Digital transformation continues its expansion into new sectors, delivering unprecedented transparency, control, and insight for the owners and operators of a growing range of assets. Increasingly in the United States, these assets include elements of critical infrastructure. These are vital systems which form the backbone of US communities, ensuring the availability and smooth operation of essential public services.
Digital transformation empowers these systems to provide better and more efficient services. At the same time, however, digitalization opens a new attack surface for criminal networks and hostile foreign governments to probe. As a result, evidence is already building that malicious actors are taking advantage of these vulnerabilities. High-profile cyberattacks have exposed healthcare data, compromised political campaigns, and even shut down a fuel pipeline.
It is clear that critical infrastructure in the US is vulnerable. Protecting access to key systems and services, however, will require a multi-dimensional threat response. Critical infrastructure assessments and next-generation cybersecurity strategies can help to prevent breaches. Equally important, however, are both short- and long-term incident response plans, which limit damage and ensure that operators of critical infrastructure are equipped to recover rapidly and maintain trust. These elements combine to offer prevention and cure, ensuring that essential infrastructure stays resilient in the face of threats.
What qualifies as critical infrastructure?
There is no single characteristic that sets a system apart as “critical.” Instead, the impact of a potential disruption is the chief determining factor. The United States Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) considers three essential areas of impact when assessing critical infrastructure:
- National security
- National economic security
- National public health or safety
Far-reaching networks of assets and systems support these objectives. Any link in this chain whose destruction would impede their delivery falls under the category of “critical infrastructure.”
CISA consolidates this broad range of assets into 16 critical infrastructure sectors. These sectors encompass physical assets such as dams and transportation, as well as digital-first fields like communications, IT, and finance.
The wide range of systems and industries represented in critical infrastructure guarantees that each sector will experience its own unique cybersecurity demands. At the same time, however, there exist opportunities to improve on security best practices and standards in most fields. The best way to identify and prioritize security efforts is with an organized critical infrastructure assessment.
Assessing critical infrastructure’s vulnerabilities
The first step in protecting your critical infrastructure is understanding where the risk lies. As part of its Resilience Services, CISA offers owners and operators of critical infrastructure a variety of security and resilience assessments.
Assessments help government partners manage risk and establish contingency plans. In addition, the results allow owners to focus resiliency strategies on high-priority vulnerabilities. CISA critical infrastructure assessments range from quick, high-level surveys to in-depth examinations, making them appropriate for organizations at every stage of cybersecurity maturity. They include:
- Security Assessment at First Entry (SAFE), designed to return actionable details in less than two hours.
- Infrastructure Survey Tool (IST), a web-based assessment oriented toward documentation.
- Infrastructure Visualization Platform (IVP), for in-depth data collection and display.
- Multi-Asset and System Assessment (MASA), which targets more complex systems for decision analysis.
- Regional Resiliency Assessment Program (RRAP), designed to build alignment between public and private partners in a shared geographical area.
Private organizations also offer their own critical infrastructure assessments. These may be more closely tailored to the needs of an organization or a sector. However you choose to accomplish it, though, assessments are an essential resource for critical infrastructure owners.
Some sectors face greater risk than others
Among critical infrastructure sectors, risk is not evenly distributed. Certain sectors are more appealing targets due to the value of their data, or the perceived ease of access.
In a Committee on Homeland Security Cyber Threat Snapshot, researchers detailed the percentage of digital intrusions by economic sector in 2023. The top three targets for cyberattack were manufacturing (25.7% of intrusions), finance and insurance (18.2%), and professional, business, and consumer services (15.4%).
Manufacturing and finance represent two of CISA’s critical infrastructure sectors. Also appearing in the data are energy (11.1%) and healthcare (6.3%). These sectors are attractive to malicious actors precisely because of their prominent roles in national security, the economy, and public health. As a result, extra vigilance and preparation are essential to keeping these sectors protected.
Planning for recovery: integrating assessments and insurance
Even with a strong cybersecurity strategy in place, the digital arms race makes incidents an inevitability. A threat actor may access sensitive data, expose vulnerabilities, or even interrupt operations. When vital services are compromised by an incident, the first priority of critical infrastructure operators is recovery.
Restoring both services and trust, however, requires resources. After an intrusion, organizations can face costly rebuilding and restitution efforts, including (but not limited to):
- Regulatory fines and fees
- Legal defense costs
- Liability to third parties
- Financial losses from fraud, theft, or work stoppage
- Personal injury, property damage, or pollution
- Incident response and mitigation costs
- Reputational damage
Clearly, the damage from a breach can extend further than might be initially expected. Moreover, costs can continue to accrue over time as legal proceedings and other resolutions play out.
For these reasons, cyber insurance is an essential part of securing critical infrastructure. In the event of an incident, community members rely on the swift restoration of services. Cyber insurance equips owners and operators with funds, resources, and access to expertise in order to mitigate the threat and recover as quickly as possible.
Critical infrastructure assessments also play a key role in cyber insurance. Assessment results highlight areas of risk, allowing owners to target and rightsize their insurance coverage. In addition, assessments document and affirm existing security practices in detail. With this information, owners can demonstrate a mature security posture and a commitment to risk management, enabling access to lower insurance costs and improved coverage.
Critical infrastructure demands comprehensive protection
continue to grow. Odds are good that owners will face at least one security incident which impacts operations. When it occurs, owners have a responsibility not just to themselves and their organizations, but to their community to minimize the resulting damage and downtime.
The best way to secure your critical assets and systems, before and in the aftermath of an incident, is with comprehensive cyber insurance like that offered by McGowan Professional. Visit McGowan Cyber Insurance to learn more and begin building a more resilient future for the nation’s most essential systems.
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