The role of critical IT -infrastructures in ensuring national security

Abstract

The complexity and diversity of risks and threats, increasingly interconnected and characterized by multiple determinations, call for an integrative, systemic and comprehensive approach to security objectives, with an emphasis on protecting those vital components for safety and the smooth running of socio-economic life.The activity of protecting critical infrastructures no longer takes into account national borders and involves joint efforts, in the sense of identifying and evaluating any of their vulnerable points. As such, the protection of critical infrastructures - a determining element for maintaining the state of stability and security - requires the amplification of the concerns of the main international actors (states and international organizations) to elaborate and harmonize some strategies in the field. They must allow the identification and early warning of risks, simultaneously with the adoption and timely initiation of decisions/approaches for preventive intervention and countermeasures. Critical infrastructures have always been the most sensitive and vulnerable area of any system and process. Their sensitivity stems from their particular role within the structure. No matter how well protected, critical infrastructures will always have a high ratio of vulnerability, as they are usually the first to be targeted when seeking to destabilize and even destroy a system or process or even when an emergency situation occurs.