This Week in Critical Infrastructure we bring you the latest news and analysis on cyber threats facing the critical infrastructure in the United States, an overview of critical infrastructure security in South Africa, a new Executive Order, and a brief look at a cyber war game organized by the U.S. Naval War College. We close out the week with some infrastructure humor, care of The Onion.
Top 5 Critical Infrastructure Cyber Attacks
Tom Ball reports for Computer Business Review on five notable cyber attacks that have targeted critical infrastructure assets in recent years. This overview provides context to recent commentary from security professionals stating that threats against infrastructure are a priority concern for the foreseeable future.
Nation State Attacks a Greater Risk to Critical Infrastructure than Ransomware
Writing for Power Engineering International, Tal Scheffer argues that recent ransomware-based attacks are not the most significant threat facing infrastructure. Instead, he contends that the motives and resources behind attacks against the industrial control systems that support infrastructure are beyond those typical of cybercriminals, but rather more characteristic of state actors.
Protecting South Africa’s Critical Infrastructure
From Helmoed Romer Heitman of DefenceWeb provides an analysis of the infrastructure security posture of South Africa, including a look at national risk characteristics and potential measures to enhance protection of vital infrastructure assets.
Presidential Executive Order Establishing a Presidential Advisory Council on Infrastructure
From the White House, President Trump has signed an Executive Order creating an Infrastructure Advisory Council to provided guidance on measures to stimulate investment in American infrastructure. The mission of the council is to study and provide recommendations on “Federal Government funding, support, and delivery of infrastructure projects in several sectors, including surface transportation, aviation, ports and waterways, water resources, renewable energy generation, electricity transmission, broadband, pipelines, and other such sectors as determined by the Council.”
Naval War College Hosts High-Level Cyber War Games
Maritime Executive provides coverage of the “Navy-Private Sector Critical Infrastructure Wargame” conducted on July 14 at the U.S. Naval War College. The event brought together executive leaders and security officers from private industry in the chemical, tech, energy, finance, health, transportation, defense, and manufacturing sectors for war game scenarios that explore the potential roles of the Department of Defense in a massive cyber attack against critical infrastructure.
[Satire] Nation Kept Up All Night By Sound Of Creaking Infrastructure
In an example of the hard-hitting journalism the world has come to expect from The Onion, a short piece on the under-examined disruptive effects of aging infrastructure on sleep patterns for U.S. citizens.