Protecting the Country’s Critical Infrastructure Through Partnerships In 1996, a small group of private sector and government officials began working with the FBI's Cleveland Field Office to help identify cyber threats to the country. The FBI passed along what we knew about cyber intrusions and crime trends to our partners to help them secure their facilities and computer networks. And our partners, in turn, shared their information technology expertise and information they had on possible cyber crimes. The group became known as InfraGard because of its focus on protecting critical infrastructure components—like utility companies, transportation systems, telecommunication networks, water and food suppliers, public health, and financial services.