Center for Infrastructure Protection & Homeland Security

In the News – This Week in Critical Infrastructure: Week of September 12, 2016

This Week in Critical Infrastructure, we have articles from Federal Times, The Wall Street Journal, Lawfare, and Financial Times, covering developments in cybersecurity, as well as the financial and nuclear sectors, from the U.S., UK, and Dubai.


U.S.-Gulf Cyber Working Group Formed at Dubai Forum

From Tony Ware, Federal Times: “A U.S.-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Cyber Working Group launched Sept. 7 as part of a U.S. Chamber of Commerce Cybersecurity Forum held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The event — organized with the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the American Business Council of Dubai and the Northern Emirates and Dubai Internet City — focused on encouraging collaboration on and investment in reinforcing network security.”

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Someone Is Learning How to Take Down the Internet

Bruce Schneier, writing for Lawfare, discusses DDoS attacks that have appeared to probe the defenses of major internet companies over recent years. Schneier argues that these test attacks are being carried out in a coordinated fashion by a large power to determine the total defensive capabilities of core aspects of the internet’s infrastructure.

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Hinkley Go-Ahead after ‘National Security’ Safeguards

Andrew Ward, Jim Pickard, and Michael Strothard of Financial Times write on the approval of the Hinkley Point nuclear power station by UK Prime Minister Theresa May. The project, a Franco-Chinese scheme to be located in southwest England, is the first approved nuclear plant in a generation and is set to be Europe’s largest energy endeavor.

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BIS Group Creating Guidelines for Cybersecurity Responsibility at Banks, Swift

From The Wall Street Journal, Katy Burne covers an effort by the Bank for International Settlements to create a set of cybersecurity guidelines for banks and fund-transfer providers. The framework will aim to provide a breakdown of responsibilities for security between those firms tasked with send and receiving payments, as well as infrastructure providers.

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