Measuring Water Infrastructure Security
A Framework for Evaluating Water Facility, Conveyance, and Near-Asset Resilience
Architecture
Security Is Determined by How Defense Is Structured
Security effectiveness depends on how layers are placed, how attack path vectors are covered, and how failure modes are addressed as threats move closer to critical assets.
Architecture is more than the disparate placement of security devices.
It defines whether facilities, conveyance corridors, and operational zones are actually defended. Even devices in a layered configuration are limited to direct functionality if the greater architecture is not implemented.
Security architecture is what creates defensible positions.
Methodology
Defense Maturity Is Cumulative Across Ordered Layers
Effective protection is achieved through sequential layers of defense, each increasing the difficulty of compromise along defined paths to critical assets.
In order to build resilience, each ordinal layer must increase in quantity and quality of security countermeasures.
This cumulative approach ensures that no single device failure results in loss of protection and guards against failure modes of systems.
This is the foundation of Cumulative Defense Strategy.
Measurement
Mathematical and Objective Consistency
If difficulty does not increase, resilience cannot be claimed or measured. Compliance checks and system demonstrations show capability, not do not provide actual resilience.
Measurement evaluates whether protection actually improves as threats move closer to critical assets across real operating conditions, not controlled tests.
Without measurable improvement, maturity cannot be assumed and investment cannot be justified.
Measurement turns security from assumption into evidence.
Cumulative Defense Strategy excerpt from ASCE 78-24
Application
Architecture Responds to Gaps That Measurement Exposes
Security architecture be modified where performance fails to improve across defense layers.
Measurement identifies exactly where layers are insufficient, misaligned, or redundant, allowing investment to be applied where it produces measurable risk reduction.
This approach replaces technology-driven deployments with outcome-driven design, while maintaining cost optimization. Cost to benefit calculations are part of the measurable outcome.
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