Critical Infrastructure Protection Research Articles

Performing risk assessment for critical infrastructure protection: A study of human decision-making and practitioners' transnationalism considerations

This paper investigates the views of practitioners on the decision-making influences and the transnational considerations affecting risk assessment (RA) for critical infrastructure (CI) and its protection (CIP).The investigation is based on a thematic analysis of the interviews of twelve RA practitioners. The analysis identified an overarching theme supporting the view that the team approach is the one true remedy to RA process shortcomings as well as five other themes: (1) the value of the human influence in RA; (2) transnationalism - an unfathomable notion; (3) consistency is no panacea to performance; (4) CI organizational RA-influencing forces; and (5) CI RA-enablers and impediments.The investigation suggests that the team approach to effective RA for CIP is considered as the absolute panacea in the eyes of practitioners although both insights from the current industry RA practice through the interviews themselves, and an investigation of relevant literature suggests that although this is warmheartedly recommended (a) there are no set rules and guidelines in its application, (b) it is not coordinated nor applied consistently, and (c) it is not an integral part of RA processes. Notwithstanding the reality that a team approach to RA for CIP is being contemplated by practitioners, albeit with lagging consistency and coordination, it is evident that additional research is necessary to broaden the understanding of its value.

A novel framework to intercept GPS-denied, bomb-carrying, non-military, kamikaze drones: Towards protecting critical infrastructures

Protection of urban critical infrastructures (CIs) from GPS-denied, bomb-carrying kamikaze drones (G-B-KDs) is very challenging. Previous approaches based on drone jamming, spoofing, communication interruption and hijacking cannot be applied in the case under examination, since G-B-KDs are uncontrolled. On the other hand, drone capturing schemes and electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapons seem to be effective. However, again, existing approaches present various limitations, while most of them do not examine the case of G-B-KDs. This paper, focuses on the aforementioned under-researched field, where the G-B-KD is confronted by two defensive drones. The first neutralizes and captures the kamikaze drone, while the second captures the bomb. Both defensive drones are equipped with a net-gun and an innovative algorithm, which, among others, estimates the locations of interception, using a real-world trajectory model. Additionally, one of the defensive drones is also equipped with an EMP weapon to damage the electronics equipment of the kamikaze drone and reduce the capturing time and the overall risk. Extensive simulated experiments and comparisons to state-of-art methods, reveal the advantages and limitations of the proposed approach. More specifically, compared to state-of-art, the proposed approach improves: (a) time to neutralize the target by at least 6.89%, (b) maximum number of missions by at least 1.27% and (c) total cost by at least 5.15%.

CHARACTERISATION OF METHODS OF PROTECTING THE STATE’S CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE FROM TERRORIST ACTIVITIES

The study describes methods for protecting the critical infrastructure of a state. The article aims to determine the combination of protecting methods of the state’s critical infrastructure from terrorist activities, namely security, physical protection, protection of critical infrastructure, protection of critical information infrastructure, and prevention of emergencies of a terrorist nature at objects of critical infrastructure. It is necessary to fulfil the following objectives to achieve the aim: to consider the difference and interrelation of the concepts of critical infrastructure and information critical infrastructure; to characterise the general properties of various terms, in particular: security, physical protection, protection of critical infrastructure, protection of information critical infrastructure, prevention of terrorist emergencies at objects of critical infrastructure; to analyse from the scientific point of view the classical definitions of forms and methods of critical infrastructure protection; to propose a generalised structure of information and technical methods of critical infrastructure protection; to determine the possibility of using information and technical methods in various fields of knowledge to protect the state’s critical infrastructure from terrorist influence. In summary, the structure of information and technical methods for critical infrastructure protection consists of three components: a mathematical model that describes the process occurring at critical infrastructure, a control algorithm that implements the mathematical model, and procedures that indicate the order of actions for applying the method. The problem of protecting critical infrastructure from terrorist activities requires technical, legal, military, psychological, medical, chemical, biological, and other sciences to address it. Each type of science will use its specific methods to solve practical problems of preventing terrorist emergencies at critical infrastructure. For technical sciences, there will be information-technical, engineering-technical, operational-technical, organisational-technical, biotechnical, and other methods to prevent emergencies of a terroristic nature that need development shortly. Keywords: critical information infrastructure, protection, terror, security, terrorist emergency.

