A Qualitative Approach to Analyze the Security and Survivability of Critical Infrastructure Networks

Abstract—The paper presents a qualitative approach to analyze the security and survivability of critical infrastructure networks. The analysis identifies threat mitigation strategies for each threat identified and provides suggestions for improved security and survivability. The proposed approach could be applied during the planning and design phase of new projects to evaluate different design alternatives or to assess the vulnerability and survivability of an existing system. The paper presents the results of an in-depth interview survey conducted to identify the normal usage scenarios and possible attack scenarios and their impact on the operations of transportation management centers. The proposed approach provides a significant addition to the current design practices by integration system security and survivability in the design process. A cost-benefit analysis of the proposed mitigation strategies should provide transportation officials with a decision making tool to evaluate different design alternatives and to improve the overall survivability of urban city networks. While the case-study presented in the paper focused on urban transportation networks, the proposed qualitative approach presented can be applied to any other critical infrastructure distribution, control, and monitoring networks