RISK ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY FOR NETWORK INTEGRITY

Modern, high functionality networks support an ever-increasing range o f sophisticated services; but this strength is also a weakness due to the fragility of the complex distributed-processing capability. Unexpe cted perturbations can cause widespread network outages, i.e. 'brownou t'. The risks to network integrity are exacerbated by regulatory polic ies that demand open network interconnection between competing network operators and service providers; and the increasing complexity where single experts cannot comprehend the whole problem space. This paper p roposes a design methodology for a formal and systematic framework to assess the risk to network integrity and hence minimise network and se rvice failure probability.