NEW CHALLENGES IN THE FIELD OF MILITARY SCIENCE INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE
7-8 november 2006
Selected papers

NEW CHALLENGES IN THE FIELD OF MILITARY SCIENCE NEMZETKÖZI TUDOMÁNYOS SZAKMAI KONFERENCIA
2006. november07-08.
Válogatás az előadások írásos anyagából

Kovács Ferenc
(Miklós Zrínyi National Defence University, Military Engineering Department)

DEFENCE OF THE CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE

Introduction

The great negative events of the last years: the natural catastrophes, industrial accidents, acts of terror have proved that the humanity has not been out of the critical situations and the handling of the series of critical periods are to be solved. We must be prepared for the managing of the critical situations and we have to be master of the developed critical situations with minimum human and material losses.

This is expressed by the closing document of the UNO's world conference about the defence against the catastrophes organised in Kobe (Japan) between 18 to 22 January 2005, too, according to which:

"the assessment of the consequences of troubles in the critical infrastructures as a consequence of a human default, technical faults, or terrorist attacks, namely, in the public services being important in the operation of the state and its institutions as well as in the population's provision, the building out of monitoring systems calling attention to dangerous situations as well as the creation of the unified institutional and legal conditions are classed among the most important tasks of the decade. "

Considering that the modern societies strongly depend on the the technological and virtual infrastructural systems (for example on the electrical energy-, gas-, water-, oil-, and other products delivering pipeline networks, well as on the road-, water-, air-, and railway networks, e.t.c.) therefore the troubles of operation of these systems as well as the provisory  falling out or destruction of ones of their elements produces an important effect on our everyday life, on the working of the economy. Therefore it is easy to understand, that both on the part of the persons involved in the state and the economy and on the part of the civikian population the requirement has arisen, that the operation of the infrastructures of primary importance must be insured with the greatest security possible.

 Our "infrastructural dependency" of a more and more increasing level makes it anyway justified, that the defence of the infrastructures - and especially the protection of their most endangered objects - should be more emphasized. The trouble or falling out of some  more important infrastructural objects may exhaust the crises treatment capacity of an entire country being at its disposal.

Conception system of the minimum infrastructure

In our days the individual countries and international organisations being touched with this matter are endeavouring to formulate the concepts, definitions in connection with the minimum infrastructure and its protection. The expression was firstly used in the United States of America, where the Presidential Directive issued on 22nd May 1998 (PDD 63) determined the tasks of the federal government in the interest of the minimum infrastructures, as well as it decided the foundation of the  National Infrastructure Protection-Centre,1 and the Computerized  Standby Group of Dagerous Situation of the Unated States2,as well as the installation of  a great number of other organisations being engaged in the protection of the minimum infrastructures and the creation of the financial funds. Besides it determined, that, from the point of view of the United States of America, among others, the telecommunications, the energy, the financial and investment services, the traffic, the water supply, the life - saving and catastrophe protection services are qualified as minimum infrastructures.

In its security strategy created in July 2002, the United States of America defined the minimum infrastructure as follows: " all such physical or virtual systems and equipment, which are of such importance vital for the United States of America, that their limitation or destruction would produce an weakening effect on the national security, on the national economy and on the security of the national economy ,on the public health and public security, or on any of their combination."

The NATO deals with the assessment of the infrastructures of vital importance and with the organisation of their protection within the system of planning of  the civil danger situation. The top organ of the planning of  the civil danger situation, the Planning Committee Of Top Level of  the Civil Danger Situation in its document accepted under the No3 EAPC(SCEPC)D(2003)15 has given the following determination of notion for the infrastructures of vital importance, according to which. "Such installations, services, and information systems are qualified as critical infrastructures, which are of such vital importance for the nations, that their falling out or destruction would produce a weakening effect on the security of the nation, on the economy of nation, on the public health and security, as well as on the efficient work of the government"

In the latest work plans of the European Union the minimum infrastructure and its assessment have also taken place. Its conceptual definition has been described in the Committee's communiqué No COM(2004) 702 from 20 October 2004., according to which:

"The infrastructures of vital importance contain such physical and information technological equipment and networks, services and instruments, thecollapse or destruction of which could result in grave consequences from the point of view of the citizens' health, security, economic welfare, as well as the efficient work of the member states."

