Infrastructure Matters!

November is Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience Month, a nationwide effort to raise awareness and reaffirm the commitment to keep our Nation’s critical infrastructure secure and resilient.

It is important to realize how Critical infrastructure provides the essential services that underpin our society and sustain our way of life. The power we use in our homes, the water we drink, the transportation that moves us, the bridges that connect us, and the communication systems we rely on to stay in touch with friends and family all play a part each and every day.

Safeguarding both the physical and cyber aspects of critical infrastructure is a national priority that requires private-partnership at all levels of government and industry. Managing risks to critical infrastructure involves preparing for all hazards—including natural and man-made incidents and events—reinforcing the resilience of our assets and networks, and staying ever-vigilant and informed.

Whether it’s an individual or family thinking about how they need to prepare for a disruption of critical infrastructure, or business and industry that need to take steps to ensure the services they provide are resilient to disruptions, November is a time to ensure we are robust as possible. We all need to play a role in keeping infrastructure strong, secure, and resilient. We can do our part at home, at work, and in our community by being familiar with emergency plans, prepared for disruptions, incorporating basic cyber safety practices, and making sure that if we see something, we say something by reporting suspicious activities to local law enforcement.

To learn more, visit www.dhs.gov/critical-infrastructure-security-and-resilience-month.

About Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience Month…

What is Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience Month?

Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience Month is an annual effort to educate and engage the private sector, all levels of government, and the American public about the vital role critical infrastructure plays to our Nation’s well-being and why it is important to strengthen critical infrastructure security and resilience.

As part of Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience Month, DHS is highlighting President Obama’s Build America Investment Initiative, a government-wide initiative to increase infrastructure investment and economic growth. The President’s plan highlights the importance of investing in our Nation’s infrastructure and building on the progress our economy is making by creating jobs and expanding opportunity for all hard-working Americans.

DHS also has a webpage dedicated to Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience Month.

What is critical infrastructure?

The Nation's critical infrastructure provides the essential services that underpin American society.

Ensuring delivery of essential services and functions is key to sustaining the American way of life.

We know it as the power we use in our homes, the water we drink, the transportation that moves us, the bridges that connect us, and the communication systems we rely on to stay in touch with friends and family.

America’s national security and economic prosperity are increasingly dependent upon critical infrastructure that is at risk from a variety of hazards, including cyber-attacks. Critical infrastructure security and resilience requires a clear understanding of the risks we face and a whole‐of‐community effort that involves partnership between public, private, and non‐profit sectors.

Who is the critical infrastructure community?

Just as we all rely on critical infrastructure, we all play a role in keeping it strong, secure, and resilient.

Securing and making critical infrastructure resilient is a shared responsibility—shared by Federal, State, local, tribal, territorial governments; private companies; and individual citizens.

The American public can do their part at home, at work, and in their local communities by being prepared for all hazards, reporting suspicious activities to local law enforcement, and learning more about critical infrastructure security and resilience.

Why is it important to focus on the critical infrastructure needs of the country?

The vast majority of our Nation’s critical infrastructure is privately owned and operated, and both the government and private sector have a shared responsibility to prevent and reduce the risks of disruptions to critical infrastructure. Investments in infrastructure protection are crucial to the resilience of the public and private sectors. Together, public and private efforts to strengthen critical infrastructure show a correlated return on investment, helping the public sector enhance security and rapidly respond to and recover from all-hazards events and the private sector restore business operations and minimize losses in the face of such an event.

What are some of the challenges facing critical infrastructure today?

Threats to the Nation’s critical infrastructure include extreme weather, aging infrastructure, cyber threats, and acts of terrorism. The evolving nature of the threat to critical infrastructure—as well as the maturation of our work and partnership with the private sector—has necessitated a shift from a focus on asset protection to one on overarching system resilience from all threats and hazards.

Are there challenges facing critical infrastructure today as a result of climate change?

It is important that the Nation make a commitment to adaptation planning for infrastructure resilience in the face of climate-related impacts. DHS is committed to infrastructure resilience initiatives and supporting the national effort to prepare infrastructure for the effects of climate change.

Some areas of focus that underpin DHS’s integrated approach for enhancing infrastructure resilience to climate-related risks include continuing to facilitate a common understanding of resilience, both within DHS and among critical infrastructure partners and stakeholders; supporting a shared awareness and understanding across the critical infrastructure community of the hazards affecting resilience; and ensuring DHS partners have access to the resources and tools needed to inform decision making to address climate-related challenges.