U.S. infrastructure found vulnerable

U.S. infrastructure such as transport, agriculture, water, chemical, defense and telecommunications is vulnerable to terrorist attack, a government agency says.

The Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate said in its National Plan for Research and Development in Support of Critical Infrastructure Protection that an attack on any of the nation's infrastructures would disrupt the smooth functioning of business and government activities and chip away at the national sense of security and well-being.

The plan, ordered by the president in 2003, outlines research directions to detect, analyze and enable actionable intelligence and decisions to deal with such threats.

The plan asks "how well we can anticipate these threats," and outlines research directions to detect, analyze and enable actionable intelligence and decisions.

One method indicated is "red teaming," where examination of U.S. adversaries, their tactics and weapons is juxtaposed with considerations of what they might develop next.

Copyright 2005 by United Press International