The concept of “major risks” in public policy is not limited to natural and technological risks. It has gradually come to include “threats,” which differ from the concept of risk in that they are intentional in nature: the terrorist threat to economic activities and the “cyber” threat that specifically targets digital infrastructure. Since the Covid-19 crisis, a new priority has been given to epidemic and pandemic health risks (acute respiratory infections, viral diseases, epizootics, etc.). The Institute is therefore mobilizing its knowledge of industrial risks to contribute, in collaboration with partners, to an integrated approach to all risks and threats that may affect industrial facilities.
Terrorism and malicious acts, which lie at the intersection of civil and military risks, can target industrial facilities with the intention of causing a dangerous phenomenon (fire, explosion, toxic leak, etc.). This type of “threat” falls within the scope of technological risk management, but it also relates to national security and public order management.
Cyber risks apply to the operation of industrial facilities. They can cause malfunctions that compromise the safety of the facility or be used to carry out malicious acts. They are taken into account in technological risk management, but they have characteristics specific to information systems that are identical across all economic activities (industry, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, banking and insurance, consumer products, etc.).
