Critical Infrastructures under Threat: Learning from the Anthrax Scare

Conventional thinking in emergency and crisis management focuses on the application of codified procedures to unforeseen contingencies. Modern society's increased dependence on critical infrastructures and the emerging vulnerabilities of these large‐scale networks create challenges that are hard to meet with conventional tools of crisis management. This article discusses the inherent vulnerabilities and explores the requirements of effective preparation for escalatory network breakdowns.