The need for the protection of critical national infrastructures

Abstract

Currently, the concept of "protection of critical infrastructures" is one of the most important aspects that should be taken into account by all countries. In Spain, the National Centre for the Protection of Critical Infrastructures (CN- PIC) has been recently created, which is responsible of all tasks related to this type of protection. It was established in accordancc with all national and international laws and regulations that recommend the assessment of critical infrastructures, with the aim of improving the security of national infrastructures and the interests of Spain abroad by establishing the existing intcrdcpcndcncics between different infrastructures. The protection of this type of infrastructures must be addressed not only from the point of view of physical security, but also from the logic framed within the ICT sector. In this way, the CNPIC permanently performs risk analyses at a sectorial level, taking into account cach type of threat that can affect the infrastructures in process. This analysis provides the assessment of the criticality of eachinfrastructure, as well as its logical prioritisation from the national point of view. The level of protection required by each infrastructure demands a smooth communication with other agencies or bodies, both at a national and international level, in order to be able to process a coordinated response in view of any potential attack that may affect one or various national strategic infrastructures. However, the CNPIC must act within its responsibilities regarding the support and coordination of basic security, applied by those responsible for the infrastructures. The existence of national or international alert networks contributes towards the development of these tasks and is in line with different European projects, whose purpose lies in this type of communication. © 2009 Vieweg+Teubner | GWV Fachverlage GmbH, Wiesbaden.