Physical Protection of Infrastructures and Assets

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) began formal operations in early 2003. DHS was formed as a result of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

In February of 2003, DHS published The National Strategy for the Physical Protection of Critical Infrastructures and Key Assets, which outlines national goals, objectives, and principles to help physically secure critical infrastructures. The strategy calls for cooperation between government, industry, and private citizens and is designed to protect:

• Agriculture and Food
• Water
• Public Health
• Emergency Services
• Defense Industrial Base
• Telecommunications
• Energy
• Transportation
• Banking and Finance
• Chemical Industry and Hazardous Materials
• Postal and Shipping
• National Monuments and Icons
• Nuclear Power Plants
• Dams
• Government Facilities
• Commercial Key Assets

One of the key steps that the United States Government wants to accomplish is "Taking stock of our most critical facilities, systems, and functions and monitoring their preparedness across sectors and governmental jurisdictions."

To fully participate in this effort the type of exposure inventory and mitigation analysis describe in earlier chapters will need to be executed for all assets owned or controlled by an organization to determine if they are critical to the national infrastructure. Federal agencies are to assist state and local governments and private companies in their efforts to:

• Organize and conduct protection and continuity of operations planning, and elevate awareness and understanding of threats and vulnerabilities to critical facilities, systems, and functions.
• Identify and promote effective sector-specific, risk-management policies and protection practices and methodologies; and
• Expand voluntary, protection-related information sharing among private entities within sectors, as well as between government and private entities.