Methodologies for the identification of critical information infrastructure assets and services : guidelines for charting electronic data communication networks

Communication networks are an important component of the life of millions of European citizens. These networks represent the fabric of the future information society and provide the means for the single digital market. Some parts of these communication networks are also vital for the operations of Critical Infrastructures which are fundamental for the function of modern society. An attack or a large scale outage affecting the communication networks assets supporting Critical Infrastructure can have cascading effects and affect large part of the population or vital functions of society. But which are exactly those network assets that can be identified as Critical Information Infrastructure and how we can make sure they are secure and resilient? This study aims to tackle the problem of identification of Critical Information Infrastructures in communication networks. The goal is to provide an overview of the current state of play in Europe and depict possible improvements in order to be ready for future threat landscapes and challenges. As it was possible to underline, currently a significant number of Member States present a low level of maturity and lack a structured approach regarding identification of Critical Information Infrastructure in communication networks and this can pose severe risks regarding the everyday increasing dependency of the vital functions of the society on these networks.