Key Assets Initiative

The FBI had, since the 1980s, a program called the Key Assets Initiative (KAI). The objective of the KAI was to develop a database of information on “key assets” within the jurisdiction of each FBI field office, establish lines of communications with asset owners and operators to improve physical and cyber protection, and to coordinate with other federal, state, and local authorities to ensure their involvement in the protection of those assets.

The program was initially begun to allow for contingency planning against physical terrorist attacks. According to testimony by a former Director of the National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC), the program was “reinvigorated” by the NIPC and expanded to include the cyber dimension. The Department of Homeland Security is now responsible for creating a database of critical assets.