 In the Committee's work plan from the year of  2005, among others, it have been decided, that, as a result of the survey at European and member state level, a comprehensive list about the critical infrastructures and their circles would be placed at the Union's disposal up to the end of the year of 2005.

The common characteristic of both conceptions is the fact, that they are dealing with objective infrastructural elements, technological equipment and networks, as well as services and information systems, comprehending through this the whole palette of the infrastructure.

In Hungary, we are still in the initial phase of the survey, the preparations. In its work plans of the year of 2004 the Governmental Co-ordination Committee uses the definition determined by the NATO described above for clearing the concept of the infrastructure. The aim of the protection of the critical infrastructure is the preparations for the troubles and the destruction, the protection against them, and the proportional and necessary reaction and restoration.

 The infrastructures listed by the individual countries can not always be considered in a given case as infrastructure, or the whole of the infrastructure can not always be considered as critical one, but its elements defined by a certain determined criterion system. Expressed otherwise, those element of any infrastructure system could be considered as "critical one", that is of vital importance, the partial or total breakdown or accident of which endanger the security or make the normal life style more difficult of several hundred thousand of persons. For the elaboration of the concept a threshold value is to be determined concerning the extent of the endangering, beside which the saving, restoration, e.t.c can still be treated. On the critical infrastructural elements determined in this way the protective- preventive- intervening measures could be elaborated thereafter.

On the basis of the prior interpretations, within the cadres of my earlier study, I decided the concept of infrastructure according to the followings:

Critical infrastructure is named such elements of vital importance of the national, federal infrastructure or that of the Union, the important damaging, breaking down or destruction of which involve grave consequences concerning the security of the nation or nations, the economy, the environment and the public health, as well as the efficient working of the individual governments, of the state.5

In several cases the infrastructure does not know country borders, it may concern several nations, federal systems, the Union. Let us take the installations of the connected energetic networks, that of the traffic networks comprehending a great number of countries into consideration. All these facts give reasons for the extent of the concept from the natonal infrastructure towards the federal, common infrastructure.

Under the notion of the protection of the critical infrastructure such measures, programs, activities, interactions are to be interpreted, which are used by the state, the proprietors, the operators for the protection of their infrastructures.

Under the notion of the protection ability of the critical infrastructure we understand the ability of preparations, protection, decrease, reaction and restoration for the prevention of the troubles or destruction of the critical infrastructure.

Branches and sectors which can be classed among the critical infrastructures .

Let us examine in the infrastructure system, in which areas are to be found the majority of the so-called critical elements!

Within the sphere of activity of the countries, the international- and integration organisations a continuous work is carried out in the field of the charting of the critical points of the infrastructures of vital importance as well as in the field of the organisation of the protection.

In a general sense the critical infrastructure can be considered as a mass of infrastructural elements which are of vital importance. Practically in all infrastructural field there are elements of vital importance or at least very important elements, but certain special fields of the infrastructure contain more elements of vital importance than the average value. .these are to be expected above all in the field of the power engineering and the informatics. The operation of these systems is indispensable in the interest of the working of the state and the national economy as well as for the sake of the assurance of the condition of existence of the population.

In the course of the examination it is suitable to determine which infrastructures and which element of them (their objects, subsystems, connecting points) are involved within the "critical" circle, the organisation of the protection of which needs a more detailed analyse and surveying work.

I have executed the detailed survey on 9 countries, from which I make tree examinations known as example:

USA determined 13 critical sectors which are the followings: agriculture, catering, water supply, supplying system of the public health, the fire department, the rescuing and police services, the governmental operation, the industry of defence, the information and telecommunication systems, the energy sector, the traffic, the financial matters and the investment, the factories of the chemical industry, the mail and the shipping services.

Austria listed among the critical branches of the national economy the followings:
info- and communications,  telecommunication sector,  sector of banking and financial institution, program broadcasting, catastrophe defence, energy production and distribution, information and guidance services, home defence, armed force, police sector, mail services, public administration, public services, public health, public welfare, transport and traffic, public works, water supply.

