Ransomware will “wreak havoc” on the United States’ critical infrastructure community in 2016, according to a report by the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology (ICIT).
The control systems used to critical infrastructure facilities are increasingly vulnerable to attack, but it's almost impossible to tell how often they're breached or how it's done, according to early results from a SANS survey on the security of industrial control systems.
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is testing unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), commonly referred to as drones, to enhance the safety and reliability of its electric and gas service. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has authorized PG&E to use drones to assist with inspections of electric and gas infrastructure.
IT executives within critical infrastructure organizations see a need for public-private threat intelligence sharing partnerships (86 percent of respondents) to keep pace with escalating cybersecurity threats, according to a survey by The Aspen Institute and Intel Security.
Europe is emerging as a global leader in national cybersecurity enforcement. The European Union (EU) and countries connected to the Council of Europe and the European Economic Area, including Norway and Switzerland, have been most successful in implementing binding legal instruments in the area of cybercrime and cybersecurity.
Risks to energy sector enterprises continue to grow, with drones, terrorism and budgetary challenges looming. Compliance requirements are tightening as well, but as Everardo Trujillo, Manager of Information Security Engineering and Operations at Sempra Energy Utilities, says: “A lot of people say ‘compliance makes you secure,’ and it’s the other way around, really.”
While utility enterprises are taking steps to detect and deter physical security threats, preventing damage and enabling recovery remain significant challenges, according to The State of Physical Grid Security 2015.
