Issues in Protecting Our Critical Infrastructure

An increasing dependence on computers within our society brings with it an increasing vulnerability to disruption due to both physical and cyber-based attacks. An interruption of one or more of our infrastructure components can have far-reaching affects, having economic and even national security implications. Because of the dangers an interruption of critical infrastructure represents, our government has embarked on a mission to protect it. There are many stumbling blocks along the way, including legal and technical issues on both the domestic and international levels. The technological advances over the last several years have outpaced the ability of lawmakers to keep our laws up to date. The coordination of the many governmental agencies and private institutions involved, and the implementation of the procedures meant to protect our infrastructure are huge undertakings that continue to have problems. Law enforcement agencies face many challenges in being able to effectively investigate cyber attacks. All these challenges must be overcome, and protection of our infrastructure accomplished without violating the rights of individual privacy.