Safety and Security Are Two Sides of the Same Coin

Abstract

Whether safety and security overlap depends on how one defines each of these qualities. Definitions are man-made and the definer can include or exclude anything they want. The question really is what the definitions imply for the solution of the problems being defined and which definitions lead to the most effective achievement of the property or properties being defined. This chapter starts by proposing an inclusive definition that combines safety and security and then discusses the practical implications of this definition for solving our safety and security problems. These implications include (1) recognizing that safety and security are not equivalent to reliability, (2) broadening the focus in security from information security and keeping intruders out, and (3) creating new integrated analysis methods based on system theory.