This Week in Critical Infrastructure we bring perspectives and commentaries from across the country, including opinions on strategies for influencing risk management for infrastructure systems, the latest research on cyber from the U.S. Naval War College and Symantec, and finally some insights on the various ways international rankings grade U.S. infrastructure in the global landscape.
Opinion: Choose Preparation over Fear to Protect Critical Infrastructure
Patrick Dennis, CEO of Guidance Software, argues for an alternative to fear, uncertainty, and doubt as motivating factors for call to action in critical infrastructure security. These tactics, he contends, promote over-reactions and lack of perspective in the face of legitimate threats.
Cyber Attacks on Critical Infrastructure: Insights from War Gaming
Jacquelyn Schneider of War on the Rocks provides and overview and analysis of the outcomes from the U.S. Naval War College Navy-Private Sector Critical Infrastructure Wargame from earlier this month. The game provided some insights on current thinking around the role of the military in a cyber incident, as well as the threshold for when cyber attacks become matters of national security.
Opinion: Understand and Protect your Critical Infrastructure Controls
Writing for Infosecurity, Andrew Cooke writes on the need for a full-picture understanding of industrial control systems (ICS) for risk management. As Cooke notes, the long-term process of building and developing these systems adds complexity that obscures the holistic view of the system necessary for effective security.
Your Infrastructure Remains Attractive, Exposed, Says Symantec Cyberthreat Report
Rachael Kalinyak from Federal Times provides coverage of the latest Symantec Internet Security Threat Report. According to the report, interest in breaching public administration systems remains relatively high, with the public admin sector ranking ninth among the most targeted sectors.
Measuring Up US Infrastructure Against Other Countries
As part of the The Conversation from the San Francisco Chronicle, Professor Hiba Baroud from Vanderbilt University discusses how various international rankings of U.S. infrastructure serve as metrics of actual performance when comparing American infrastructure systems to those in other similarly developed countries.