Three-Phase Framework for Critical Infrastructure Resilience: Identification, Classification, and Risk Interdependencies

Critical infrastructure protection has become a central issue for governments and organizations, particularly with the recent technological advances, like artificial intelligence. This is due to the increasing interdependence of physical and digital systems, the emergence of new and hybrid threats, and the increasing complexity of operational environments. While current frameworks address parts of this issue, they often fail to integrate infrastructure assessment, continuous threat monitoring, and command and control into one model. This paper proposes a three-phased approach to defending and protecting critical infrastructure, from understanding infrastructure to research, monitoring, risk assessment, and integrated command, control, and response. The first phase identifies and classifies critical assets, their interdependencies, and policy priorities. The second phase uses continuous monitoring to assess new threats, vulnerabilities, and possible attack scenarios. Response and continuity plans are also created. In the third phase, governance and operational mechanisms are activated to implement active and passive defense and manage crises in a coordinated manner based on the first two phases. Finally, the framework represents a clear model connecting infrastructure understanding, risk assessment, and organized response. Such a strategy can provide a flexible basis for developing policies to protect critical infrastructure at the national and organizational levels.