JILS - Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure

#Cyber #Security #SCADA #Operational #Technology #IoT

Today's advanced threats from cyber criminals and state-backed organizations have undermined large utilities and critical infrastructures around the world. Most recently, attackers penetrated a Middle Eastern country’s water systems and nearly caused thousands of civilians to get sick. The risk is not only to IT systems and data, but also human lives.

Operational Technology (OT) networks in the critical infrastructure market are evolving, migrating to IP and Ethernet technology, deploying more security systems, SCADA and IoT sensors throughout the grid, and at the same time converging Information Technology (IT) platforms into the no longer fully isolated OT domain, creating in the process an increase number of new vulnerability interfaces to cyber-attacks. Combating cyber threats requires an understanding of the anatomy of an attack and must be considered in early stages of any critical infrastructure modernization process.