Mitigating Risks With A Comprehensive Approach To Securing Critical Infrastructure

Critical infrastructure is the backbone of any country’s economy. From the electrical grid to financial systems, critical infrastructure provides essential goods and services that people rely on daily.

However, these critical systems are also vulnerable to cyberattacks from state-sponsored and non-state actors who seek to disrupt or destroy them. Hence, there is a need to seek risk-mitigating measures like zero-trust security. However, an IBM report shows that 80% of the critical infrastructure firms in the US have not yet adopted zero-trust security.

This blog post will explore ways companies can mitigate risks associated with critical infrastructure threats.

What Is A Critical Infrastructure?

Critical infrastructure is the systems, assets, and services vital to daily life. It includes energy, healthcare, transportation, water, and communications. Critical infrastructure can be physical or virtual.

For example, a power plant that generates electricity for thousands of homes has physical components such as turbines and generators. Still, suppose an attacker shuts down those machines from afar using a cyberattack. In that case, it becomes critical infrastructure in the virtual sense because its ability to provide power has been compromised.

As of 2020, the US government had declared 16 sectors as critical. These sectors included the chemical, communications, dams, and energy sectors.

For example:

• A dam owned by a local municipality could become a crucial asset if it were flooded during heavy rains.
• An oil pipeline owned by an international company would be considered critical if terrorists attempted to destroy it.
• A hospital would be considered vital if there were no other medical facilities nearby so people could not get treatment when they needed it most.

Why Is Securing Critical Infrastructure Crucial?

Critical infrastructure is vital to the economy, society, and national security. It’s also crucial to personal safety and public health and safety.

Securing critical infrastructure is crucial because if it’s not secured, it could threaten an entire nation’s safety. If a company or person were to hack into critical infrastructure, it would devastate the nation and its people.

For example, if someone hacked into the power grid, people could lose power in major cities, causing chaos and panic. One of the recent examples of this is Russia’s attack on Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure. The same goes for water supplies, transportation systems, and other key infrastructures people rely on daily.

What Are The Common Threats And Hazards Facing Critical Infrastructure?

There are several common threats and hazards that can threaten the security of the critical infrastructure. For instance, one of the most common threats is a cyberattack. According to Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs data, the FBI received 3,729 ransomware complaints, leading to around $49.2 million in losses.

Some of the most common threats include:

• Cyberattacks: Cyberattacks are becoming more frequent and sophisticated, with hackers targeting vulnerable systems to gain access to sensitive information or cause physical damage.
• Supply chain attacks: When you buy food from a supermarket or medicine from your local pharmacy, you expect it to be safe because it has been produced according to strict standards. But what if those products were tampered with before they reached you?

How To Secure Critical Infrastructure

There are several ways to secure critical infrastructure. The most effective method is a layered approach, which involves using various security tools and technologies in concert with each other. This can include:

• Intrusion detection systems (IDSs): An IDS monitors network activity for suspicious behavior, such as unauthorized access attempts or denial-of-service attacks. If an IDS detects such activity, it alerts administrators so they can take action before damage is done.
• Firewalls: A firewall acts as an intermediary between your private network and the outside world by controlling which computers are allowed access to resources on your local network. It also prevents outsiders from accessing sensitive information stored on those computers or networks connected to them via ports open through firewalls. Due to this need for firewalls, the cloud firewall market was steady in 2022 at $2.2 billion.
• Encryption: Encryption scrambles data so only authorized users can read it once decrypted. It’s commonly used today when transmitting sensitive information over public networks like WiFi hotspots or cellular connections. It prevents anyone who might intercept the transmission from seeing its contents without first decrypting them, even if they have physical access.

Read Also: 5 Common Risks In The Construction Industry

There are various other ways to secure critical infrastructure, such as:

Develop A Risk Assessment Plan

A Risk Assessment Plan is a formal document that identifies the assets and their value to the organization and identifies threats and vulnerabilities. It also includes a detailed analysis of each threat materializing and its impact on each asset. The plan should also include controls to mitigate risk for those threats identified as high-impact or likely to occur within one year.

By identifying all these factors, you can develop an overall strategy for protecting your critical infrastructure from cyber-attacks while reducing costs associated with doing so.

Use Access Controls To Prevent Unauthorized Access

Access controls can help prevent unauthorized personnel from accessing critical infrastructure. Some of the measures include the following:

• Use strong passwords. Strong passwords are essential for safeguarding your data, so using them on all accounts is essential.
• Use multi-factor authentication (MFA). Multi-factor authentication is an additional layer of protection for users who have been granted access to sensitive information or systems, requiring them to provide something they know and have. This helps prevent unauthorized access even if someone else gains access to your credentials by hacking into your system or stealing them from you.
• Use a VPN when accessing public WiFi networks at coffee shops, airports, hotels, and other locations where others may be accessing these same networks concurrently with you. If possible, consider using an IDS/IPS solution instead of just relying on firewalls because they can detect attacks before they reach their intended target.

Take A Proactive Approach To Security

The first step to securing your infrastructure is identifying and managing security risks. You can do this by using best practices and a layered approach, as well as implementing other programs that help mitigate the impact of any potential attacks.

• Use change management processes: These processes ensure that any changes made within IT systems follow security standards that ensure consistency across multiple departments while still allowing enough flexibility within each departmental unit’s structure so they don’t feel like others are micromanaging them outside their immediate scope.
• Use vulnerability management programs: This involves regularly scanning networks for open ports/services and known vulnerabilities within applications running on them so patches can be applied immediately once detected without waiting until there’s an actual breach before taking action against such threats.

Conclusion

With the help of this guide and your research, you should better understand the importance of securing critical infrastructure. You can also use it when developing your plan to protect your organization’s critical assets against cyberattacks or natural disasters.

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