November 23, 2015

In recent years, a culmination of events related to extreme weather (e.g., Hurricane Sandy) and sabotage has raised awareness of the need for increased focus on system resiliency, which can be described as preparing for, operating through, and recovering from a high impact, low frequency (HILF) event. Since 2012, the NATF has had one or more projects focused on improving the industry’s reliability and resiliency in these areas. This concern extends to the potential of damage from electromagnetic pulse (EMP), high‐altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP), and intentional electromagnetic interference (IEMI) attacks or the possibility of an extreme or unprecedented geomagnetic disturbance (GMD) event.

These issues are of high importance for a number of reasons, including public safety, the integrity of industry infrastructure, and our society’s high reliance on electronic technology (computers, microprocessors, etc.). Accordingly, the NATF has developed overview documents on Resiliency and EMP/GMD/IEMI to provide perspective on these important issues and share some information regarding how NATF members are responding to and preparing for these risks and potential significant events. These documents are only one component of the multi-layered approach NATF members are using to help improve reliability and resiliency.

For the benefit of the industry at large, the NATF has posted these documents to the Documents section of its public website (www.natf.net). We continue to develop fact sheets on a variety of topics, and may share additional versions in the future.