A Framework for the Protection of Critical Infrastructures from Combined Cyber and Physical Threats

What is it about?

Combined cyber and physical attacks on Critical Infrastructures (CIs) have disastrous consequences on economies and in social well-being. Protection and resilience of CIs under combined attacks is challenging due to their complexity, reliance on ICT systems and the inter-dependencies between different types of CIs. The PRAETORIAN framework was designed to address these challenges, by integrating components responsible for detecting both cyber and physical threats. Additionally, it forecasts how the combined attacks will evolve and their cascading effects on interdependent CIs. The PRAETORIAN framework was demonstrated based on a realistic scenario in the Zagreb airport, combining both physical and cyber attacks.

Featured Image

Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash

Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The PRAETORIAN framework is a significant contribution into addressing the challenges of CI protection from combined cyber and physical attacks. It provides an advanced toolset which can be customized to the requirements of each particular type of CI. It focuses a lot on the prediction of the cascading effects of attacks and on the impact of these effects on interdepended CIs. Finally, it provides user-friendly interfaces for effective use by the CI operators.