In today’s digital age, Cybersecurity is a priority, especially for critical infrastructure such as governmental facilities, power generation and distribution systems, and public health agencies. As our interconnected world becomes increasingly dependent on technology, organisations must rapidly improve their cyber readiness to protect their systems and data from malicious actors.
This article will discuss the importance of cyber readiness for US critical infrastructure and how it can be rapidly improved.
Definition of Critical Infrastructure
Critical Infrastructure (CI) is defined by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as “systems and assets, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the United States that the incapacity or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on national security, public safety, economic activity, or any combination thereof.” It includes but is not limited to communication systems, energy and power delivery systems, financial networks, healthcare facilities and services, transportation systems and networks, water management and distribution systems.
As technology advances and new networks and platforms are created to support CI sectors such as energy production, healthcare delivery models, telecommunications networks, transportation routes; they must be cyber-ready to remain secure and viable. Cyber-readiness requires close attention to security planning from the initial stage of new product development through final implementation. For CI organisations to ensure long-term sustainability on mission-critical operations in this cyber world they need to take preventive measures against sophisticated threats that can disrupt vital services for their customers.
The following information will discuss best practices for developing a cyber readiness plan tailored for critical infrastructure operations.
Overview of Cyber Readiness
Cyber readiness is the ability of an organisation or individual to identify the risks to their cybersecurity infrastructure, respond effectively to cyber threats, and be ready for any future attacks on their systems. It involves proactive measures such as security awareness, incident response processes and unified security solutions. Cyber readiness is crucial to any risk management program, especially for critical infrastructure.
Critical infrastructure consists of essential physical and virtual assets and facilities needed for the continuous functioning of society and commerce, including energy production and distribution systems, emergency services networks, banking services, transportation systems such as railroads, and other vital services like air traffic control. The disruptions in these critical locations could result in catastrophic consequences due to impacts on health conditions, economic costs incurred through extended outages or data losses that may harm the environment.
Given the integral role of critical infrastructure sites and the growing threats they face from cyber criminals attempting to disrupt their operations or hold them hostage with ransomware demands; timely implementation of an effective cybersecurity program is paramount particularly due to the destructive potential such attack can have. The foundation of a resilient cyber posture must incorporate specific components such as threat intelligence gathering capabilities; training employees on security procedures including safe usage of public networks; implementation of robust authentication protocols; rapid response processes if a breach occurs; regular backups as well as incident analysis with key stakeholders involved that aid decision making when responding quickly to threats.
Rapidly Improving Cyber Readiness for US Critical Infrastructure
Securing US critical infrastructure has become a top priority with cyber attacks becoming more common and sophisticated. The risk of an attack is greater than ever, as attacks can quickly spread through networks and cause widespread disruption. As a result, it is essential to rapidly improve cyber readiness for critical infrastructure to protect against these threats.
This article will discuss the importance of cyber readiness and the impact of a successful attack.
Types of Cyber Attacks
Critical infrastructure refers to the networks and systems that provide essential services such as energy, food, water, healthcare and transportation. As the world’s reliance on technology increases, so do cyberattacks. Cybercriminals are always finding new ways to disrupt organisations by launching targeted attacks that can cause serious financial and operational losses. Therefore, it is important for organisations to understand different types of cyber threats and how they affect critical infrastructure to strengthen their defences.
There are three main types of cyber attacks:
-Malware – Malware is malicious software used to disrupt or take control of systems or networks. The most common type of malware are viruses, Trojans, worms and ransomware which can disrupt operations by disabling software applications or exfiltrate data from the organisation’s network.
-Phishing – Phishing techniques use deception to lure unsuspecting victims into revealing confidential information such as passwords or credit card numbers through emails or social media messages. Attackers often use social engineering techniques like tailgating and shoulder surfing to access restricted areas or obtain physical assets such as hardware devices or computing equipment with malicious intentions.
-DoS/DDoS Attacks – These attacks flood networks with large volumes of traffic until resources are exhausted, resulting in a complete denial of service (DoS) or a performance degradation (DDoS). Additionally these attacks may be used as a smokescreen for further attack intentions such as data extraction activities targeting an organisations’ sensitive information assets capturing confidential information held within those assets themselves.
Examples of Cyber Attacks on Critical Infrastructure
Critical infrastructure – such as water, energy and transportation systems – are vulnerable to malicious cyber-attack. Cybersecurity threats to these systems include distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, malware distribution, ransomware infections, data theft and more. The impacts of a cyber-attack on critical infrastructure could be devastating and result in widespread destruction.
