Cybersecurity for Critical Infrastructure Protection



 Introduction:

Cybersecurity for the protection of critical infrastructure is of paramount importance in the interconnected digital world these days. However, online assignment help Perth and  the expression critical infrastructure can be defined as the assets and systems, be they virtual or physical, so essential to the operations of a nation that their destruction or incapacity would end up having a debilitating impact on the national security, impacting adversely, public health and safety and the national economy of the country (de Soto et al.2022). The critical infrastructure of a country includes water supply systems, financial systems, energy grids, financial systems transportation networks and so on (Stoddart, 2016). Therefore, safeguarding them from emerging cyberattacks and threats is essential in order to maintain the security and stability of a country (Plėta et al.2020). However, this blog report is going to discuss the importance of cybersecurity for critical infrastructure protection highlighting the key practices as well as principles associated with cybersecurity in the context of critical infrastructure protection.

The key practices and principles of cybersecurity applicable for critical infrastructure protection:

Risk assessment:

Cybersecurity of the critical infrastructure begins with a detailed assessment of all the potential threats and vulnerabilities that may impact adversely the critical infrastructure of a country (Plėta et al.2020). It is important to identify the best online assignment help Sydney group and  type of assets that are considered to be the most crucial for a nation and the specific cyber threats that would put those critical assets at the highest risk (Chowdhury & Gkioulos, 2021).

Information exchange:

Information exchange and collaboration among the private and public sector associations as well as the international partners remain essential (Stoddart, 2016). Exchanging the best cybersecurity practices and threat intelligence is capable of helping develop a substantial defence against evolving cyber issues and threats (Viganò, Loi & Yaghmaei, 2020).

Regulatory compliance:

It is important to comply with the relevant standards and regulations, such as NERC CIP, ISO 27001 or the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, based on the sector in which the cybersecurity practices will be enforced (Plėta et al.2020). These regulatory frameworks serve as guidelines and policies to safeguard critical infrastructure (Baggott & Santos, 2020).

Access control:

The next essential cybersecurity principle to protect critical infrastructure is the implementation of robust access control for limiting who is going to be allowed to access any specific critical data and systems (Stoddart, 2016). Strong passwords and multi-factor authentication can be used to develop protection against unauthorized access to critical networks and systems (Maglaras et al.2018).

Network segmentation:

This is all about segmenting a critical network aiming at isolating the critical infrastructure elements from the less critical ones, resulting in limiting the lateral movements by the malicious actors in case one segment even gets compromised (de Soto et al.2022).

Patch management:

One of the key cybersecurity practices to protect critical infrastructure is to update and patch the critical systems and software regularly so that all the known vulnerabilities can be fixed as soon as they arise since cybercriminals consider vulnerable systems and software as one of their prime targets (Viganò, Loi & Yaghmaei, 2020).

Intrusion detection and prevention:

To detect and prevent intrusion in critical infrastructure it is essential to employ an intrusion detection and prevention system so that the cyber threats can be identified and mitigated in real-time, which in turn is going to help in preventing the attacks or minimizing their impacts on the critical infrastructure of a country (Chowdhury & Gkioulos, 2021).

Incident response strategy:

This is all about designing, implementing and regularly testing an existing incident response strategy followed by incorporating the modifications in the same accordingly (Lehto, 2022). It is worth mentioning in this context that understanding how to deal with cyberattacks remains as essential as preventing them (de Soto et al.2022).

Employee education and training:

One of the potential aspects associated with cybersecurity in the context of critical infrastructure protection is to ensure that the workforce is well educated as well as aware of the network and information security best practices and can play a protective role in safeguarding the critical infrastructure that they are working with (Plėta et al.2020). It is noticed that social engineering attacks are highly used as an entry point for malicious actors (Maglaras et al.2018).

Physical security:

Physical security is an integral part of the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure and hence should not be overlooked. Physical access to critical systems and data is responsible for leading to devastating cyberattacks. Therefore, Essay Typer Sydney and  safeguard equipment, data centres and facilities (Viganò, Loi & Yaghmaei, 2020).

Encryption:

Data transferred from received and stored in the critical systems must be encrypted to prevent security breaches under the incidents of physical theft or network interceptions (de Soto et al.2020).

Data backup and recovery:

The critical data must be backed up regularly followed by testing the procedures of data recovery to ensure that even though there is a cyber incident, the essential data and systems can be recovered successfully (Dawson et al.2021).

