Threats to critical infrastructure. The case of unmanned aerial vehicles

Abstract

Objectives The problem area noted by the author of this paper is the existence of threats to the critical infrastructure of the state, especially from rapidly developing "drone" technology. Material and methods The main objective of the research was the following: assessment of potential threat to the state's critical infrastructure from unmanned aerial vehicles. To achieve the outlined objective, the author mainly used the following theoretical methods: analysis of the literature on the subject, analysis of legal acts, synthesis, analysis (inductive and deductive), abstraction, comparison, and inference. Inference was carried out based on SWOT analysis, a method from the strategic management group. Results The systems are diverse and can be freely configured depending on the needs and financial resources available for CI protection. The most vulnerable with high potential for drone threats are such critical infrastructure elements as energy, energy resources and fuel supply systems; communications systems; ICT network systems, systems for the production, storage, warehousing and use of chemical and radioactive substances, including hazardous substance pipelines, and emergency response systems. Conclusions The main conclusions that emerged from the research process boil down to drones being a new threat to critical infrastructure; fully effective warning and elimination systems having not yet emerged; considerable emphasis needing to be placed on infrastructure owners and operators needing to take this threat into account.

Keywords

• critical infrastructure
• crisis management
• strategic management
• unmanned aerial vehicles
• security management
• aerial vehicles