Are we forgetting the risks of information technology?

Abstract

The complexity and interconnectedness of information systems is growing. There must be some way to systematically assess the risk to critical infrastructures. Work began two decades ago (1980s) on a comprehensive theoretical framework to model and identify risks to large-scale and complex systems. The framework, hierarchical holographic modeling (HHM) (Y.Y. Haimes, 1981; 1998) is to conventional modeling schemes what holography is to conventional photography. Holography captures images in three dimensions, as compared with conventional photography's two-dimensional, planar representation. Likewise, HHM endorses a gestalt and holistic philosophy, which allows it to capture more dimensions than modeling schemes that yield planar models. HHM promotes a systemic process that identifies most, if not all, important and critical sources of risk.