Networks, Security And Complexity: The Role of Public Policy in Critical Infrastructure Protection [Hardcover]

Sean P. Gorman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 5, 2005 | ISBN-10: 1843769522 | ISBN-13: 978-1843769521

The end of the 20th century witnessed an information revolution that introduced a host of new economic efficiencies. This economic change was underpinned by rapidly growing networks of infrastructure that have become increasingly complex. In this new era of global security we are now forced to ask whether our private efficiencies have led to public vulnerabilities, and if so, how do we make ourselves secure without hampering the economy. In order to answer these questions, Sean Gorman provides a framework for how vulnerabilities are identified and cost-effectively mitigated, as well as how resiliency and continuity of infrastructures can be increased. Networks, Security and Complexity goes on to address specific concerns such as determining criticality and interdependency, the most effective means of allocating scarce resources for defense, and whether diversity is a viable strategy. The author provides the economic, policy, and physics background to the issues of infrastructure security, along with tools for taking first steps in tackling these security dilemmas. He includes case studies of infrastructure failures and vulnerabilities, an analysis of threats to US infrastructure, and a review of the economics and geography of agglomeration and efficiency. This critical and controversial book will garner much attention and spark an important dialogue. Policymakers, security professionals, infrastructure operators, academics, and readers following homeland security issues will find this volume of great interest.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"'The world is growing more interconnected every day, spun with fiber optic cable, electric power lines, transportation and water networks. Gorman provides a detailed analysis of the pattern of telecommunications networks and their interrelationships with other infrastructure. The work is truly interdisciplinary in scope, and provides planners, policy makers, security analysts, and infrastructure managers and educators in all of these fields with an invaluable resource in terms of a rich database, a methodology, and process for assembling, analyzing and portraying information on key infrastructure assets. This work emphasizes space and place in understanding interconnectivity of physical infrastructure, integrating policy and geography as well as providing an important complement to engineering approaches to interconnected infrastructure. He presents the readers with a broad set of questions and how they can be addressed about threats, risk and vulnerability and policy options for their reduction. This is a rare book of its kind, and joins a growing literature on how complexity is a key factor in understanding and setting policies for the services upon which our society depends.' - Rae Zimmerman, New York University, US 'The concepts of Critical Infrastructure Protection are radically redefining the relationship between the public and private sectors in terms of both our national and economic security. Networks, Security and Complexity is a worthy contribution in defining and advancing many of these concepts. The author is among the vanguard of rising young scholars who will assist this nation in thinking through the significant security challenges faced in the age of information and asymmetric threat.' - John A. McCarthy, George Mason University School of Law, US 'This volume on complex networks opens surprising perspectives for the interested reader, either a scientist or a policymaker. It describes and analyzes in a convincing way the significance of critical infrastructures, be it internet or transport connections. Due insight into the existence and emergence of such infrastructures is a prerequisite for an effective security policy. This study presents a model-based, operational framework for identifying critical domains in dynamic networks. The various concepts are illustrated by means of empirical case examples.' - Peter Nijkamp, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands" --Peter Nijkamp, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands"

About the Author

Sean P. Gorman, Research Assistant, School of Public Policy, George Mason University

Product Details

• Hardcover: 153 pages
• Publisher: Edward Elgar Pub (September 5, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1843769522
• ISBN-13: 978-1843769521
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,890,839 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pointers to Infrastrucure threats and vulnerabilities, October 3, 2005

By 

Stephen Northcutt (Kauai, HI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Networks, Security And Complexity: The Role of Public Policy in Critical Infrastructure Protection (Hardcover)

The good news:
This book serves as a great source to locate additional information. In that respect it is second only to Dan Verton's Black Ice and it covers areas Black Ice does not.

There are some excellent nuggets including, the danger of backhoes to the network infrastructure ( that happened to me three times when I used to help provide networks, but I had forgotten just how pesky those can be), a consideration of the vulnerabilities of the power grid ( can't run computers without power) and a fantastic consideration of issues related to fiber.

The author is a product of the University of Florida's legendary Geography program so as you would imagine, the maps in the book are excellent at conveying information.

The bad news:
The book is really a dissertation, there is no developmental editor and it shows. You have to work past bad writing.

There is an assumption the reader has read all of the same papers the author has. I had read all of the government papers, but only a fraction of the rest so it was very hard to follow the author's thoughts.

Technical errors, a few of them concern me, such as the statement terrorist have never used computers to kill people. The hacked PBX in the Madrid bombing, the cyber cafe's in India; it is true that is just command and control, but it is part of killing people. Also cell phones are actually just wireless computers and they are used as part of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). Also, the comment about Cisco routers not able propagate an attack concerns me, after all, they are computers as well and it is possible to exploit their processor through flaws in IOS. However, I might be too picky, this might be semantics and since this is a dissertation, people far more educated have reviewed it.

The bottom line, this is not an easy read, but if you are in the risk analysis business, you should consider investing the time to study this book and read some of the papers it references, you can count on me doing the same!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Look at Infastructure Weak Points, November 23, 2005

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Networks, Security And Complexity: The Role of Public Policy in Critical Infrastructure Protection (Hardcover)

Although it touches on other areas such as electric power distribution, this book is mostly concerned with the fiber optic backbone of the telecommunications industry. It began as a map showing where the fiber goes. Then with 9/11 it became expanded to show where weak points might exist.

To no great surprise, the fiber follows the interstate highways and the railroads. These already have right of ways that cover the distance between the major cities, exactly where the fiber needs to go. Specifically, interstate I-10 running across Texas and the southern part of New Mexico and Arizons, and interstate I-80 from San Francisco across Nevada, Utah, Colorado and Nebraska are where the major pipes run. Note that the Union Pacific railroad has track the roughly parallels both I-10 and I-80. In at least one spot (just west of Elko, Nevada) both UP tracks (each of which has fiber along its roadway) go under an Overpass. A bit of explosives here would seriously hamper truck, rail and information traffic across the middle of the country. I presume similar sites exist along I-10.

This is an interesting look at a little appreciated danger spot.