Risk Assessment And Management Of Critical Highway Infrastructure

This study expands upon the scope of a previous contract study for the Virginia Transportation Research Council (VTRC) concluded in March 2002. The objective is to develop methodologies for risk analysis of critical highway infrastructure at two levels: (1) system level and (2) asset level. The system-level analysis conducts risk assessment from a statewide perspective. The goal is to evaluate and prioritize infrastructure from a considerable inventory of assets. The definition of critical infrastructure offered by Presidential Decision Directive (PDD) 63 is used to determine the set of attributes that help differentiate critical from non-critical infrastructure. These attributes correspond to national, regional, and local impact of a structure's damage or complete loss. In addition, the levels of impact are utilized in prioritization: infrastructure that has potential national and regional impact is considered more important than infrastructure with local impact. Further prioritization is conducted based on the asset's need for risk management actions. The asset's current state or condition, in terms of resilience, robustness, redundancy, and security against willful threat is used to evaluate the need for management actions. A set of criteria and corresponding metrics is identified, and supporting data are gathered using information from the FHWA National Bridge Inventory and other sources. Once the most critical infrastructure is prioritized, an in-depth risk assessment of particular assets is performed to determine specific risks and vulnerabilities. Eight case studies on selected VDOT sites are conducted. The details of these case studies are not presented in this report. Instead, general findings are presented that can serve as a guideline for policy implementation to other similar assets. Since a small number of case studies are performed by the project team, another important goal of this study is for effective knowledge transfer of the methodology to VDOT in order to facilitate risk assessment of other critical infrastructure. For this purpose, a prototype computer tool is developed, which is designed to guide facility managers in risk assessment and management. The case studies and documentation of the computer tool are provided in supplemental documents available by request from the authors.

ASIS Book of The Year Winner as selected by ASIS International, the world's largest community of security practitioners Critical Infrastructure Risk Assessment wins 2021 ASIS Security Book of the Year Award - SecurityInfoWatch ... and Threat Reduction Handbook by Ernie Hayden, PSP (Rothstein Publishing) was selected as its 2021 ASIS Security Industry Book of the Year. As a manager or engineer have you ever been assigned a task to perform a risk assessment of one of your facilities or plant systems? What if you are an insurance inspector or corporate auditor? Do you know how to prepare yourself for the inspection, decided what to look for, and how to write your report? This is a handbook for junior and senior personnel alike on what constitutes critical infrastructure and risk and offers guides to the risk assessor on preparation, performance, and documentation of a risk assessment of a complex facility. This is a definite “must read” for consultants, plant managers, corporate risk managers, junior and senior engineers, and university students before they jump into their first technical assignment.

Critical Infrastructure Protection and Risk Management covers the history of risk assessment, crtical infrastructure protection, and the various structures that make up the homeland security enterprise. The authors examine risk assessment in the public and private sectors, the evolution of laws and regulations, and the policy challenges facing the 16 critical infrastructure sectors. The book will take a comprehensive look at the issues surrounding risk assessment and the challenges facing decision makers who must make risk assessment choices.

Infrastructure protection typifies a problem of risk assessment and management in a large-scale system. This study offers a methodological framework to identify, prioritize, assess, and manage risks. It includes the following major considerations: (1) a holistic approach to risk identification; (2) prioritization of a large number of risks or risk scenarios; (3) structured solicitation and effective integration of expert judgment into qualitative and quantitative analyses to supplement limited data availability; (4) extreme and catastrophic event analysis; and (5) use of multiobjective framework to evaluate management options (i.e., analyzing trade-offs among noncommensurate, conflicting objectives such as risk and cost). The methodology was illustrated using five case studies of selected transportation infrastructures in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Securing the U.S. highway infrastructure system is a responsibility shared by fed., state and local gov¿t., and the private sector. Within the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS), the Transportation Security Admin. (TSA) has primary responsibility for ensuring the security of the sector. This report assesses the progress DHS has made in securing the nation's highway infrastructure. This report addresses the extent to which fed. entities have conducted and coordinated risk assessments; DHS has developed a risk-based strategy; and stakeholders, such as state and local transportation entities, have taken voluntary actions to secure highway infrastructure -- and the degree to which DHS has monitored such actions. Includes recommend. Ill.