Finland has ranged the following sectors of the economy among the increased critical category: info- communication-, telecommunication sector, banking-.financial institute sector, broadcasting, catastrophe protection, energy production and distribution, information-, instructing services, mail services, public administration, public services, public health, public welfare, transport, traffic, logistics, public works, water supply,  supply with food-products, defence industry.

The critical economic, public administrative as well as infrastructural special fields being included at all of the examined countries are the followings:

  • Information and communication systems
  • Telecommunication
  • Catastrophe defence
  • Energy production and distribution
  • Banking- and financial institute system
  • Water supply - public works
  • Transport and traffic
  • Public health
  • Food-products supply

Nearly all of the examined countries still include the following special fields:

  • Home defence - defence industry
  • Police sector

In case of Hungary, I suggest to rank among the fields of the critical infrastructure the following economic and public administration elements:

  • Information and telecommunication systems
  • Telecommunication
  • Energy production and distribution
  • Water supply - public works
  • Transport and traffic
  • Public health
  • Food-products supply
  • Banking-and financial institute sector, as well as
  • Catastrophe defence
  • Home defence - defence industry
  • Police sector

The elements belonging to the indispensable infrastructure are to be collected from the previously enumerated infrastructural and public administrative fields, the mass of which will create the critical infrastructure of the country.

Factors endangering the critical infrastructural elements :

The home and international practice (NATO, EU) fundamentally examine the defence of the critical infrastructure from the point of view of the endangering  through terrorism and natural catastrophes But the fact must not be disregarded, that nowadays  the  infrastructures are working at the limit of their efficiency in many places, their internal reserves get worn out, so the the technical defaults being derived from this and the damages caused by these become more  and more frequent.

The critical infrastructural elements described in detail previously, which may be collected from the special fields of economy, infrastructure and public administration, are endangered in totality by the followings:

  • wars, armed conflicts
  • natural catastrophes, (earthquakes, floods, gales, e.t.c.)
  • nuclear accidents
  • terrorism
  • industrial accidents
  • exhaustion of the efficiency of the infrastructures

The natural concomitant of the conflicts of war, armed clashes is the fact, that the attack is  directed not only against the armed forces of the given country, but also against the infrastructure ensuring the population's condition of existence and at the same time against the infrastructure signifying the army's home territory. The events of the second world war give a great number of examples for the attacks aiming the destruction of the infrastructure  (above all the attacks against the installations of the traffic). An example of the recent past  is the aerial attacks of the NATO against  Yugoslavia, in the course of which all bridges of the Danube were destructed, bringing the navigation of the Danube to a standstill, too, which concern a number of countries in Europe.

The natural catastrophes signify a great number of dangers for the elements of the indispensable infrastructure. The events of the recent past deplorably proved, that, in case of more serious natural catastrophes, to which extent the fundamentally necessary  elements of the infrastructure are sensitive to the damages. Examples are the thunami in South-Eastern Asia, the tornados an hurricanes in North-America, the earthquake in Pakistan, earlier the floods earlier in Hungary and recently Romania.

As a consequence of its geographical situation, Hungary is above all exposed to the the floods.

According to the surveys and analyses, the sources of danger situated within the offside line of a width of 30 km along the country border are considered as directly dangerous ones.In the circle of the natural catastrophes,  nearly  all important damage events beyond the borders (even with certain delaying, like the floods) make feel their effect, whether damages of floods or damages of fire be in question.    

The social catastrophes, as the migration, the crime and the menacing of the terrorism make their apparition in a similar form.

As a consequence of the  Hungary' location in a basin, its geopolitical conditions it is especially exposed  to both  civilian (technogen) and natural, social catastrophes. Its natural borders do not defend it, even on the contrary, the dominant wind direction and the flowing conditions are favourable to the spreading over of the damage effects.

The frequency of the nuclear accidents is not big, but their effect can be extraordinary and it can be spread over an important territory. For example the effect of the accident of Tshernobil has comprised the territory of the whole Europe.

