Global Resources Security - Cascading Failures

• How at risk is your firm against a cascading failure?
• What would be the economic effects of such an event on your firm or agency?
• What if a critical infrastructure failed that is out of your control; what are the risks?

All systems, large or small can experience cascading failures in which interconnected parts trigger the failure of successive components. Interdependencies with large systems (pictured below) make firms particularly vulnerable. These failures are common in power grids when one of the elements fails (completely or partially) and shifts its load to nearby elements in the system. Those nearby elements are then pushed beyond their capacity so that they become overloaded, shifting their loads elsewhere until failure after failure occurs.

Within a power grid such failures are relatively rapid and are becoming more common place with aging infrastructures. These failures can also occur in computer networks, electronics, biology, finance, and other industries. In finance, the risk of cascading failures of financial institutions is referred to as systemic risk in which the failure of one institution may cause other institutions or their counterparts to fail, cascading through the entire system. Such an event was evident within the U.S. from 2007-2009 during the mortgage crises.

TINMORE INSTITUTE has developed an extremely powerful model and technology tools that can forecast cascading failures of systems - forward and reverse - as well as interdependent effects of such failures on all systems within and related to your industry. Our methodology and process is also part of a security convergence process, but significantly more advanced than current processes. We can assist you in adequately planning against cascading failures and the negative consequences they would bring to your firm.