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1. What Are Some Key Generalizations About Critical Infrastructure

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1. What are some key generalizations about critical infrastructure that are especially relevant in the context of terrorism?
2. What are the main reasons why terrorists attack or target infrastructure?
The term Critical Infrastructure did not come into use until the mid-1990’s. Since the 1970’s there have been 2,723 terrorist attacks that have taken place in the United States, causing a total of 3,570 deaths. About seventy-five (75) percent of those attacks targeted critical infrastructures. Critical Infrastructures (CI) and systems constitute high-value targets (Forest & Howard, 2013). Executive order EO 13010 Critical Infrastructure Protection was issued by president Bill Clinton on July 15th, 1996. This executive order addressed the concerns …show more content…

It was founded in 1998 with the Presidential Decision Directive 63. It was originally created as a branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) but was transferred to the Department of Homeland Security in 2003. .EO 13010 Critical Infrastructure Protection listed all infrastructures to be considered critical such as the electrical power systems, gas and oil, transportation, banking and finance, water supply, emergency services and government. These infrastructures which support our everyday life are very fragile even with the inherent protection. A simple act of Mother Nature or the deliberate act of a terrorist can disrupt or destroy these systems and delay their return to normalcy. Some infrastructures at the national level are so vital that their incapacity would have …show more content…

This includes two attacks in 1975 in which FALN operatives detonated explosives at a restaurant in New York City, killing four people and wounding more than 50, and unidentified perpetrators detonated explosives at a restaurant in San Juan, Puerto Rico, killing two people and wounding 11 others. The third attack—carried out in 1982 and reportedly claimed by the Jewish Defense League was an arson at a Lebanese restaurant in New York City, which killed one person and wounded eight others. Although non‐lethal, two attacks in 1984 in which members of the Rajneeshee religious cult contaminated salad bars in restaurants with salmonella, made more than 750 people ill. The goal of these attacks was to influence local

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