Cybersecurity For Critical Infrastructure Update – Incident Response Improves, Industry Standards Evolve

Critical infrastructure facilities are increasingly vulnerable to cybersecurity events, as demonstrated by the number of cyberattacks that have occurred this year against utilities including those in the energy sector (electricity, oil and natural gas, renewables), and water and wastewater systems sector (among some of the 16 sectors deemed 'critical').

For the latter sector, attacks have occurred in Texas, Kansas,¹ and Europe which included physical attacks on water towers and treatment facilities.² The Texas attacks involved industrial control system (ICS) interfaces (operational technology (OT)). Two weeks ago, a major utility in this sector successfully activated its incident response protocols and third-party cybersecurity experts.