PRESIDENT'S COMMISSION ON CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION
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Life is good in America because things work. When we flip the switch, the lights come on. When we turn the tap, clean water flows. When we pick up the phone, our call goes through. We are able to assume that things will work because our infrastructures are highly developed and highly effective.
By infrastructure we mean more than just a collection of individual companies engaged in related activities; we mean a network of independent, mostly privately-owned, man-made systems and processes that function collaboratively and synergistically to produce and distribute a continuous flow of essential goods and services.
Businesses, too, depend on infrastructures. Private companies are able to guarantee on-time performance because our infrastructures permit low cost transport and instantaneous tracking of shipments. Managers take for granted that the goods and services essential to their operations will be there when needed.
Reliable and secure infrastructures are thus the foundation for creating the wealth of our nation and our quality of life as a people. They are fundamental to development and projection of the military power that enables our diplomacy to be effective. They make it possible for us to enjoy our inalienable rights and take advantage of the freedoms on which our nation was founded.
Certain national infrastructures are so vital that their incapacity or destruction would have a debilitating impact on the defense or economic security of the United States. These critical infrastructures include telecommunications, electrical power systems, gas and oil storage and transportation, banking and finance, transportation, water supply systems, emergency services (including medical, police, fire, and rescue), and continuity of government.
EXCERPT
President William J. Clinton
"A National Security Strategy for a New Century," May 1997
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NATION'S CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
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Where you'll find BILLIONS of embedded systems.
Telecommunications
Networks and systems that support the transmission and exchange of electronic communications among and between end-users (such as networked computers).
Electrical Power Systems
Generation stations, transmission and distribution networks that create and supply electricity to end-users so that end-users achieve and maintain nominal functionality, including the transportation and storage of fuel essential to that system.
Gas & Oil Production, Storage & Transportation
Holding facilities for natural gas, crude & refined petroleum, and petroleum-derived fuels, the refining and processing facilities for these fuels and the pipelines, ships, trucks, and rail systems that transport these commodities from their source to systems that are dependent upon gas and oil in one of their useful forms.
Banking and Finance
Retail and commercial organizations, investment institutions, exchange boards, trading houses, and reserve systems, and associated operational organizations, government operations, and support entities, that are involved in all manner of monetary transactions, including its storage for saving purposes, its investment for income purposes, its exchange for payment purposes, and its disbursement in the form of loans and other financial instruments.
Transportation
Aviation, rail, highway, and aquatic vehicles, conduits, and support systems by which people and goods are moved from a point-of-origin to a destination point in order to support and complete matters of commerce, government operations, and personal affairs.
Water Supply Systems
Sources of water, reservoirs and holding facilities, aqueducts and other transport systems, the filtration and cleaning systems, the pipelines, the cooling systems and other delivery mechanisms that provide for domestic and industrial applications, including systems for dealing with waste water and fire fighting.
Emergency Services
Medical, police, fire and rescue systems and personnel that are called upon when an individual or community is responding to a public health or safety incident where speed and efficiency are necessary.
Continuity of Government Services
Operations and services of governments at federal, state, and local levels critical to the functioning of the nation's systems, i.e., public health, safety, and welfare.
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YEAR 2000 EMBEDDED SYSTEMS & IMPACT ON INFRASTRUCTURE
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The "Embedded Systems" Year 2000 problem is often confused with the IS (Information Systems) Y2K problem. But, they are distinctly different issues.
The Y2K Embedded System problem has the potential to be a far greater risk to our Infrastructure than IS issues.
INFORMATION SYSTEMS (IS, IT or MIS)
Programmers fix 'Software' used primarily in "offices".
EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Engineers fix "Firmware" used on "plant floors" and in "devices".
Embedded systems is the code built into special-purpose microchips that inhabit just about every modern electronic device. They're found in power plants, manufacturing facilities, water and sewage systems, medical devices and military equipment. It also includes planes, trains, automobiles, elevators, phones, microwaves, ships, alarm systems and generally anything that goes buzz or beep.
Billions of embedded systems are out there ... and EACH must be tested individually.
Here's a good place to start to understand the issues at hand
CK HOUSTON'S EMBEDDED SYSTEM INDEX: Revised 1/22/98
Message 3232991
CK HOUSTON
Quest@hypercon.com |
