International Conference: Current Security Challenges for the Western Balkan Region Addressed by Means of Joint Responsibility and Cooperation Critical infrastructures require permanent basic protection with active and passive measures, personnel, and material. The protection has to be set up in a way that in the event of danger through natural disasters, terrorist attacks, or war operations it can be quickly reinforced as needed. Similarly, national emergency plans must be kept up-to-date through periodic exercises and all actors involved must maintain high security awareness regarding possible vulnerabilities and the necessary countermeasures. Finally, as a general principle, all security measures are to be established according to the motto“protect, identify, react” and be divided into defensive and offensive measures. CONCLUSIONS The state has to provide adequate resources in agencies at all levels as well as from private developing a national means of analysing, parties. This organization should also have the assessing and predicting developments in authority to take the necessary reconnaissance, strategic ICT- including risk assessment, a prevention, defense, and reaction measures, or permanent situation centre for observation, at least obligate other assets to do so. This estimates of the threat environment and, if authority would also ensure underpin the 58 necessary, for early warning, alert, and the activation of reactions and emergency effective steering and coordination of national and international cooperation regarding cyber organizations(such as CERT/CSIRT, or war. Clearly however, the necessary legal Computer Emergency Response Team/ preconditions for such a body would have to be Computer Security Incident Response Team). established and tailored in each national context and the manner in which this is accomplished Thus, what any state with a high degree of may well affect the way in which individual dependence on ICT today needs is a central states can defend themselves against cyber war body to collect, analyse, and assess all threats in the future. pertinent information from government THE AUSTRIAN WAY The milestones of the Austrian way to cope with these new threats are a result of the strategic analysis. In the last years Austria developed 4 main documents: 1.The Austrian Program for Critical Infrastructure Protection(2008) 2.The Austrian security Strategy(2013) 3.The Austrian Cyber Security Strategy(2013) 4.The Austrian Military Policy Strategy(2014)