Critical infrastructure protection is an interdisciplinary field of study and practice dedicated to safeguarding essential systems and assets whose disruption or destruction would have a debilitating impact on security, economy, public health or safety, or any combination thereof. As a research concept, it investigates vulnerabilities, threats (including cyber and physical vectors), and risks across critical sectors, developing methodologies to identify, analyze, mitigate, and ensure the resilience and continuity of these vital functions against diverse hazards.