The nuclear accidents may cause extraordinary serious problems above all in the field of the public health services, the food and water supply.

In Hungary, near the nuclear power station of Paks, the Slovakian (Czech) nuclear installations represent a risk, especially the obsolete nuclear power station of Bohunice, the dismantling procedure of which may also be a risk factor.

In totality, there are 73 settlements in Hungary, which may be endangered by a nuclear event.

The infrastructural elements are frequent targets of the terrorism, above all the busy traffic networks. The terror attack in Madrid in 2004 and that of the last year in London also prove, that, according to the object, the means of transport and traffic networks are frequent targets. On 11th March 2004 in the morning a co-ordinated terror attack was executed against the suburban railway lines of Madrid, in which 191 persons died and more than 1800 persons were injured.

The industrial accidents represent an important danger for the elements of the critical infrastructure and through this naturally for the population In the direct vicinity of Hungary, the explosion of furnace of Kosice and fire of gas pipeline in Slovakia, the rupture of oil- and product line in Ukraine, the damage of a refuse collecting plant and liquid dung and sludge storing plant, outbreak of an oil well in Romania, and the spilling out of the chlorine gas in Yugoslavia are to be mentioned among the industrial accidents.

As it produced an effect on the Union, the accidents happened in the town of Seveso in Italia, as well as that happened in Holland, and that happened in the town of Toulouse in France.

 The infrastructures are often dragged to the limits of their efficiency in case of the joint ensuing of  not expected events. Such phenomena at the critical infrastructures ensue above all in the field of the power engineering, because, as a consequence of the connection of the networks the events produce their effects in a distance of several hundreds of kilometres. Here are some examples from the last years.

In North-America the last troubles in the power supply happened in August of the year of 2003. An extraordinary power cut hit several big towns of the United States and Canada   - New York, Detroit, Cleveland, Connecticut and New Jersey (USA), as well as Ottawa and Toronto (Canada) - the eastern coast of the United States remained without electricity during 29 hours and altogether 50 million persons was touched. According to the assessments the material damages reached the a 6 billion dollar.

On 14th August 2003 at 4 o'clock 11 minutes p.m. the system signalled the first trouble of operation, within minutes near 100 power plants, among them 22 nuclear power plant ceased work. In the state of  New York state of emergency was ordered..

The greatest power cut of the United States' history thrown light on the necessity of the change of the United States' national energy policy and at the same time on the defence of the critical infrastructure, too.

At least four million of consumers remained without power in Copenhagen, in South-Sweden and in Stockholm, when on 23rd September 2003 at midday the power supply stopped. As a consequence of the power cut, the public transport stopped, the bridge Oeresund connecting the two countries and the airport of Copenhagen  were closed. The tunnels connecting the Danish islands of Seeland and Funen also remained without power, in Sweden in two power plants the reactors had been to stop.

Five days after the power cut in Denmark and Sweden, with the exception of Sicily and the island of Capri, in the totality of Italia the power supply was cut and only after fifty hours was restored on the whole territory of the country.

On 28th September 2003 in Switzerland near the Italian border, a power line of 400 thousand kilovolt became damaged ( in the strong wind a tree fell on it) which affected the French-Italian power line, too, and at the same time one of the power lines transporting power to Italia broken down, and after a half hour it was followed by an other one. As a consequence of the increased charge, the power cut, which lasted some seconds, started a domino procedure, the security system of the Italian power plants disconnected the installations one after the other from the power supply and at the same time troubles came into being in Switzerland and France, too.

The power cut caused the gravest troubles in Roma, namely a festival was in course, and one million of participants were celebrating in the illuminated centres.

After the power cut in North-America, the European authorities and suppliers stated, that the reliable European infrastructure, the partial regulation of the power supply prevent a more extensive European power cut But at the same time the events make questionable this statement, considering, that in the European system considered more stable powerful efforts can be experienced for the deregulation, the changing the rules according to the market requirements.

Treatment and protection of the critical infrastructure in each of the countries

When examining the steps made for the treatment and protection increase of the critical infrastructure in eight member countries6 of the European Union as well as their developed organization structures we may draw several conclusions. The critical sectors of the economy and their common elements taken into consideration for each of the countries were already made know. I examined the elaborated target programs for the strengthening of the defence, the developed division of responsibility of the state organs and early forecasting systems.

