Water Critical Infrastructure Security and Its Dependencies

Abstract

Water critical infrastructure is considered one of the most important CI on a global basis. Water CI has been consistently targeted across history since 3000 BC, with a significant increase in those attacks documented in the early 2010s. The aim of this paper is to review security and dependencies of water CI in relation to terrorism or adverse human intervention. In particular, the paper analyses water as a ‘soft’ target, and provides an insight into terrorist attack planning and perceived threat levels. Keywords: Water critical infrastructure; security; terrorist attack; dependency; water contamination