Critical infrastructure depends on interconnected operational systems, where cyber incidents can disrupt essential services, safety, and availability.
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Critical infrastructure includes systems and assets vital for public health, safety, and economic stability, such as power grids, water treatment, transportation networks, and healthcare facilities. These systems often combine physical components with industrial control systems (ICS) and operational technology (OT) that manage essential services in real time.
From an information-security perspective, critical infrastructure faces risks like unauthorized access to control systems, disruption of service availability, and manipulation of sensor data. Defending these assets requires specialized security measures tailored to ICS environments, including network segmentation, strict access controls, and continuous monitoring for anomalies. Ensuring resilience also involves coordinated efforts between operators and government agencies to address vulnerabilities unique to legacy systems and proprietary protocols.
Most Compromises Trace to Financial Services, Healthcare, Professional ServicesData breaches rage on. In the first half of this year, the Identity Theft Resource Center counted 1,732 total data breaches affecting 166 million people, marking a rise in data breaches but a decline in victims, likely due to a drop in mega-breaches.
Former Inspector Reviews Sector's Take on AI, Zero Trust, Vulnerability ManagementSecuring U.S. nuclear infrastructure remains a hot-button topic, especially because it remains an attractive cyberattack target for nation-state adversaries. Former regulatory inspector Mark Rorabaugh, president of InfraShield, details the current state of the sector's cybersecurity posture.
The flood of new artificial intelligence tools, including those to help cybersecurity teams, can overwhelm healthcare CISOs and their security staff, fueling "AI fatigue" that in itself can create additional cyber risk, said Drew Henderson and Jon Hilton, practice leaders at consulting firm LBMC.
Smaller and rural hospitals and clinics, as well as federally qualified health centers, are constantly battling cybersecurity resource constraints, and especially serious workforce shortages, said Jennifer Stoll of OHINC, a nonprofit provider of health IT services and products.