The joint causes of the bringing to the light of the critical infrastructure were the demand for the protection of information and the defence against the terrorism in spite of the fact that the really warning signs may be found in the exhaustion of the capacity of systems and the domino effect.

The elaboration of the regulation by law has been preceded by some doctrines in several countries (e.g. Austria) where directly or indirectly the concept of the critical infrastructure has already been formed.

In some countries the concept of the Civil Emergency Planning (CEP)7 was coupled or based on common platform with the protection of the critical infrastructure.

In some of the countries the defence plan of the critical infrastructure forms part of the war plan against the terrorism completed with the defence plan of the critical infrastructure. In several countries (e.g. Italy), the information protecting modules of the critical infrastructure are connected to the E-business and the E-government development program.

The state responsibility for the defence of the infrastructure is divided by several ministries: e.g. the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of the Economy, the Ministry of the Information Science but in number of countries the secret agencies also receive important task and functions.

The necessity of the co-ordination and the direction over the ministerial portfolio have already been recognized in several countries and the handling of the question has been subordinated to the survey of the Prime Minister's Office or inter-ministerial co-ordination committee, as well as working groups have been formed. For example in the United Kingdom an inter-ministerial institute has been established, that is the Critical Infrastructure Security Co-ordinating Centre.8 

In the examined countries the used target programs do not treat yet nowadays the protection of the critical infrastructure, targeting only its some parts (e.g. protection of information, protection of software, etc.). It is characteristic that the target programs started for the protection of the critical infrastructure are directed towards the protection of the critical information scientific  infrastructure. From a more developed point of view the national security, the protection of information as well as the catastrophe averting target programs are connected and co-ordinated at the same level.

The early forecasting systems of the state organs are missing yet in most of the countries or only affecting the professional fields of the critical infrastructure. It means a great leap forward if there is a forecasting system for nuclear, natural and industrial disasters which is based on bilateral agreements on the other hand on co-operation of the state and private sector and may be developed towards the direction of the critical infrastructure as well.

The examined examples illustrate well that the handling of the critical infrastructure and the preparations for its protection are not unified in the European Union. The preparations progress other way in each of the countries carrying many contradictions in spite of the fact that the danger supersedes the frontiers and an effective defence requires co-ordinated activity from each of the countries.

Regulation of critical infrastructure of the international organisations, and their efforts

 The regulating activity of the international organisations in connection with the critical infrastructure, the level of the preparations, and the designed directions can be examined above all through the measures made by the NATO and the European Union for the protection of the critical infrastructure. At both organisations the protection of the critical  infrastructure can not be separated from the circle of questions of the designing of the civilian danger situation.

According to the interpretation of the NATO the civilian protection plan is the totality of such measures, which are made by a nation in the interest of the protection of the society in extraordinary situations (crisis, war, extraordinary situations in peace time, as for example catastrophes) The planning of the civilian danger situation, the reaction upon the catastrophes and the preparations on these are primarily a national task. The role of the  NATO CEP in this consists of such an activity according to which it helps the nations in the planning works and in the preparations, as well as it promotes the efficient international preparations if the given nation is not able to cope with the catastrophe, as well as its consequences.

Following the terror attack of 11 September 2001  the Federation accepted  the CEP Action Plan, which prescribed the execution of the committee works which dealt with the research of the problems caused by attacks against civilian infrastructures of vital importance as well as with works aiming the definition of the concept.

The Protection Guidelines of the Critical Infrastructure elaborated by the Committee of Protection were accepted by the session of November of the year of 2003 of the SCEPC9, so these guidelines can be used by states at their own measures, which want their introduction. This material of the SCEPS aimed the survey of the conception of the Protection of the Critical Infrastructure and gives suggestions for taking further steps. One of the main targets is to encourage the nations to realize the importance of the Protection of the Critical Infrastructure for the own society and for the whole international community. The material of the SCEPC endeavoured to clear the circle of conception of the protection of the critical infrastructure and to start further constructive analysing works. According to its statements there is an important connection between the planning of the danger situation and the critical infrastructure protection. The research and protection activity aiming the Critical Infrastructure Protection are connected in parallel with the activity of the CEP concerning the prevention and the damage decreasing.

