Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1517379
The sign „Taking Photos Prohibited" is somewhat as- sociated with a bygone era, however, a change was im- plemented in the Act on Homeland Defence in 2023, making the very same signage relevant again. Plausibly. That matter has become a headline for numerous media and web disputes. The common ground among them was the vague use of terms, such as „critical infrastructure". Hence, leaving the sensible nature of that regulation asi- de, it is worth explaining several relevant, and sometimes made-up categories of infrastructure elements. Intuitively speaking, some facilities, objects, or sys- tems, have a certain relevance, or importance, or play a strategic role. Frag Out! as a magazine, for which the Internet is the primary distribution channel, can only be read solely with the use of a PC, tablet, or phone. That means that the hardware used to read the content must be constantly powered, or its battery needs to be charged. The energy needs to be supplied from some source, and in most cases, it is provided by the power grid and power plants. The matters are similar for vehicles powered by internal combustion engines - they need fuel and petrol stations, these need tanker trucks, storage facilities, pipe- lines, and, finally, refineries. Referring to Polish law, one may easily find several exam- ples of this problem being taken into consideration by the regulations in force. Those who got acquainted with the Act on the Security of People and Property, at least on the surfa- ce level, are aware of the term related to facilities subjected to the implementation of compulsory security means. When the aforesaid Act of law became valid, in 1997, it was listing facilities as follows (among other relevant objects): • Defense industry manufacturing plants, • Airports and seaports, • Banks, and enterprises manufacturing or transporting significant amounts of money, • Facilities, objects, and systems having a relevant meaning for the functioning of city agglomerations, the destruction or damage of which may pose a threat to the health and lives of people, and to the environment, including, in particular, power plants, heat-generating plants, water sources, water pipelines, wastewater treatment plants,, • ICT, postal service, TV and radio facilities and systems, • Museums, national archives. It is easy to note that the listed facilities can also be protected due to other legal regulations. For instance, two separate sets of regulations apply to the protection/security of seaports, and civil aviation. Similarly, new amendments made to that act added new categories to that list, including storage facilities for strategic reserves, and critical infra- structure. The latter term emerged in the Act on Crisis Management, during the subsequent decade. The law states that critical infrastructure shall be understood as "systems, and the included facilities that are functionally connected, inclu- ding building structures, devices, installations, and services playing a key role for the security of the state and its citi- zens, and used to ensure efficient operation of public admi- nistration, as well as organs and entrepreneurs". The critical infrastructure is formed by the following systems: a) Energy supply, energy resources, and fuels, b) Communications, c) ICT networks, d) Financial systems, e) Food supplies, f) Water supply, g) Healthcare, h) Transportation, i) Rescue and emergency assets, j) Ensuring continuous operation of public organs, k) Manufacturing, storage, and use of chemical and radioactive substances, including pipelines for transfer of hazardous substances. The aforesaid statutory definition is often referred to as the sole criterion, defining the infrastructure as such. However, this does not mean that the switching station of a housing estate, or a petrol station, should be classified as critical infrastructure (abbreviated to IK in Polish). The Act mentioned above states that the definition is made more accurate by the National Critical Infrastructure Protection Program - a document adopted by the Council of Ministers. The aforesaid document contains all of the criteria making it possible to designate the Critical Infrastructure elements. The ultimate determinant involves listing the given facility, system, or device within a list maintained by the Director of the Government Security Center. The aforesaid list is con- fidential, and the same applies to the detailed criteria. What remains public, are the general criteria, divided into two se- parate groups. The first includes systemic criteria, describing the faci- lity, hardware, or the system itself. The second category is ANALYSIS