Utilities Sector To Be A Focus Of Executive Order Directing Development Of Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity Framework

Little more than a week after reports of cyber attacks targeted at the Department of Energy, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, President Obama declared in his State of the Union address that these forms of attacks on the nation's critical infrastructure are rapidly growing and present "real threats to our security and our economy." Analyses from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) underscore the administration's growing unease with the vulnerability of critical infrastructure networks. Reported cyber attacks on utility sector control systems rose more than 50 percent in 2012, with the energy and water sectors representing the greatest number of reported attacks among industrial control system networks.¹ With an upward trend in cyber attacks across critical infrastructure sectors, both government-owned and private sector utilities have anticipated the President's announcement that his administration will spearhead new defensive efforts through an