Protecting the Critical National Infrastructure

09:00, 16 - 17 Apr 2008
RUSI, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2ET

Link to map: multimap

About the event:

Protecting the Critical National Infrastructure and ensuring the continuation of political, social and economic activity is vital to the UK. As a modern ‘just-in-time' society is becoming increasingly dependent on goods and services distributed through critical infrastructure, so the potential consequences of disruption to that infrastructure become more serious.

However, the increasing importance of well protected, resilient infrastructure is matched by the growing complexities and interdependencies of a CNI which is spread across sectors and nation states. Relationships between stakeholders are somewhat disjointed, the ownership of risk is unclear and yet the consequences of failure are potentially catastrophic.

It is against this backdrop that RUSI holds its second annual critical infrastructure conference: Protecting the Critical National Infrastructure. Building on the success of last year’s event we have assembled an outstanding range of contributors from the public, private and academic sectors to examine the key issues and trends surrounding the protection of the UK’s CNI. Protecting the CNI 2008 promises to be an unmissable event for senior practitioners, policy makers and academics with an interest in the rapidly developing world of critical infrastructure protection.  

Key issues:

• CPNI one year in
  Reflecting on the first year of CPNI
• The cyber threat
  What is the nature and extent of the cyber threat to the UK’s CNI?
• Adding to the CNI
  An insight into the major recent additions to the CNI and assessment of planned expansions.
• Profit, competition and success in the CNI
  What are the consequences of CNI status as businesses compete for market share and profits? Can businesses use their contribution to the CNI to drive revenue?
• National interdependence and the location of critical infrastructure abroad
  How much of the UK’s ability to function is dependent on services and assets located outside its borders? How is this infrastructure secured?
• Critical information
  What threat do weaknesses in information assurance processes pose to the CNI?
• CNI in international perspective
  What lessons can be learned from the approaches to protecting national infrastructures employed elsewhere in the world?
• The concept of ‘critical’ infrastructure
  How appropriate is the current categorisation of ‘critical’?
• The public-private nexus
  What challenges does CNI raise for engagement and co-ordination across the public and private sectors?

Contributors:

• Director, CPNI
• Sir Michael Pitt, Independent Chair, Pitt Review
• Stephen Smith, Director, Office for Security and Counter Terrorism, Home Office
• John Widdowson, Director of Information Assurance, Communications-Electronic Security Group (CESG)
• Richard Carter, Director, Resilience, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR)
• Professor Clive Walker, School of Law, University of Leeds
• Richard McConnell, Chief Security Officer, Euroclear
• Mike Simms, Vice President Account Management, EADS Defence & Security Systems
• Adam Mallalieu, Director, UK Safety, Health, Environment & Corporate Security, National Grid
• Mark Hughes, Group Security Director, BT
• Dr. Guy Bunker, Chief Scientist, Symantec UK
• Martin Kane, Director of Customer Relations, Severn Trent Water
• David Stevens, Chief Executive, Riverpath Associates
• Toby Stevens, Director, Enterprise Privacy Group

 

 

For further information and sponsorship opportunities, please contact Tom Mortimer, Project Manager, on +44 (0) 20 7747 2627 or Tomm@rusi.org

For booking enquiries please contact Jennifer Walker, Events Manager, on +44 (0) 20 7747 2615 or jenniferw@rusi.org

Event manager: Jennifer Walker, +44 (0)20 7747 2643