Critical Infrastructure Protection & Resilience Asia

Attacks on critical infrastructure sites are a favoured target for terrorist groups, for good reason. They offer what is seen by the terrorist as a soft target, that is, maximum effect with minimal chance of interdiction. The potential effects in terms of damage, the hugely detrimental economic impact, disruption of normal daily life and resulting publicity, can far outweigh the terrorist organisations commitment in both manpower and risk.

Southeast Asia has seen a rise in insurgency-related attacks and terrorist activities, creating uncertainty and insecurity on critical national infrastructure.

Climate change has also seen more extreme weather patterns, creating additional hazardous, unseasonal and unpredictable conditions and a severe strain on infrastructure.

On a country level, there are strategies to deal with infrastructure protection issues. On a regional level, there is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER), under which several teams have been set up to deal with disaster management in general, but none is geared towards the protection of critical infrastructure.

Cyber security is also becoming more prevalent, and as more critical infrastructure becomes connected to the internet and exposed to the dangers of cyber security attacks, new strategies and systems need to be developed to mitigate these threats.

Critical Infrastructure Protection and Resilience Asia will bring together leading stakeholders from industry, operators, agencies and governments to collaborate on securing Asia. The conference will look at developing existing national or international legal and technical frameworks, integrating good risk management, strategic planning and implementation.