Critical Infrastructure is made up of the assets, systems, and networks, both physical and virtual, that are vital to public health and safety as well as national economic security. There are 16 critical infrastructure sectors including: chemical, commercial facilities, communications, critical manufacturing, dams, defense industrial base, emergency, energy, financial services, food and agriculture, government facilities, healthcare and public health, information technology, nuclear reactors, materials and waste, transportation system, and water and wastewater systems. Each sector relies on its own Security Team to design a compliant system that assures the safety of its people, property, and assets.
Most well-designed systems include detection, alarms, intercoms, video, access control, Security Guards (man and/or robotic), parking lots with barriers, and more. After careful planning, installation, and testing of an appropriate security system, Security Teams must develop processes to mitigate risk and respond to incidents when they occur. This can be a mighty challenge in such complex environments.
Most Critical Infrastructure Sectors do not have fully integrated security devices and services. In fact, multiple technologies often operating in silos, make it difficult to understand the complete picture. What’s more, most systems are not set up to monitor the operating status of each device or application. This makes it impossible to detect when something is down or compromised. Security Teams require tools that offer detection as well as 24/7 remote and instant access along with the speedy dissemination of good and productive information.
