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Critical Infrastructure

What is Critical Infrastructure?

Systems, assets, and networks (whether physical or virtual) so vital to a nation that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating impact on security, economic stability, public health, or safety.

Compliance

Each of these is named in at least one of the same controls as critical infrastructure. The number is how many controls name both.

What the standards actually require on critical infrastructure

Requirements naming critical infrastructure across 6 standards, quoted from the control text.

The Secretary must keep a Register of Critical Infrastructure Assets containing operational and ownership information provided by responsible entities.

SOCI-S19 · Register of Critical Infrastructure Assets

The Rules apply to responsible entities for the critical infrastructure asset classes specified in the Rules (including critical electricity, gas, water and sewerage, energy market operator, data storage or processing, financial market infrastructure, food and...

CIRMP-s5 · Application to designated critical infrastructure asset classes

Per Papua New Guinea National Cybersecurity Policy and Cybercrime Act: critical infrastructure protection + national cybersecurity governance.

PNGCYBER-2 · Critical Infrastructure Protection and National Governance

Coordinate with sector ISACs, government CERTs and critical infrastructure partners that depend on space services for PNT and communications.

SISAC-16 · Cross Sector and Critical Infrastructure Coordination

Addresses supply chain dependency in the critical infrastructure plan, including upstream providers the organization does not contract with directly.

161R1-PM-8 · Critical Infrastructure Plan

Critical Infrastructure Plan. Address information security and privacy issues in the development, documentation, and updating of a critical infrastructure and key resources protection plan

NIST800-PM-8 · Critical Infrastructure Plan. Address information security and privacy issues in the development, documentation, and updating of a critical infrastructure and key resources protection plan

Questions people ask about critical infrastructure

What is Critical Infrastructure?
Systems, assets, and networks (whether physical or virtual) so vital to a nation that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating impact on security, economic stability, public health, or safety.
Why is Critical Infrastructure important for compliance?
Critical Infrastructure is a key concept in Compliance. Understanding critical infrastructure helps organizations meet regulatory requirements, reduce risk, and demonstrate due diligence during audits. Our compliance platform maps 686 frameworks with 311K cross-framework control mappings.
Which compliance frameworks address Critical Infrastructure?
Critical Infrastructure appears in the requirement text of Security of Critical Infrastructure Act 2018 (SOCI), Critical Infrastructure Risk Management Program (CIRMP) Rules 2023, Papua New Guinea National Cybersecurity Policy & Cybercrime Act (2016), Space ISAC (Information Sharing and Analysis Center) - Threat Framework, NIST SP 800-161 Rev 1. Across these standards we have identified 16 controls that name it directly, each linked to the control text on the compliance platform.
Where can I learn more about Critical Infrastructure?
Explore our compliance framework pages to see how critical infrastructure applies across different standards and regulations. Our implementation guides provide step-by-step guidance, and the compliance platform offers AI-powered analysis of how this concept maps across 686 frameworks.

See how Critical Infrastructure applies across compliance frameworks

Our platform maps 686 frameworks with 311K cross-framework control mappings. Explore how this concept is addressed across standards.

Written and maintained by Gerard Blokdyk, The Art of Service.