The aim of the NATO's professional organisations, in addition to the arousing the attention, is, that the countries, which came before the others concerning the protection of the critical

critical infrastructure, hand over their experiences to countries recently started.

The surveying of the critical infrastructure is an indispensable element of the organisation of an efficient protection.  The NATO, on the basis of the experiences of such nations which had already completed this planning work, is able to develop such a planning sample, which is suggested for the other countries as an example to be followed.

The elaborated short-, middle-,.and long range programs contain concrete tasks for the member states in function of their phase of preparations

At the NATO's guidelines it is natural, that at the protection of the critical infrastructure  the military requirements are also to be taken into consideration.

In the last years at the  European  Union the concept circle of the critical infrastructure protection came also into the limelight. On 12th December 2003 the European Council accepted the European security strategy, the stressed aim of which is to ensure the internal security within the European Union, considering particularly the internal crises spreading over the borders,  endangering the citizens, the infrastructures of vital importance, as well as the public order and security.

The statements of the EU in connection with the terrorism, its plans of action already specify the tasks in connection with the critical infrastructure. In its publication under the title "The critical infrastructure protection in the struggle against the terrorism" the Committee suggests the creation of an alarming information network (CIWIN) in connection with the critical infrastructures, which contains the information in connection with the common dangers and the woundable points, as well as aims the decrease the risk in connection with the protection of the infrastructures of vital importance.

According to the statements of the program of Hague accepted in November of the year of    2004 the efficient treatment of crises spreading over the borders in the Union requires above all the reinforcement of the present measures in connection with the civilian protection and the infrastructure of vital importance.

During its session of June 2004 the European Council requested the Committee and its main representative to prepare a comprehensive strategy for the defence of the infrastructures of vital importance. Among others the statement is included that the possibility of the catastrophic terror attacks menacing the infrastructures of vital importance increases more and more. The consequences of an attack against the industrial controlling systems of the infrastructures of vital importance may be extraordinarily different.

An other type of the catastrophic breakdown of the infrastructures may be that  the failure of one part of the infrastructure leads to the failure of the rest of them, which may produce the effect of domino. Such failure can develop as a consequence of the synergic effect of the infrastructural branches which they are producing on each other.

The infrastructures of vital importance are to be determined at member state and European level, and according to the Committee's recommendation the list of such infrastructures should have been composed up to the and of the year of 2005.

As a completion of the measures taken at national level the European Union has taken a number of legal measures, which determine the minimum requirements concerning the protection of the infrastructure in the cadre of the different EU policies.

Through the application of the principle of solidarity, the Union has to concentrate its forces on the protection of the infrastructures having effects spreading over the country's borders through the application of the principle of subsidiarity, while in the other cases the protection remains the exclusive task of the member states.

The governments of the member states keep or develop and maintain the data bases of the structures being of vital importance from the point of view of the nation. They areresponsible for the development, approval and control of the concerning plans, and so they ensure the continuity of the services belonging to their authority.

The Union's set target is the creation of the registering of the structures of vital importance, the assuring of the change of information, as well as the solution of the security of the infrastructures of vital importance.

The situation of the protection of the critical infrastructure in Hungary

The state organs of Hungary immediately reacted on the procedures taking place at international level. Hungary adjust to the highest degree to the international and union policy of the struggle against the terrorism. To this, in addition to the community' s documents the accepted National Security Strategy10 gives the cadre. The accepted governmental decision11 about the actual tasks of the struggle against the terrorism and nearly all of the planned documents also deal with the organisation of the protection of the critical infrastructures.

In addition to the terrorism, also in Hungary, the emphasis has been put on the protection of the infrastructure of informatics. The vulnerability , the overcharge of the computerized networks and systems, the virus spreading, and the disinformation represent risk factors for the country. As a new task the development of an modern, secure infrastructure of informatics and the protection of the governmental information systems make their apparition. The governmental information system must be prepared for the prevention and the protection against the attacks of cybernetics.

