Title: Quantitative Vulnerability Assessment of Critical Infrastructures: watching for hidden faults

Authors: Adrian V. Gheorghe, Dan V. Vamanu

Addresses: Dept. Engineering Mgt. and Systems Eng., Old Dominion University, 252 Kaufmann Hall, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA. ' National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering, Bucharest, Romania

Abstract: A method to diagnose the current vulnerability of a complex system featuring large numbers of components and indicators, as well as to dynamically monitor the time-evolvement of the vulnerability as the indicators change, is demonstrated. A consequent algorithm and its software implementation are introduced. Providing an index-based vulnerability metrics and a matrix to assess vulnerability acceptability in terms of structural vs. governance deficiencies, the method is generic and is believed to have the capability of accommodating a considerable variety of applications.

Keywords: vulnerability assessment; critical infrastructures; CIS; acceptance; stability; quantitative assessment; risk assessment; complex systems; monitoring.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCIS.2008.016097

International Journal of Critical Infrastructures, 2008 Vol.4 No.1/2, pp.144 - 152

Published online: 05 Dec 2007 *

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