Critical Infrastructure Protection
Why power grids, water systems, and financial networks are targets for cyberattack, and the challenges of defending essential services in a connected world.
Infrastructure at Risk
Modern societies depend on interconnected systems: electrical grids, water treatment plants, financial networks, transportation systems, telecommunications, and healthcare facilities. These critical infrastructures are increasingly controlled by digital systems connected to the internet, making them vulnerable to cyberattack. A successful attack on any of these systems could cause widespread disruption, economic damage, and potentially loss of life.
Russia has demonstrated the most aggressive targeting of critical infrastructure. In December 2015, Russian hackers (Sandworm group) attacked Ukraine's power grid, cutting electricity to roughly 230,000 people in winter. They repeated the attack in 2016 with more sophisticated malware. The 2017 NotPetya attack, also attributed to Russia's Sandworm, targeted Ukraine but spread globally, causing an estimated $10 billion in damage to companies including Maersk, Merck, and FedEx. NotPetya is considered the most destructive cyberattack in history.