Protecting the National Critical Infrastructure: The Human Dimension From a Government Perspective
ABSTRACT
The history of mankind has been punctuated by events of a seminal nature: those events which have had a profound and lasting impact upon the development of human society. The discovery of fire, the introduction of the wheel, the use of speech and writing to communicate complex ideas are all examples of those events, possibly almost trivial in themselves, which have moulded the human race. We take them for granted, along with the knowledge gleaned by Homo Sapiens collectively over the last 100,000 years. We can only guess, however, at the social upheaval and cultural havoc wrought by each of these changes as they were adopted into human society. As we stand on the threshold of a new millennium, it is clear that humankind continues to be faced with profound challenges. It is interesting to note that at the turn of the last century, the scientific community believed that all that could be known was, indeed, known and all that remained was to dot the ‘i’ and cross the ‘t’. Clearly, they were unaware of the philosophy of the ‘knowns’ and the ‘unknowns’ which reminds us that we know what we know, we also know some of the things about which we do not know (the known unknowns) but we have no conception about the so called unknown unknowns. The Victorian world was completely unaware of electronics, nuclear power, jet flight and much more. We can only guess at what yet remains as an unknown. However, we live in a world today where hype and over-emphasis are commonplace.
AUTHORS
Ministry of Defence
UK
Pat Tyrell was the Commodore, Defence Intelligence and Security School at Chicksands in April 1997. In this job he was responsible for the intellectual development of intelligence officers at al levels. He was promoted Commodore and assumed the post of Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Operations at the Defence Communication Services Agency in March 1999 and led the transition planning within the expanded Agency. In April 2001, he took up a post in the central Ministry of Defence, helping to implement the results of the Defence Training Review and taking on responsibility for Defence – wide policy on training and education.
Published In
Journal of Information Warfare
The definitive publication for the best and latest research and analysis on information warfare, information operations, and cyber crime. Available in traditional hard copy or online.
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