This Week in Critical Infrastructure we bring articles discussing the repercussions of Hurricane Irma and the Equifax breach, as well as the latest federal announcements on cybersecurity and energy infrastructure security and resilience research funding.
As Hurricane Irma Lashes Florida, an Expert Explains How Cities Can Boost Their Flood Defenses
From Time, Joseph Hincks writes on flood resilience for cities after Hurricane Irma in this interview with Piet Dircke, global program director for water management at consultancy firm Arcadis and former professor of urban water management at the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences.
Equifax Hacking Began in May, Company Says, Months after a Fix Was Available
In this report from Bloomberg republished by the Chicago Tribune, Jenny Surane and Jordan Robertson provide early reactions to the massive Equifax breach. In the wake of announcements of an FTC investigation and upcoming congressional hearings, Equifax released a statement indicating that the breach was the result of a vulnerability in its servers’ Apache Struts software that had an available patch two months before the attack appears to have started.
Trump Bars US Government from Using Russian Cybersecurity Firm Kaspersky
From Business Insider and Reuters, Dustin Volz writes on an announcement Wednesday from the Trump administration that federal agencies are being ordered to cease use of Kaspersky lab products over concerns that ties between the Moscow-based firm and the Russian government could pose a threat to national security and intelligence.
The U.S. Department of Energy announced $50 million dollars of new funding Tuesday for DOE National Laboratories to research and develop new tools and technologies for protecting critical energy infrastructure, including the electric grid and oil and gas infrastructure. The funding is divided between Resilient Distribution Systems projects and 20 cybersecurity projects focused on energy delivery systems.