Infrastructure underpins America's national defense, economic prosperity and quality of life. The energy, banking and finance, transportation, vital human services, and telecommunications are linked and interdependent that they are vulnerable to cyber attacks. With the growth of a computer literate population, millions of people possess the skills to conduct such an attack. A personal computer and a telephone connection to an Internet provider is enough to cause harm. The President's Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection did not discover an immediate threat sufficient to warrant a fear of imminent national crisis. However, vulnerabilities are increasing steadily. Critical foundations should be attended to before there is a crisis. The quickest way to protect ourselves from cyber attack is a strategy of cooperation and information sharing based on partnerships among infrastructure owners and appropriate government agencies. To facilitate that relationship new mechanisms are needed, such as clearing houses to provide a focus for industry cooperation, a real-time capability for attack warning, and policy making from the White House. Infrastructure protection must be ingrained into our culture through education and awareness. The Government can help streamline the legal structure that has not kept pace with technology. The report makes recommendations to start this process of reform. The Government must lead in research and development. Tools needed to improve protection exist, but they need to be more widely employed. Appendices