Fall/Winter 2010 - Technological Leadership Institute - University of ...

“Our current practice for managing infrastructure is onan item-by-item basis, like treating bridges separatelyfrom sewer systems. Instead, infrastructure should bemanaged on a systems level.”Jennifer Zink and her ISE teammatesAdam Ahrndt and Jason Grode exploredhow a layered approach mitigatesthe vulnerabilities of terrorism andinformation technology (IT) in their ISECapstone Project class.A notable recommendation was forengineers to collaborate with experts inIT, cyber security, terror threat ratings,and computer science. “One of thegreatest assets in security protection ispeople working together as a team,” Zink’steam reports.InterdependenciesWhile bridges themselves are not overlydependent upon other infrastructure,other components of society rely heavilyon bridges, especially emergency services,as Mark Pribula and his teammatesMichael Ferry, Neile Reider, and MarkSchoenfelder revealed in their capstoneproject.Police, fire, and rescue squads need tocross bridges in most geographic areas ofthe Twin Cities. A bridge closure couldincrease response time in a coordinatedattack and increase loss of life or damageto property regardless of the disturbance.What’s critical is evaluating both obviousand less obvious interdependences ofinfrastructure.As a bridge inspection engineer forMn/DOT, Pribula has incorporated thisviewpoint as he looks for vulnerabilities.“It’s not just steel and concrete. I now seeelectrical components, utility conduits,and surrounding power lines,” he says. “Idon’t even think about it anymore. I justdo it.”Security and society’sneedsTo navigate our strained transportationsystem, users require better mobilityand safety. Intelligent transportationsystems (ITS), such as overhead variablemessage signs, 511 service, automated tollcollection, and embedded roadway sensors,help meet that demand.—PROF. VAUGHAN VOLLER, ISE Director of Graduate StudiesGeoff Bitner and his teammates TiffanyKautz and Steve Kummer explainedhow interconnected ITS componentsrely on information managementand centralization, which leads tovulnerabilities.Information across the network mustbe efficiently collected and shared withother components in real time. However,this integration makes it more difficultto isolate localized damage. Also, awidespread compromise increases thelikelihood of a catastrophic system-widecollapse.When Bitner’s team evaluated the risksand vulnerabilities to an ITS network,it also considered civil liberties. Theirconcern, to paraphrase Benjamin Franklin,is that when liberty is compromised forsecurity, then both are lost.“I originally thought they weremutually exclusive. Now I understandthat we can increase security while stillprotecting privacy and personal freedoms,”says Bitner.ObligationsThe vast size and wide distributionof our nation’s infrastructure ensuresits integrity as a whole, but does notinherently protect any one part frombeing disrupted. Whether national,regional, local, or a combination, anydisturbance causes varying degreesof economic, social, and politicalrepercussions, says Amin.One of the most importantbreakthroughs in security understandingand threat prevention is that security isreally no security if strategies are static,as Zink’s team came to realize. Publicand private infrastructure organizationsmust approach security as a dynamic andconstantly self-improving process.To put it another way: “We takeour infrastructure for granted and weshouldn’t. We are obligated to take care ofwhat we build,” says Pribula.Nationalinfrastructurestatistics46,893miles of Interstate highway 15,233public-use airports 194,313miles of freight railroads 126,000miles of navigable water channels 1169,346miles of oil pipelines 11,214,000miles of gas transmission lines 1599,766bridges 1155,000public drinking water systems 279,000dams 3217,000miles of high-voltage lines163,300,000Internet users 4Fall 2010/Winter 2011 15SOURCES: 1 Bureau of Transportation Statistics Pocket Guide to Transportation, 2 Environmental Protection Agency, 3 National Inventory of Dams, 4 comScore