The Revenge of Distance: Vulnerability Analysis of Critical Information Infrastructure

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the vulnerability of telecommunication networks to targeted attacks, comparing current and spatially constructed methods, and proposes a new approach to fuse physical and logical network analysis for enhanced security insights.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method for analyzing the fusion of physical and logical networks, incorporating spatial and regional variables into vulnerability assessments.

Findings

Spatially constructed methods reveal different critical nodes than traditional approaches

Targeted attacks on critical nodes can significantly disrupt communication networks

Fusing physical and logical network analysis offers new security insights

Abstract

The events of 9/11 brought an increased focus on security in the United States and specifically the protection of critical infrastructure. Critical infrastructure encompasses a wide array of critical assets such as the electric power grid, telecommunications, oil and gas pipelines, and transportation networks. This paper will focus on telecommunication networks and the spatial implications of their susceptibility to targeted attack. Utilizing a database of national data carriers, simulations will be run to determine the repercussions of targeted attacks and what the relative merits of different methods of identifying critical nodes are. The analysis will include comparison of current methods employed in vulnerability analysis with spatially constructed methods incorporating regional and distance variables. In addition to the vulnerability analysis a method will be proposed to analyze the fusion of physical and logical networks, and will discuss what new avenues this approach reveals. The results of the analysis will be placed in the context of national and regional security and economic impact.