Leveraging IoT for Enhanced National Security : A Comprehensive Review

In an era marked by rapid technological advancement and evolving security threats, the integration of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies has emerged as a pivotal strategy for bolstering national security efforts. The integration of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies into national security frameworks offers unprecedented opportunities for enhancing situational awareness, proactive threat detection, and effective response mechanisms. By deploying IoT devices such as sensors, cameras, and drones across various sectors including border control, critical infrastructure protection, and emergency management, governments can achieve real-time monitoring and data-driven decision-making capabilities. This paper gives a comprehensive review of the use of IoT technologies in national security, including real-time surveillance, border control and critical infrastructure protection. It examines the challenges and propose strategies, including the development of robust regulatory frameworks.

INSTITUTIONAL TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE DIRECTION OF INCREASING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE STATE POLICY OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION

The article analyzes modern features of state policy in the field of critical infrastructure protection. Attention is focused on the need for institutional transformations in the direction of improving efficiency, transparency, responsibility and responding to new security challenges in the conditions of a hybrid war with the Russian Federation.
 The practice of protecting critical infrastructure facilities in developed countries has been studied. It was determined that its priority is the actualization of the predicate of stability of critical infrastructure objects. The content of normative and legal acts of Ukraine in this area was analyzed. A number of provisions have been identified that allow the adjustment of the domestic security doctrine to the European vector of stability.
 Within the perspective of the development of the concept of sustainability, the intention of «critical infrastructure stakeholders» is substantiated. This opens up the prospects of creating transparent conditions for ensuring the annihilation of state institutions of power, state protection systems, the private sector, educational and scientific institutions and other stakeholders of critical infrastructure to the National System of Critical Infrastructure Protection at the next levels of management. The possible levels of such cooperation are determined.
 Modern scientific works were analyzed, which studied the prospects of changing the paradigm of protection and stability to the paradigm of resilience. The complex of institutional transformations is proposed to be expanded due to the application within the framework of the functioning of the National Critical Infrastructure Protection System of the process of determining and analyzing the range of risks that the country faces in the spheres of critical infrastructure functioning. The transformation of institutional protection systems is considered through the prism of systemic determinants, among which physical protection and defense, cyber protection and defense, preventive measures of protection and defense, and an educational and scientific approach are highlighted.
 The system of organization at the state level of conducting regular interdisciplinary trainings on the operational response to emergency situations at facilities has been studied. It is proposed to increase clarity in the delineation of responsibility for project threats and to strengthen control over compliance with the systematicity of interdisciplinary training. On the basis of the extrapolations of scientists' hypotheses and the results of the author's research, a proposal was made to systematize the main proposals for institutional transformations in the direction of increasing the effectiveness of the state policy for the protection of critical infrastructure in the form of a Preventive concept of resilience of critical infrastructure objects.

Securing Infrared Communication in Nuclear Power Plants: Advanced Encryption for Infrared Sensor Networks.

This study enhances infrared communication security in nuclear power plants' secondary systems, addressing the risk of mechanical and cyber failures. A novel random address generator, employing an innovative S-box, was developed to secure IoT sensor data transmissions to gateway nodes, mitigating eavesdropping, interference, and replay attacks. We introduced a structured IR communication protocol, generating unique, encrypted addresses to prevent unauthorized access. Key-dependent S-boxes, based on a compound chaotic map system, significantly improved encryption, increasing data transmission randomness and uniqueness. Entropy analysis and reduced duplicated addresses confirmed the effectiveness of our method, with the Hash-CCM algorithm showing the highest entropy and fewest duplicates. Integrating advanced cryptographic techniques into IR systems significantly enhances nuclear power plants' security, contributing to the protection of critical infrastructure from cyber threats and ensuring operational integrity.

National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection through Cybersecurity: A National Government Perspective

The South African national government is forging ahead with digitalisation plans to enhance socioeconomic growth in the country. However, digitalisation is accompanied by detrimental cybersecurity risks that may potentially exacerbate the vulnerability of the National Critical Information Infrastructure (NCII) of South Africa to cyber-attacks. Therefore, the envisaged digitalisation benefits in South Africa may be offset by the increased cybersecurity risk on the NCII of the country. Through a theoretical literature review, this study aims to investigate digitalisation and identify the cybersecurity risks it poses to the National Critical Information Infrastructure of South Africa, from a national government policy perspective. A gap has been identified in Information and Communications Technology for Development (ICT4D) research studies that researchers tend to focus on the implementation of ICTs while neglecting the policy aspect that is meant to direct and control the implementation of ICTs. Therefore, this study bridges this gap by approaching digitalisation and cybersecurity from a national government policy perspective. The output of this study is a National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection (through Cybersecurity) Conceptual Framework (NCIIP-CF) that is applicable to all spheres of government (local, provincial or national) as policy makers. The NCIIP-CF demonstrates an approach that embeds cybersecurity in the digitalisation process for the national government of South Africa, thus enabling an NCII that is resilient to cybersecurity risks.

