Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources (CIKR) represent the assets, systems, and networks, whether physical or virtual, that are vital to the United States. Their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on national security, the economy, public health or safety, or any combination thereof.
The concept of CIKR underscores the interconnectedness of infrastructural systems and the cascading impacts that can arise from the disruption of any single component. It emphasizes the need for a comprehensive and coordinated approach to protection and resilience across a variety of sectors.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has identified and organized CIKR into specific sectors. The following are the CIKR sectors:
- Chemical: Involves producing, storing, transporting, and using chemicals.
- Commercial Facilities: Encompasses sites where large numbers of people congregate for shopping, entertainment, etc., like malls, stadiums, and hotels.
- Communications: Concerns infrastructure for transmitting information, like internet, telephone, and broadcasting systems.
- Critical Manufacturing: Includes assets vital for the production of materials like metals, machinery, and electrical equipment.
- Dams: Covers dams, locks, levees, and their related infrastructure.
- Defense Industrial Base: Involves entities essential to mobilize, deploy, and sustain military operations.
- Emergency Services: Pertains to services that are first to respond and manage incidents, like firefighting, search and rescue, emergency medical, and hazardous material response.
- Energy: Concerns the production and distribution of energy, including oil, natural gas, and electricity.
- Financial Services: Covers the banking, credit, and investment sectors.
- Food and Agriculture: Involves the supply chains for crops, livestock, and food products.
- Government Facilities: Encompasses a wide range of buildings, owned or leased by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial governments.
- Healthcare and Public Health: Covers entities like hospitals, labs, and pharmaceuticals that provide health-related services.
- Information Technology: Concerns the hardware, software, and networks that keep data and information flowing.
- Nuclear Reactors, Materials, and Waste: Encompasses reactors, materials used in the process, and waste storage facilities.
- Transportation Systems: Covers assets involved in moving goods and people by road, rail, air, and water.
- Water and Wastewater Systems: Involves sources of drinking water, treatment facilities, pipelines, and other related assets.
It’s important to note that while these sectors are distinct, they are also interconnected, and a disruption in one sector can have cascading impacts on others. This is why it’s essential to adopt a holistic approach to CIKR protection, ensuring that all sectors are adequately safeguarded and resilient against potential threats.