This Week in Critical Infrastructure, in keeping with the close of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, we bring three articles discussing vital cybersecurity topics that have been in the headlines recently, including reports on current U.S. government efforts to enhance international grid security with Mexico and domestic security for the Internet of Things, as well as a retrospective on the massive attack on the Office of Personnel Management last year. We also encourage you to read some of the exceptional articles written by our contributors for The CIP Report this month. Links to each of them can be found in our feed or below this month’s letter from our director, Dr. Mark Troutman.
US Wants Mexico Under Grid Security Pact Before Year’s End
John Siciliano of the Washington Examiner writes on accelerating efforts by the Obama administration to get Mexico integrated into a North American industrial pact to secure the electric grid against cyber-attacks. This effort comes in the run-up to a contention presidential election that will likely weigh heavily on the future of international smart grid development initiatives.
DHS Is Drawing Up ‘Strategic Principles’ for Internet of Things
From Defense One, Joseph Marks writes on Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to develop a set of strategic principles for security of the Internet of Things. This project coincides with collaborative law enforcement efforts to respond to the massive distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack that targeted the domain name servers (DNS) of internet service provider Dyne late last week.
Inside the Cyberattack That Shocked the US Government
Brendan I. Koerner, writing for Wired, provides an inside look at the unprecedented government cyber breach of the Office of Personnel Management in 2015. This retrospective puts the attack in context, discussing both the attack and the response that followed.