Supply chain safety:

The security of the supply chain associated with any critical system must be assessment since multiple cybercriminals end up targeting the vulnerabilities posed by the supply chains compromising the security of the supply chain (Stoddart, 2016).

Ongoing monitoring:

The critical networks and systems must be monitored continually to be aware of the indications towards any malicious or unusual activities. Detecting the anomalies earlier would allow to prevent devastating cyberattacks on the critical infrastructure of a country (de Soto et al.2020).

Private-public collaboration:

There must be a collaboration between industry associations, government organizations and law enforcement in order to add value to the cybersecurity of critical infrastructures (Dawson et al.2021).

Technical advancements:

Advanced and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, predictive analytics and machine learning must be embraced in the cybersecurity strategy for fast detection and response to the cyber threats affecting critical infrastructures (Stoddart, 2016). Additionally, technical advancement is going to enable the identification and mitigation of threats in real time (Lehto, 2022).

Penetration testing:

To develop enough cyber defence against the emerging cyber threats impacting critical infrastructures, it is essential to test regularly the security of the infrastructures through performing penetration testing to find and fix the security vulnerabilities and gaps, so that the malicious actors cannot exploit the same (de Soto et al.2020).

Conclusion:

At the end of this report, it is concluded that cybersecurity for the protection of critical infrastructures is a continuous process that demands strong adaptability, vigilance and a commitment to remain ahead of the evolving threats (Lehto, 2022). Furthermore, there must be a collaborative effort among the public and private sector organizations, the governments of the nations and the cybersecurity experts and professionals to enforce the security and safety of these critical systems (Dawson et al.2021).


 

References:

Baggott, S. S., & Santos, J. R. (2020). A risk analysis framework for cyber security and critical infrastructure protection of the US electric power grid. Risk analysis, 40(9), 1744-1761. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/risa.13511

Chowdhury, N., & Gkioulos, V. (2021). Cyber security training for critical infrastructure protection: A literature review. Computer Science Review, 40, 100361. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1574013721000010

de Soto, B. G., Georgescu, A., Mantha, B., Turk, Ž., & Maciel, A. (2020). Construction cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection: Significance, overlaps, and proposed action plan. https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202005.0213

de Soto, B. G., Georgescu, A., Mantha, B., Turk, Z., Maciel, A., & Semih, M. (2022). Construction cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection: new horizons for Construction 4.0. Journal of Information Technology in Construction (ITcon), 27(28), 571-594. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Borja-Garcia-De-Soto-2/publication/361327630_Construction_cybersecurity_and_critical_infrastructure_protection_New_horizons_for_Construction_40/links/62aae05623f3283e3aeae019/Construction-cybersecurity-and-critical-infrastructure-protection-New-horizons-for-Construction-40.pdf

Dawson, M., Bacius, R., Gouveia, L. B., & Vassilakos, A. (2021). Understanding the challenge of cybersecurity in critical infrastructure sectors. Land Forces Academy Review, 26(1), 69-75. https://sciendo.com/downloadpdf/journals/raft/26/1/article-p69.xml

Lehto, M. (2022). Cyber-attacks against critical infrastructure. In Cyber Security: Critical Infrastructure Protection (pp. 3-42). Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-91293-2_1

Maglaras, L. A., Kim, K. H., Janicke, H., Ferrag, M. A., Rallis, S., Fragkou, P., ... & Cruz, T. J. (2018). Cyber security of critical infrastructures. ICT Express, 4(1), 42-45. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405959517303880

Plėta, T., Tvaronavičienė, M., Della Casa, S., & Agafonov, K. (2020). Cyber-attacks to critical energy infrastructure and management issues: Overview of selected cases. Insights into regional development. Vilnius: Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Center, 2020, vol. 2, no. 3. https://cris.mruni.eu/cris/handle/007/17156

Stoddart, K. (2016). UK cyber security and critical national infrastructure protection. International Affairs, 92(5), 1079-1105. https://academic.oup.com/ia/article-abstract/92/5/1079/2688134

Viganò, E., Loi, M., & Yaghmaei, E. (2020). Cybersecurity of critical infrastructure. The Ethics of Cybersecurity, 157-177. https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/47324/9783030290535.pdf?sequence#page=169

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