Critical Infrastructure Integrity in Uncertain Times – from Passive, Fiber & Sensor Based Monitoring to Proactive Management – a Us-european Perspective

Abstract Description: Geopolitics, vandalism, sabotage or terrorism, lax processes, geo risks and severe weather, have given rise to a host of new threat vectors and threat actors, exposing the security of today’s critical base infrastructures to more challenges than ever. Awareness and action are key! Take a white van, a handful of determined individuals in hard hats and safety vests, some striped barricades and a moderately convincing storyline and you can openly attack an infrastructure with devastating consequences. Such an "intrusion" comes with a cost way below that of a cyber-attack but with equally disastrous results.

With the increasing use of fiber optics, new ways and methods have developed for the deployment of passive sensor systems, in combination with the optical fiber itself, to monitor and proactively manage such critical infrastructures. These sensors interfaced with a fiber monitoring system, provide continuous high-res visibility into the conditional state and the risk level the critical infrastructure is exposed to.

This very hands-on talk will paint a broad picture of infrastructure related risks, address concrete incidents that have occurred and show passive, sensor & fiber-based ways and means to increase the safety and security levels of such infrastructures in a dynamically evolving threat landscape.