The sophistication of these threats is increasing: targeted attacks on operational technology (OT) networks used to control critical infrastructure, the use of internet of things (IoT) devices to gain access to networks, phishing attacks and exploit kits have all been employed in attempts to disrupt critical infrastructure by malicious actors. Here are some common examples that have taken place over the past decade or so:
-Stuxnet: A sophisticated computer worm developed by the US and Israeli governments which was deployed in 2010 against Iranian nuclear facilities.
-Shamoon 2: This piece of malware was released by Hackers claiming affiliation with the Iranian government in 2016 targeting Saudi Arabian organisations including Saudi Aramco with destructive data wiping capabilities.
-Triton: A dangerous piece of malware first identified in 2017 targeting industrial safety systems manufactured by Schneider Electric which are used to manage oil refineries, gas pipelines and other industrial processes.
-BlackEnergy 2: This sophisticated piece of malicious software was deployed in a 2015 attack on Ukraine’s electrical grid resulting in nearly 230 thousand users losing access to power for up to six hours.
-Energetic Bear/Crouching Yeti/Dragonfly: A series of unconnected cyber espionage campaigns launched between 2010 & 2017 targeting companies involved with energy production across Europe and North America.
Cyber Readiness and Its Benefits
Cyber readiness is creating an IT infrastructure that is secure and resilient. It involves risk management, security protocols, and proactive cyber defence measures. Rapidly improving cyber readiness for US critical infrastructure is essential in today’s digital world.
In this article, we will explore cyber readiness’s importance and discuss its potential benefits.
Benefits of Cyber Readiness
Cyber readiness is the proactive process of protecting critical infrastructure from cyber threats by assessing, identifying and proactively addressing vulnerabilities. Cyber readiness encompasses proactive measures – such as implementing security measures to prevent data breaches and hacks – and reactive strategies – such as ensuring staff are trained on responding to a breach quickly and efficiently. By taking these steps, organisations can better protect themselves against malicious cyber attackers who wish to exploit their weaknesses.
The benefits of having a comprehensive cyber readiness program are a risk reduction, improved operational stability, greater customer trust and improved operational efficiency. Here are some of the most important benefits:
1. Improved Risk Management: By taking proactive steps to secure their networks and systems before incidents occur, organisations can reduce the potential for cyberattacks from occurring or limit their severity if they do occur.
2. Improved Operational Stability: By having proper systems in place for detection and analytics, organisations can identify potential threats quickly, investigate them rapidly with actionable plans for resolution and remediation, minimising any downtime associated with the response effort.
3. Greater Customer Trust: Customers want to know their sensitive data is protected when engaging with an organisation online or through remote services. Implementing rigorous security protocols shows customers that an organisation takes security seriously, increasing customer trust in its services while protecting itself against malicious actors who may target customer accounts.
4. Improved Operational Efficiency: Having proper processes in place ahead of time reduces the time required to respond during an incident, which translates into increased operational efficiency overall – allowing businesses to remain competitive even when dealing with a sudden increase in vulnerability activity or large-scale threat scenarios where rapid responses are necessary for success.
Rapidly Improving Cyber Readiness for US Critical Infrastructure
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has made rapid progress in improving the cyber readiness of critical infrastructure networks against malicious cyber threats. As part of its mission to protect US critical infrastructure, DHS works with public and private sector organisations to identify and address potential vulnerabilities that adversaries can exploit.
DHS uses a combination of on-site physical security assessments, tools such as the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s National Cybersecurity Assessments Program (NCAP), knowledge from critical infrastructure risk management, and best practices in incident response to identify and address potential vulnerability risks across all 16 sectors of US critical infrastructure networks.
Additionally, updated cybersecurity standards, guidelines, tools, and resources are regularly released to improve the resilience of national cybersecurity networks. For example, the Department’s Cyber-Accelerated Reference Models Project aims to develop automated reference models to assess an organisation’s performance quickly against established benchmarks concerning compliance or capability attainment.
Developing unified cyber defences is essential for reducing complex information technology threats by making sharing information easier and more secure while ensuring that latency issues don’t cause security problems across different components of a system’s architecture. DHS is working with other government agencies and private sector partners on initiatives such as Continuous Diagnostics Mitigation Program (CDM) which facilitates consistent monitoring, scanning, analysis and reporting activities about an organisation’s data handling practices which covers various aspects such as identify management identification software asset management system hardening authentication policies authentication techniques etc. The same is being done for Industrial Control Systems (ICS) where ICS Asset Identification Modules are deployed to easily identify attacks in real time. Additionally automated response technologies are being deployed like network isolation segmentation micro segmentation options etcSo many defence mechanisms can be implemented depending upon an attacker’s behaviour within a system environment. These initiatives coupled with Artificial Intelligence based Cyber Defense solutions ensure that an organisation is securely protected against attacks while still allowing users’ access to all their digital assets as needed safely and securely.
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