3.1 Identifying critical national-infrastructure components

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It is essential to identify and assure the protection of critical infrastructures. It is also necessary to provide a timely warning system that can help assure the protection of those infrastructures and assets that face a specific or imminent threat. The National Strategy for the Physical Protection of Critical Infrastructures and Key Assets calls for cooperation between government, industry, and private citizens and is designed to protect the following:

• 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

Key assets and high-profile events are individual targets whose attack could result in massive human casualties and property destruction, but also in profound damage to national prestige, morale, and confidence. Terrorists are expected to target critical infrastructures to achieve three general types of effects:

1. Direct infrastructure effects with cascading disruption or arrest of the functions of critical infrastructures or key assets through direct attacks on a critical node, system, or function

2. Indirect infrastructure effects with cascading disruption and financial consequences for government, society, and economy through public- and private-sector reactions to an attack

3. Exploitation of infrastructure of elements of a particular infrastructure to disrupt or destroy another target

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