Information Technology Sector: Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources

Sector Overview

The Information Technology (IT) Sector is central to the nation's security, economy, and public health and safety. Businesses, governments, academia, and private citizens are increasingly dependent upon IT Sector functions. These virtual and distributed functions produce and provide hardware, software, and IT systems and services, and—in collaboration with the Communications Sector —the Internet.

The IT Sector functions are operated by a combination of entities—often owners and operators and their respective associations—that maintain and reconstitute the network, including the Internet. The Internet encompasses the global infrastructure of packet-based networks and databases that use a common set of protocols to communicate. The networks are connected by various transports, and the availability of these networks and services is the collective responsibility of the IT and Communications Sectors. The Department of Homeland Security is the Sector-Specific Agency  for the IT Sector.

Read the Information Technology Sector Snapshot (PDF, 2 pages - 316 KB)