Critical Infrastructure System Security and Resiliency

"Part l: Security risk assessment. Chapter 1. Introduction to Security Risk Assessment As our nation moves forward in the age of information and global economy, our dependencies on national infrastructure is greater than ever. Compromise of our critical infrastructures could disrupt the functions of our government, business, and our way of life. Catastrophic losses in terms of human casualties, property destruction, economic damages, and loss of public confidence could result from disruptions or degradation in our national infrastructure. "Critical infrastructures are the assets, systems, and networks, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on security, nationaleconomic security, public health or safety, or any combination thereof" (U.S. Department of Homeland Security 2010). The Homeland Security Presidential Directive 7 (HSPD-7) (U.S. Department of Homeland Security 2010) identified 18 critical infrastructuresectors and a designated federal Sector-Specific Agency to lead protection and resilience-building programs and activities. The sectors include: - Agriculture and Food, - Banking and Finance, - Chemical, - Commercial Facilities, - Communications, - Critical Manufacturing, - Dams, - Defense Industrial Base, - Emergency Services, - Energy, - Government Facilities, - Healthcare and Public Health, - Information Technology, - National Monuments and Icons, - Nuclear Reactors, - Postal and Shipping, - Transportation Systems, and - Water"--

Betty E. Biringer is a mathematician currently conducting specialized technical assessments and research in the national interest as a distinguished member of the technical staff at Sandia National Laboratories. As the former manager of the Security Risk Assessment Department, she provided oversight and technical guidance for Sandia’s modeling and simulation tools for physical security vulnerability analyses and risk assessments. Ms. Biringer was actively involved in the development and implementation of most of Sandia’s service-marked Risk Assessment Methodology (RAM) tools for critical infrastructure elements, including dams, high-voltage electric power transmission, chemical facilities, communities, and energy. She has served as a subject matter expert for security risk on review panels for the Department of Homeland Security’s National Centers of Excellence. Her other primary research area is the development of methodologies for the assessment and mitigation of the insider threat.

Dr. Eric D. Vugrin is currently a distinguished member of the technical staff in the Resilience and Regulatory Effects Department at Sandia National Laboratories. His primary research interest is the development of analytical tools and methods for infrastructure analysis. Most recently, his research has focused on capability development for vulnerability, consequence, and resilience analysis of chemical supply chains, transportation networks, electrical power systems, and other infrastructure networks. These efforts provided support and guidance to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Infrastructure Protection, Science and Technology, and Policy programs. Prior to his work in the area of infrastructure analysis, he performed risk analyses for complex systems as Sandia’s technical lead for Total Systems Performance Assessment at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, the world’s only certified, deep-underground repository for nuclear waste.

Dr. Drake E. Warren was a senior member of technical staff at Sandia National Laboratories until he joined the RAND Corporation as an associate policy researcher in 2011. While at Sandia, he worked on projects across a range of homeland security and national security issues, including projects that assessed the economic impacts of disruptions to industries and infrastructure systems caused by hurricanes, climate change, and other disruptive events. He helped develop frameworks for assessing the resilience and criticality of infrastructure and economic systems and led studies directed toward improving foresight of national security challenges.