European Commission

EU working group on
Information Infrastructure
Interdependencies and Vulnerabilities
Workshop on “Dependability in Information Society:
future scenarios and R&D challenges”
Toulouse, 13-14 December 2001

Marcelo Masera
Joint Research Centre - EC
Cybersecurity group
Institute for the Protection and the Security of the Citizen
Marcelo.Masera@jrc.it
 Background

• European Dependability Initiative

– Preparatory studies during 1997-1998: Large-scale systems
– IST programme, FWP5

• “Interdependencies and Vulnerabilities in

Information Infrastructures”
– Workshop, Brussels, 27-28 March, 2001, Brussels
– Results in DEPPY (http://deppy.jrc.it)
• Report
• Working Group established (information exchange)
• A set of high-level R&D challenges

• First meeting of the WG: “Mastering the

– Milan, 19-20 November 2001
– Presentations and results in Deppy

2
 Motivation

• General risk concerns arising from:

– complexity and interconnections of infrastructures (systems-of-
systems)
– exposure of information assets over unbounded networks
– reliance of business and society on ICT and especially on
open communications networks
– widening of threat base (malicious, accidental) and of
vulnerabilities
• in 2001, 100% increase of incidents and vulnerabilities reported to
CERTs

¾ Not fully understood interdependencies

• Possibility of great disruptions
• Many actors and responsibilities
¾ New, unknown emergent vulnerabilities?
3
 Interdependencies
Information
asset Z (t)

Infrastructure A Information
Information
asset Z (t+d) Infrastructure

Energy / material / organisational

interdependency

Infrastructure B
Functional / structural / behavioural
link

4
 Information infrastructure

• No universally accepted definition…

– Comprising all data/voice communications means
– Comprising all intermediate services

Sector
Value-added services specific
Generic end-user services

Network management services Information

Basic transport services Infrastructure
Network
Transmission Local access

5
 Infrastructure infrastructures?

Business processes integration &

Smart Remote industrial control Now
Nowbeing
being
business deployed
deployed
over public networks

Broadband connection for

Smart info-tainment About
Abouttotobe
be
services Tele-medicine deployed
deployed
Tele- banking
Energy information services
Smart About
Abouttotobe
be
home
Remote home security deployed
deployed
Smart appliances
Networks
+ Services
Personal Ubiquitous connectivity Envisioned
Envisioned
info-sphere Pervasive ambient intelligence future
future

The information infrastructure begins with the individual!

6
 Vulnerabilities modelling

• Fault Î Error ÎFailure model

• Fault = vulnerability?
– Yes for, design process, system, operation, human, …
– Maturing at the technical component level
• Dictionaries, DBs: CERTs, …, life-cycle management

• Vulnerabilities generated from massive interconnection

– Interactive complexity, coupling (tight, loose) cfr Perrow, Rushby
– Triggering facilitator & reinforcement of existing faults
– Other types of failures (slow development, asymmetric)
• Insufficient understanding at infrastructure and business
process level

7
 Vulnerabilities & interdependencies

Remote Energy
Control

INTERNET
INTERNET
Info-gateway &
Intelligent
metering Always-on Cyber-
broadband attacks
Smart connection E-Shop
Home
8
 Issues

• Cross-sector and international dimension of the

problem
• take into account national initiatives (e.g. S, NL, UK, ..)
• Across social categories
• From citizen to business to government

¾ Issues:
– Governance of the Information Society, including security,
quality of service, …
– Explicit, shared approaches for expressing preferences and
negotiating the management risk

9
 Some challenges

• Characterising the Information

Infrastructure
• Modelling interdependencies with the
Information Infrastructure
• Understanding vulnerabilities
• Methods and tools for Risk
Assessment/Management

10
 Vulnerabilities – business processes
Personal Data Information Business Process
Platform Infrastructure Interdependencies
Credit card/
smart cards Risk
Untrusted
Mobile Phone Banks Analysis
3rd Parties
/PDAs
Research
Home PC/ INTERNET/
Hospitals
INTERNET/ Web Bugs
Smart Home Portals/
Portals/ Public Insurance
ASPs
Intelligent Car ASPs Authorities Data
Employers Marketing
Commerce
Wearable Devices/
Caching Law
Ambient IT Click
Utilities Enforcement
Access control Billing Streams
Biometrics Logistics
Logging
Digital Health
Record

Invasion Tracking Uncontrolled Profiling Data Leakage

Distribution
11
 Risk management

Information assets Î value Î potential damage

–Ethical risks
• Invasion in Citizens’ private life (e.g. privacy)
– Economic risks
• Unavailability, disclosure of sensitive data, fraud and abuse of
assets and resources, Image
– Safety risks
• Integrity of critical data (e.g. SCCS, health care)

– Management of risks:
• Systemic risks
• Evidence of events

– Liabilities in case of interconnected systems.

12
 Concluding remarks

• Interdependencies, vulnerabilities and their impact

on systemic risks need better understanding.
• Leverage cross-sector synergies
• Network to facilitate multi-disciplinary dialogue and
establish an R&D roadmap; EU visibility; policy
support

Network (I3V working group) EWIS

EM HC Utilities Telco Finance

RM
13