Protecting Critical Infrastructure Requires Robust Partnerships

When FBI Director Christopher Wray speaks publicly about the cyberthreat posed by the Chinese government to U.S. critical infrastructure, it is past time to take the danger seriously.

“The PRC [People’s Republic of China] has made it clear that it considers every sector that makes our society run as fair game in its bid to dominate on the world stage, and that its plan is to land low blows against civilian infrastructure to try to induce panic and break America’s will to resist,” Wray said in April. He suggested that partnerships between the government and the private sector and academia have an important role to play in neutralizing these threats.

Many agencies are not aware that cyber attacks can be launched against operations technology (OT), such as monitors and sensors, and used as entry points for attacking IT systems. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC) is acting to engage partners in improving the nation’s cybersecurity posture, including strengthening the safety of OT systems.

Learning Objectives:

• Review the range of threats and types of critical infrastructure most vulnerable to attack
• Assess how OT systems connect to IT systems, posing a risk to cybersecurity
• Outline the role of partnerships between government and private industry to improve cybersecurity and resiliency
• Delineate the ways that collaboration and information sharing improve early-warning systems of impending attacks