Infrastructure Risk Assessment & Management contains selected papers presented at both the 10th International Conference on Computer Simulation in Risk Analysis and Hazard Mitigation and the 14th International Conference on Structures under Shock and Impact, organized by the Wessex Institute. The papers cover a variety of topics, including impact and blast loading, response of buildings and other structures to blast and their dynamic behaviour. These are all areas of active research and general interest, focused on the survivability of physical facilities and the protection of people. It contains a series of research contributions, essential to deepen the knowledge of how structures and materials behave under a wide variety of dynamic load actions. Current events emphasise the importance of the analysis and management of risk to planners, civil authorities, law enforcement agencies, non-governmental organisations, information technology experts and many other researchers and practitioners throughout the world. This volume brings together the work of researchers and other professionals actively involved in finding new ways to cope with the increased demands for a more effective control of impact and blast effects as well as risk management and control.

The 9/11 Commission recommended that efforts to protect various modes of transportation and allocation of federal assistance to state and local governments should be based on an assessment of risk. In doing so, the Commission was reiterating existing federal policy regarding the protection of all the nation's critical infrastructures. The Homeland Security Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-296) and other Administration documents have assigned the Department of Homeland Security specific duties associated with coordinating with the nation's efforts to protect its critical infrastructures, including using a risk management approach to set priorities. Many of these duties have been delegated to the Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection (IA/IP) Directorate. Risk assessment involves the integration of threat, vulnerability, and consequence information. Risk management involves deciding which protective measures to take based on an agreed upon risk reduction strategy. Many models/methodologies have been developed by which threats, vulnerabilities, and risks are integrated and then used to inform the allocations of resources to reduce those risks. For the most part, these methodologies consist of the following elements, performed, more or less, in the following order: 1) identify assets and identify which are most critical; 2) identify, characterize, and assess threats; 3) assess the vulnerability of critical assets to specific threats; 4) determine the risk (i.e. the expected consequences of specific types of attacks on specific assets); 5) identify ways to reduce those risks; and 6) prioritize risk reduction measures based on a strategy. The IA/IP Directorate has been accumulating a list of infrastructure assets (specific sites and facilities). From this list the Directorate is selecting assets that have been judged to be critical from a national point of view. The Directorate intends to assess the vulnerability of all assets on this shorter list. According to Directorate officials, vulnerability assessments and threat information are considered when determining the risk watch asset poses to the nation. The risk assessment is then used to prioritize subsequent additional protection activities. The IA/IP Directorate's efforts to date, however, raise several concerns, ranging from the process and criteria used to populate its lists of assets, its prioritization strategy, and the extent to which the Directorate is coordinating its efforts with the intelligence community and other agencies both internal and external to the Department. This report will be updated as needed.

Security protections for critical infrastructure nodes are intended to minimize the risks resulting from an initiating event, whether it is an intentional malevolent act or a natural hazard. With an emphasis on protecting an infrastructure's ability to perform its mission or function, Critical Infrastructure System Security and Resiliency presents

This book analyzes the security of critical infrastructures such as road, rail, water, health, and electricity networks that are vital for a nation’s society and economy, and assesses the resilience of these networks to intentional attacks. The book combines the analytical capabilities of experts in operations research and management, economics, risk analysis, and defense management, and presents graph theoretical analysis, advanced statistics, and applied modeling methods. In many chapters, the authors provide reproducible code that is available from the publisher’s website. Lastly, the book identifies and discusses implications for risk assessment, policy, and insurability. The insights it offers are globally applicable, and not limited to particular locations, countries or contexts. Researchers, intelligence analysts, homeland security staff, and professionals who operate critical infrastructures will greatly benefit from the methods, models and findings presented. While each of the twelve chapters is self-contained, taken together they provide a sound basis for informed decision-making and more effective operations, policy, and defense.

Strategies for Protecting National Critical Infrastructure Assets eases the research burden, develops investigative protocols, and pulls together data into a comprehensive and practical guide, to help the serious reader understand advanced concepts and techniques of risk assessment with an emphasis on meeting the security needs of the critical national infrastructure. The text is divided into five major sections, which are further broken down by individual chapters, each addressing one element of risk assessment as well as focusing attention on applying the risk assessment methodology to a particular industry. This book establishes a new and acceptable approach for conducting risk assessments in a high-risk world. Helps the reader to understand advanced concepts and techniques of risk assessment Provides a quick, reliable, and practical "briefcase" reference to use in the office as well as on the road Introduces the elements of the risk assessment process by defining its purpose and objectives, describing the behavioural and physical sciences, the techniques employed in the process, and the measurement and evaluation tools and standards used to perform an objective risk assessment.