Forensic Analysis of Drones Attacker Detection Using Deep Learning

Purpose: This research proposes deep learning techniques to assist forensic analysis in drone accident cases. This process is focused on detecting attacking drones. In this research, we also compare several deep learning and make some comparisons of the best methods for detecting drone attackers.Methods: The methods applied in this research are YOLO, SSD, and Fast R-CNN. Additionally, to validate the effectiveness of the results, extensive experiments were conducted on the dataset. The dataset we use contains videos taken from drones, especially drone collisions. Evaluation metrics such as Precision, Recall, F1-Score, and mAP are used to assess the system's performance in detecting and classifying drone attackers.Results: This research show performance results in detecting and attributing drone-based threats accurately. In this experiment, it was found that YOLOV5 had superior results compared to YOLOV3 YOLOV4, SSD300, and Fast R-CNN. In this experiment we also detected ten types of objects with an average accuracy value of more than 0.5.Novelty: The proposed system contributes to improving security measures against drone-related incidents, serving as a valuable tool for law enforcement agencies, critical infrastructure protection and public safety. Furthermore, this underscores the growing importance of deep learning in addressing security challenges arising from the widespread use of drones in both civil and commercial contexts.

REZILIENȚA INFRASTRUCTURILOR CRITICE ÎN CONTEXTUL INSECURITĂȚII CIBERNETICE PROVOCATE DE AMENINȚĂRILE DE TIP HIBRID*

Critical infrastructure resilience in the context of cyber insecurity caused by hybrid threats Abstract: Nowadays, as state and non-state actors have developed new hybrid methods to promote their interests, the concept of critical infrastructure protection has gained new value from a resilience perspective, and today, most security incidents occur in cyberspace. This article examines the interconnection between the concepts of “hybrid warfare - critical infrastructures - cyberattacks”. Therefore, we begin with the assumption that cyberspace is the most susceptible environment to vulnerabilities and potential attacks, subsequently impacting vital services for populations numbering in the millions. Accordingly, our research endeavors to address the following question: Within the realm of hybrid threats, can minor vulnerabilities in cyberspace generate strategic-level effects on critical infrastructures? To accomplish this, we have used the analytical tool Connected Papers to identify scientific papers that explore the correlation between “hybrid war - critical infrastructures - cyber-attacks”. Subsequently, we expanded our analysis to encompass articles focused on studying either two or even a single concept among those mentioned. The results of our analysis demonstrate that vulnerabilities exploited within a Wi-Fi network or an industrial control panel of a critical infrastructure in cyberspace can have far-reaching consequences that may impact the vital services required by the population, resulting in a temporary disruption. Such an attack, originating from minimal efforts in terms of time, personnel, and financial resources, can lead to substantial property damage.

Special Section on Digital Twins: A New Frontier in Critical Infrastructure Protection and Resilience

Abstract n/a

THE ROLE OF INTELLIGENCE IN CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION: SECURING THE METRO RAILWAY AND PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

On November 13, 2023, Chief Officer Dave Jones presented The Role of Intelligence in Critical Infrastructure Protection: Securing the Metro Railway and Public Transportation for this year’s West Coast Security Conference. The key points discussed were that North American passenger transit systems, such as railways and buses, lack robust safety screening systems, the challenges balancing visibility and effectiveness with cost and aesthetics as cities grow and transit usage increases; and the importance of increased information sharing, employing emerging technologies, risk assessments, and adaptation to the safety of transit networks.
 
 Received: 01-14-2024
 Revised: 01-26-2024

‘Leapfrogging’ or ‘lagging’?: highlighting critical information infrastructure protection challenges and opportunities in Egypt and Nigeria

ABSTRACT Emerging economies are experiencing dramatic rises in internet penetration, along with an expansion of cyber-dependent critical infrastructure. Nevertheless, in many countries and regions, critical information infrastructure protection (CIIP) efforts remain at a relatively nascent stage. Early and widespread approaches to critical information infrastructure protection are informed by higher income, early digitising nations, which may not reflect the priorities, needs, or challenges faced by late-digitising emerging economies. This paper analyses CIIP efforts and processes in Nigeria and Egypt, considering the degree to which the standards and approaches to CIIP adopted by early digitising countries apply to each county’s experience. Evidence from both countries suggests that emerging economies will not follow the same trajectory or benefit from the same lessons learned in CIIP as early digitising regions of the world. Both countries face a different mix of CII and CII-vulnerabilities, a greater emphasis on internal cyberthreats, and significant resource and capacity constraints in comparison to early digitising nations. This suggests that ‘leap-frogging’ may not always be possible, and innovative, context-specific CIIP policies and strategies are needed.

