Experts are warning that critical U.S infrastructure security breaches and shutdowns may soon come
In addition to general cyber attacks, which have been steadily increasing, several factors have contributed to the escalation of the risks of cyber attacks against control systems and infrastructure, standardized technologies with known vulnerabilities and the increased connectivity of control systems to other systems. Common control system components are illustrated in the graphic below. Control systems can be vulnerable to a variety of attacks, examples of which have already occurred. Successful attacks on control systems could have devastating consequences, such as endangering public health and safety. A cyberattack in December 2022 halted ticket sales at the Metropolitan Opera for nine days before operations could be restored.
US Infrastructure and cyber attacks
Cyberattacks increased 38% worldwide last year, and now cybersecurity experts are issuing this urgent warning – critical U.S. infrastructure security breaches and shutdowns may soon be coming. A former C.I.A. hacker turned cybersecurity analyst says the government must act before it’s too late Russia lately has always been on the list. But we also forget that China is also a big target, especially when it comes to critical infrastructure. And there are also a lot of freelance cyber adversaries that are out there that are really big on ransomware, extortion, and things like that.
So from my standpoint, it sounds like what we call a test attack where they wanted to test and just see how vulnerable the systems were, whether they could get in, and how long it would take them to recover, Cole explained. Was the computer network failure that recently grounded all U.S. air traffic for the first time since 9/10 human error or a cyberattack? While the Federal Aviation Administration insists human error led to the outage, Canada experienced a computer outage the same day.
Looking for likely suspects in such a cyberattack, Russia would be a strong possibility because of its war against Ukraine and the help U.S. and Canada are giving the Ukrainians. Every square IS a rectangle because a square is a quadrilateral with all four angles being right angles. Similarly, cybersecurity IS a part of the IT security umbrella, along with its counterparts, physical security and information security. But not every rectangle is a square, since the criteria to qualify as a square means all sides must be the same length.
The point is, not all IT security measures qualify as cybersecurity, as cybersecurity has its own distinct assets to protect. the threat to these electronic assets is hackers who have malicious intent to steal proprietary data and information via data breaches. Thus, it would seem the fully realized definition should include an evolving set of cybersecurity tools designed to protect confidential data from unauthorized access. To do so, it’s necessary to consider how people, processes and technology all play equally important roles in keeping information safe.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI released an advisory with guidance on how to use an ESXI args recovery script. Organizations that have fallen victim to ESXiARgs ransomware can use the script to attempt to recover their files. Other recommended mitigations are provided that all organizations should consider implementing.The scope of the threat is daunting. However, with a better understanding of new cybersecurity threats and prompt action critical infrastructure providers can own the solution.
