Wiley Handbook of Science and Technology for Homeland Security, 4 Volume Set

SWITZERLAND

MANUEL SUTER AND ELGIN BRUNNER

Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich, Switzerland

1 CRITICAL SECTORS

Since the end of the Cold War, risks and vulnerabilities involving information and communications technologies have become a growing issue in the Swiss debate on security policy. The high density of information and communication technology (ICT) in Switzerland's public and private sectors offers a high potential for vulnerabilities. Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) in general and the protection of information infrastructures in particular are therefore of high relevance for Swiss security policy.

In July 2007, the Federal Council approved the First Report to the Federal Council on the Protection of Critical Infrastructures, submitted by an interdepartmental working group under the lead of the Federal Office for Civil Protection (FOCP) [1]. This report defines critical infrastructures as “those infrastructures whose disruption, failure, or destruction would have a serious impact on the public health, the environment, the political affairs, the security, and the economic and social well-being of a population” [2]. The report defines the following ten sectors:

• Public Administration,
• Chemical Industry,
• Energy,
• Waste Disposal,
• Financial Services,
• Public Health,
• Information and Communication Technology,
• Water and Food,
• Public Safety, Rescue and Emergency Services,
• Transport [3].

These ten sectors are further divided into 31 sub-sectors. In May 2008, the working ...