In the field of the prevention and the liquidation of the consequences of the civilisation and natural catastrophes Hungary closely co-operates with the countries of the region, applies the rules of the European Union and the NATO's planning system of civilian danger situation.

In Hungary the tasks in connection with the protection of the critical infrastructure are co-ordinated by the Governmental Co-ordination Committee (KKB). The Committee laid emphasis upon the fact, that the activities in connection with the protection of the critical infrastructures fit well into the preparative period of the treatment of danger situation, while in the period of the treatment of the event and its restoration the activities in connection with the protection are similar with the activities of the treatment of the danger situation. Therefore the protection of the infrastructure and the treatment of danger situation support each other. All of these activities are professionally contestable, as the responsibility disconnects from the circle of proprietors, managers, and operators.

The Governmental Co-ordination Committee has determined short-, middle-, and long-distance tasks, but at present only the delimitation of such sectors has been carried out, which can be qualified as critical ones, the methodological elaboration of the survey of the critical elements and the survey of the elements has not been started yet. Following the survey security and restoring plans are to be prepared for the individual critical elements following the Governmental Co-ordination Committee's division under the direction of the competent ministries.

Summary

In my short study, I have done my best to present the relatively new concept, the critical infrastructure which has made its way into the public administration, the defence sector, as well as into the concept circle of the international organisations, and in the infrastructural profession. Through an international survey I have outlined its treatment which may differ by countries concerning their level and methodology. 

It can be seen, that within the Union not all of the countries have realized yet the importance of the protection of the critical infrastructure. Since some years the international organisations, above all the NATO and the European Union have treated with emphasis this circle of problems.

As the infrastructures of vital importance of Europa are connected with each other and depend on each other to a great extent, therefore thei protection is also a common task.

The European citizens request that the infrastructures of vital importance continuously  operate independently on the person of the operator or proprietor, and the governments of the member states and the leaders of the European Union shall undertake a leading role in the assurance of this activity.

Applied literature

1 2073/2004. (IV. 15.) Governmental decision about the strategy of the national security of the Hungarian Republic.

2 2112/2004. (V. 7.) Governmental decision about the actual tasks of the struggle against the terrorism

3 2151/2005. (VII. 27.) Governmental decision about the revision of the Action Plan  against the Terrorism

4 Dr. Kovács Ferenc: Propositions concerning the measurement to be taken for the organisation of the survey, protection and restoration of the critical elements of the infrastructure. Study. Budapest, 2005.Ministry of the Economy and Communications

5 Decision of the UN on 22d January: 2005. in Kobe-Japan

6 Presidential Guidelines  ( PDD 63) :USA  22d.May 2002

7 Decision of the Superior Civilian Danger Situation Planning Committee 3  EAPC(SCEPC)D(2003) No15, Brussels, 2003

8 Bulletin of  the Committee of the European  Union No  COM(2004) 702 published on 20th October 2004., Brussels

9 Home and international regulation of the protection of the critical infrastructures, the identification of the possible danger sources, and analyse of their effects, examination methods suitable for the determination of the critical elements of the infrastructure .. Professional discussion material.      Budapest, April 2006.Publication of the Ministry of the Economy and Communications

10 DoD Department of Defence USA

11 R.C.Molander,P.A.Wilson, D.A. Mussington, R.F. Mesic, Strategic Information     Warfare Rising ( RAND 1998 )  


1 National Infrastructure Protection Center: NCIP

2 United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team, US-CERT

3 (Senior Civil Emergency Planning Committee, SCEPC)

5 The author: Survey of the critical elements of the infrastructure, elaboration of proposal of measures concerning the organisation of their protection and restoration. Study: Budapest, 2005.

6 Austria, United Kingdom, Finland, France, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Sweden

7 Civil Emergency Planning

8 NISCC National Infrastructure Security Coordination Centre

9 Senior Civil Emergency Planning Committee

10 2073/2004. (IV.15) Governmental decision

11 2112/2004. (V.7.) Governmental decision

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