Dynamic Modeling of Coastal Compound Flooding Hazards Due to Tides, Extratropical Storms, Waves, and Sea-Level Rise: A Case Study in the Salish Sea, Washington (USA)

The Puget Sound Coastal Storm Modeling System (PS-CoSMoS) is a tool designed to dynamically downscale future climate scenarios (i.e., projected changes in wind and pressure fields and temperature) to compute regional water levels, waves, and compound flooding over large geographic areas (100 s of kilometers) at high spatial resolutions (1 m) pertinent to coastal hazard assessments and planning. This research focuses on advancing robust and computationally efficient approaches to resolving the coastal compound flooding components for complex, estuary environments and their application to the Puget Sound region of Washington State (USA) and the greater Salish Sea. The modeling system provides coastal planners with projections of storm hazards and flood exposure for recurring flood events, spanning the annual to 1-percent annual chance of flooding, necessary to manage public safety and the prioritization and cost-efficient protection of critical infrastructure and valued ecosystems. The tool is applied and validated for Whatcom County, Washington, and includes a cross-shore profile model (XBeach) and overland flooding model (SFINCS) and is nested in a regional tide–surge model and wave model. Despite uncertainties in boundary conditions, hindcast simulations performed with the coupled model system accurately identified areas that were flooded during a recent storm in 2018. Flood hazards and risks are expected to increase exponentially as the sea level rises in the study area of 210 km of shoreline. With 1 m of sea-level rise, annual flood extents are projected to increase from 13 to 33 km2 (5 and 13% of low-lying Whatcom County) and flood risk (defined in USD) is projected to increase fifteenfold (from 14 to USD 206 million). PS-CoSMoS, like its prior iteration in California (CoSMoS), provides valuable coastal hazard projections to help communities plan for the impacts of sea-level rise and storms.

The terrorist threat to critical infrastructure from the perspective of criminal risk

The field of critical infrastructure protection emerged as part of the fight against terrorism. Although a transition to an all-hazards approach has taken place, terrorism remains a significant threat to entities providing essential services. The relief of the legislative framework provides a nuanced understanding of the interrelationship between the constructs of critical infrastructure and terrorism, conceptualizing the latter in the context of criminal risk. By criminalizing acts of terrorism, the legislator intends to protect social values, including those values dependent on the functioning of critical infrastructure. Moreover, exemplification through case law contributes to identifying vulnerabilities and facilitates scenario building based on criminal risks.

Firefly algorithm based WSN-IoT security enhancement with machine learning for intrusion detection

A Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) aided by the Internet of Things (IoT) is a collaborative system of WSN systems and IoT networks are work to exchange, gather, and handle data. The primary objective of this collaboration is to enhance data analysis and automation to facilitate improved decision-making. Securing IoT with the assistance of WSN necessitates the implementation of protective measures to confirm the safety and reliability of the interconnected WSN and IoT components. This research significantly advances the current state of the art in IoT and WSN security by synergistically harnessing the potential of machine learning and the Firefly Algorithm. The contributions of this work are twofold: firstly, the proposed FA-ML technique exhibits an exceptional capability to enhance intrusion detection accuracy within the WSN-IoT landscape. Secondly, the amalgamation of the Firefly Algorithm and machine learning introduces a novel dimension to the domain of security-oriented optimization techniques. The implications of this research resonate across various sectors, ranging from critical infrastructure protection to industrial automation and beyond, where safeguarding the integrity of interconnected systems are of paramount importance. The amalgamation of cutting-edge machine learning and bio-inspired algorithms marks a pivotal step forward in crafting robust and intelligent security measures for the evolving landscape of IoT-driven technologies. For intrusion detection in the WSN-IoT, the FA-ML method employs a support vector machine (SVM) machine model for classification with parameter tuning accomplished using a Grey Wolf Optimizer (GWO) algorithm. The experimental evaluation is simulated using NSL-KDD Dataset, revealing the remarkable enhancement of the FA-ML technique, achieving a maximum accuracy of 99.34%. In comparison, the KNN-PSO and XGBoost models achieved lower accuracies of 96.42% and 95.36%, respectively. The findings validate the potential of the FA-ML technique as an active security solution for WSN-IoT systems, harnessing the power of machine learning and the Firefly Algorithm to bolster intrusion detection capabilities.

