Information and Communication Technology: Enabling and Challenging Critical Infrastructure
Information and communication technology (ICT) is increasingly becoming a part of all critical infrastructures, and thus, there is an increasing need to include ICT in all risk assessments. This chapter explains the dependencies between ICT and other infr
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Information and Communication Technology: Enabling and Challenging Critical Infrastructure Maria B. Line and Inger Anne Tøndel
Abstract Information and communication technology (ICT) is increasingly becoming a part of all critical infrastructures, and thus, there is an increasing need to include ICT in all risk assessments. This chapter explains the dependencies between ICT and other infrastructures and provides an overview of the threats and risks associated with ICT. The chapter also gives an introduction to modelling techniques that is of particular use when performing risk analyses of ICT systems. The chapter ends with recommendations on how to include the ICT aspects in risk assessments of other infrastructures.
10.1 Introduction The capacities of information and communication Technology (ICT) have evolved enormously over the latest decades. A study of the developments from 1986 to 2007 [1] shows an annual increase of 58 % in the general-purpose computing capacities, a growth of bidirectional telecommunication capacity of 28 % per year and a 23 % annual increase in globally stored information. ICT infrastructure now includes a variety of solutions offering communication, storage and processing of information, consisting of equipment and software targeted at highly different user groups. Individuals utilize ICT infrastructure for a high number of tasks, including entertainment, communication and business. ICT infrastructure is also used for controlling critical processes in other infrastructures, e.g., through process control systems. ICT is thus a critical infrastructure in itself, at the same time it is an M. B. Line (&) I. A. Tøndel SINTEF ICT, Trondheim, Norway e-mail: [email protected]
P. Hokstad et al. (eds.), Risk and Interdependencies in Critical Infrastructures, Springer Series in Reliability Engineering, DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4471-4661-2_10, Springer-Verlag London 2012
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M. B. Line and I. A. Tøndel
important component of other critical infrastructures, such as power supply, water supply and transportation. This chapter addresses the dependencies between ICT and other critical infrastructures and explains the main threats towards ICT systems. It also provides an overview of common ways to perform risk analyses with respect to ICT. The chapter does not focus on the traditional ICT infrastructure, such as the telecom network, but rather on ICT systems that are an integrated part of other infrastructures. Recommendations are also provided on how to include ICT when risk analyses of critical infrastructures that utilize ICT are performed.
10.2 Dependencies between ICT and other Infrastructures The increased dependence on ICT in a number of critical infrastructures results in a need to properly address the interdependencies that exist between these infrastructures and the ICT systems. Whereas the traditional ICT systems used in such infrastructures were proprietary and not connected to the outside world, the recent trends towards more general-purpose solutions, software and increased ne
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