building upon the lessons of the 9/11 attacks, hurricane Katrina, and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the basic findings are supported by a creative mix of case studies, which include superstorm Sandy, cascading power outages, GPS and other system vulnerabilities, and Japan's Fukushima disaster with its sobering aftermath. This book will help a new generation of leaders understand the need for smart resilience.