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

CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURES AT RISK: A EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE

ADRIAN V. GHEORGHE

Old Dominion University (ODU), Norfolk, VirginiaUniversity Politechnica, Bucharest, Romania

MARCELO MASERA

European Commission Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy

1 CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURES: THE EUROPEAN POLICY CONTEXT

Today’s infrastructures and their associated systems such as energy, pipelines, water, telecommunication, banking, Internet etc. are delivering services for addressing an adequate quality of life. They have greatly developed and advanced during the last century, growing from facilities with limited reach to continent-wide infrastructures. Most importantly, these systems were neither designed as integrated systems nor as systems-of-systems (SoS), but gradually evolved over time. Due to their relevance to the daily functioning of society, the impairment or failure of these infrastructures can have severe consequences, beyond simple business impact. As failures of critical infrastructures can affect the welfare of society at large and the stability of economic and political systems, they are an expression of protecting our national security, that is, our homeland security [1].

Most infrastructures originate from local networks. Over time, municipal networks evolved. Interconnection of city networks and network expansion to rural areas were forged through intervention of the provincial authorities. Provincial networks thus emerged in the first half of the twentieth century. The national grid ...