A Survey on Forensics and Compliance Auditing for Critical Infrastructure Protection

A Survey on Forensics and Compliance Auditing for Critical Infrastructure Protection

Protection of the EU's Critical Infrastructures: Results and Challenges

At the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023, the EU adopted several new legislative acts aimed at improving the resilience and protection of network and information systems and critical entities across the Union. The objective of this research is to list the said acts, show their interconnections and focus specifically on the analysis of potential weaknesses of two legislative acts, namely: the NIS2 Directive and the CER Directive. The NIS2 Directive is a significant piece of legislation that aims to improve the cybersecurity of the European Union, while the CER Directive is a crucial piece of legislation that aims to improve the physical security of critical entities in the Union. These two documents are applied in parallel and contain many mutual references, which means that weaknesses in one document can have significant consequences in the implementation of the other. Therefore, through standard desk-top analysis of primary and secondary sources, this paper reviews the protection of the EU's critical infrastructures results and challenges by primarily focusing on these two documents. The research found certain weaknesses, explained them and suggested possible solutions.

Analysis of terminology for identifying the risks of ensuring security and sustainability of critical information infrastructure in Ukraine

The article is devoted to the definition of the concept of risk in the context of ensuring safety and sustainability of critical information infrastructure in Ukraine. It has been specified that, in general, the risks, which may arise and affect critical information infrastructure objects of Ukraine, are a highly specialized subject matter of research searches. Therefore, there is no clear identification of the term «risk» in the context of the proposed public relations at the scientific level. It has been emphasized that the legislative doctrine also does not define its content and essence.
 The general theoretical and legal definition of the term «risk» has been analyzed. An attempt to differentiate its characteristics as a distinct legal phenomenon from related legal categories has been made.
 It has been summarized that the category of risk in the context of ensuring safety and sustainability of critical information infrastructure in Ukraine is a is a form of manifestation of danger caused by the presence of phenomena, factors, circumstances, events, etc., which can potentially have negative consequences on the course of public relations, functionality of objects or specific legally protected interests in this sphere. In addition, we have clarified that the category of threat should also be understood as a form of manifestation of danger, which is due to the presence of phenomena, factors, circumstances, events, etc., but only those that will damage safety and sustainability of critical information infrastructure in Ukraine in the future (in particular, if it is not neutralized, it will become a risk).
 It has been summarized that to ensure that potential risks in the field of critical information infrastructure protection do not become an actual problem, the State, in formulating its policy in this area, should clearly define, i.e. establish at the legislative level what is a risk to critical infrastructure in general and for information one – in particular. This is necessary to develop clear methodologies for monitoring and forecasting certain risks in the future to avoid their negative effects.

Protection of the EU’s Critical Infrastructures: Results and Challenges

At the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023, the EU adopted several new legislative acts aimed at improving the resilience and protection of network and information systems and critical entities across the Union. The objective of this research is to list the said acts, show their interconnections and focus specifically on the analysis of potential weaknesses of two legislative acts, namely: the NIS2 Directive and the CER Directive. The NIS2 Directive is a significant piece of legislation that aims to improve the cybersecurity of the European Union, while the CER Directive is a crucial piece of legislation that aims to improve the physical security of critical entities in the Union. These two documents are applied in parallel and contain many mutual references, which means that weaknesses in one document can have significant consequences in the implementation of the other. Therefore, through standard desk-top analysis of primary and secondary sources, this paper reviews the protection of the EU's critical infrastructures results and challenges by primarily focusing on these two documents. The research found certain weaknesses, explained them and suggested possible solutions.

Protection of critical infrastructures from advanced combined cyber and physical threats: The PRAETORIAN approach

This work describes the PRAETORIAN system, an advanced framework for the protection of critical infrastructures from combined physical and cyber threats. It integrates components for detecting threats and generating alerts related with the physical and the cyber domains of Critical Infrastructures (CIs). These alerts are correlated by a hybrid situation awareness system that calculates the cascading effects of the attacks. Finally, a response coordination system manages notifications and assists decision making by providing mitigation actions and sharing information with the public and relevant authorities. The PRAETORIAN system was extensively validated by a large number of end users and was demonstrated in real-world environments in terms of providing support for the detection and mitigation of physical and/or cyber attacks in CIs.