This multidisciplinary study is dedicated to improving the security, reliability and survivability of our nation's vital infrastructures. We strive to improve the quality, survivability, security and reliability of critical systems using the most broad-based technology possible, to grow a workforce aware of and trained in both physical and cyber security, and to stimulate the economic viability of U.S. corporations and institutions.

• Our nation is increasingly dependent on systems, such as the electric power grid, oil and gas distribution and pipelines, transportation systems, telecommunications systems, and information systems. These systems are naturally distributed, thus, are very complex; in fact, they are typically interconnected sets of systems or networked Systems of Systems (SoS). The distributed structure makes them vulnerable to attack at many places, in many forms including physical and cyber-based, singly or in combination with each other

  In order to assure the continued functioning of these systems, their complexity requires expertise in all aspects of the attack scenario. This, therefore, includes not only protecting against physical attack and damage but also the integrated reliability and security of such large-scale systems, where an attack at one point can have drastic consequences over a much broader target area, leading to cascading failures

  Missouri S&T's CS department focuses on the Software Engineering aspects of Critical Infrastructure Systems, Wireless Computing Technologies, Artificial Intelligence, Distributed Computing, Security, Fault Tolerance, and Visualization

  The intention is to improve the quality, survivability, security, and reliability of critical systems using the broadest-based technology possible, to grow a workforce aware of and trained in security (physical and cyber), and to stimulate the economic viability of US corporations and institutions by improving the security, reliability, and survivability of their critical infrastructures.

[back]