Evaluation of Critical Infrastructures: Challenges and Viable Approaches

Critical Infrastructures (CI) are complex and highly interdependent systems, networks and assets that provide essential services in our daily life. Given the increasing dependence upon such critical infrastructures, research and investments in identifying their vulnerabilities and devising survivability enhancements are recognized paramount by many countries. Understanding and analyzing interdependencies and interoperabilities between different critical infrastructures and between the several heterogeneous subsystems each infrastructure is composed of, are among the most challenging aspects faced today by designers, developers and operators in these critical sectors. Assessing the impact of interdependencies on the ability of the system to provide resilient and secure services is of primarily importance; following this analysis, steps can be taken to mitigate vulnerabilities revealed in critical assets. This paper addresses the analysis of CI, with focus on interdependencies between the involved subsystems. In particular, the experience gained by the authors in an on-going European project is reported and discussed, both in terms of identified challenges and in viable approaches under investigation.