This Week in Critical Infrastructure we look at three articles discussing infrastructure investment funding, including the latest on federal efforts to create a nationwide plan to boost infrastructure investment. We conclude with two pieces that look at the corporate culture surrounding cybersecurity and how it has failed to prevent major security lapses over recent years.
More States Turning To Toll Roads To Raise Cash For Infrastructure
In this report from David Schaper at NPR’s All Things Considered, a look at the rising trend in states using toll roads to provide funding for long-term transportation investments. This comes as federal funding has stagnated and failed to keep pace with the need for upgrades and maintenance.
From Reuters and CNBC, a report on the latest information from the White House on proposed federal infrastructure investment policy. The plan aims to encourage $1.35 trillion in new funding from state, local, and private sources.
Bipartisan group of senators ask Trump to fund broadband in infrastructure plan
From The Hill, Harper Neidig writes on efforts from a bipartisan groups of senators who are asking President Trump to include funding for rural broadband in the upcoming infrastructure investment plan. In a letter sent Wednesday,
five senators from the bipartisan Senate Broadband Caucus wrote that “Our rural communities have connectivity needs that are not being met, limiting economic opportunity and growth.”
Who should be responsible for cybersecurity?
In this opinion piece from Andrew Douthwaite for CSO, the author argues that cybersecurity is a concern for everybody in an organization, and the growing scale and frequency of cyberattacks over recent years is only the infancy of a long-term trend in cybercrime. To prepare, executive leaders must assume responsibility for the security of their firms instead of seeking to cut costs as they meet government and industry mandates and standards.
Will U.S. Corporations Ever Take Cybersecurity Seriously?
From IEEE Spectrum’s Risk Factor Blog, Robert N. Charette looks back on the recent history of large-scale IT security lapses by major corporations, the most recent being the massive security flaws discovered in the majority of processors manufactures since the mid-1990s. Despite the publicity of such attacks, the long-term consequences of these breaches for the companies are relatively small, providing little incentive for greater security.