Infrastructure protection

U.S. critical infrastructure security response system is broken
Since its inception, DHS has urged states and cities to establish Fusion Centers to collect information from power companies and water utilities about infrastructure-related incidents with national security implications. There are now seventy-two Fusion Centers in the United States. A recent confusion about the causes of disruption of an Illinois water utility pump raised question about the effectiveness of the Fusion Center information collection and reporting system.
U.K. unveils new cyber defense strategy
The U.K. government last week published its new Cyber Security Strategy; the government said the new strategy sets out “how the United Kingdom will support economic prosperity, protect national security, and safeguard the public’s way of life”
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House Intelligence panel investigates Chinese telecom giants
As Chinese telecom giants Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp continue to eye the lucrative American market, they have come under increasing scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers who fear their technology could be used by Chinese hackers to steal U.S. secrets; the two Chinese companies are now the subject of a House Intelligence Committee investigation aimed at determining whether they are a threat to the United States
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Sector Report for Monday, 28 November 2011: Infrastructure protection
This report contains the following stories.
* Pentagon confirms policy of military response to cyberatacks

* U.K. banks pass cyberdefense stress test

* Hackers fail in AT&T cyberattack
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DHS: Hackers did not cause Illinois water pump to fail
Cybersecurity experts and critical infrastructure operators can rest a bit easier now that DHS investigators have determined there is nothing to suggest that hackers caused a water pump to fail in Springfield, Illinois
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Pentagon confirms policy of military response to cyberatacks
In a Pentagon report recently made public, the U.S. military confirmed that it would launch physical strikes in response to cyberattacks
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U.K. banks pass cyberdefense stress test
To bolster cyberdefenses in the financial industry, U.K. banks recently took part in a stress test to determine their ability to cope with a cyberattack; eighty-seven banks took participated in the drill including Barclays, HSBC, and Royal Bank of Scotland
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The increasing risks of GPS systems
During a recent meeting of the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Advisory Board, participants described how U.S. infrastructure is increasingly at risk due to the widespread use of GPS systems and the presence of interdependencies between different sectors
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Building design lessons from the Christchurch earthquake
A leading infrastructure expert believes an assessment needs to be made of the level of “very rare” earthquake that needs to be considered in structural design, perhaps one with a 10,000 year return period or higher, rather than the 500 year return period that is commonly adopted for many buildings in Australia
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DHS investigates attacks on New Jersey water supply
DHS agents and local authorities in New Jersey are investigating a series of attacks on the West Milford water system; since July there have been more than fifteen attacks on local water and sewage facilities that in some instances have resulted in sewage flooding the street or losses in service all together
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Cyber attacks on critical infrastructure reach U.S.
Most of the U.S. critical infrastructure is run by computers which are connected to the Internet; this makes them susceptible to cyber attacks; a few days ago, the control system of a water pump in Illinois was taken over by a hacker’s remote command, and then deliberately destroyed; what critical infrastructure facilities will hackers – nerdy teenagers, terrorists, or intelligence operatives of other nations – target next?
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Europe faces rare Earth metal shortages
The EU’s ambitious low-carbon energy production goal depends on five technologies: nuclear, solar, wind, bio-energy, and carbon capture; these technologies, in turn, depend on rare Earth metals; the EU estimates that a large-scale deployment of only one of these technologies — solar energy — will require half the current world supply of tellurium and 25 percent of the supply of indium
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Sector Report for Monday, 14 November 2011: Infrastructure protection
This report contains the following stories.
* Nations could cripple U.S. with retaliatory cyberattack

* Smart grid security market to jump to $2 billion in 2016

* DARPA to boost cyber research spending by 50 percent

* Also noted
Plus 1 additional story.
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Nations could cripple U.S. with retaliatory cyberattack
Last week Richard Clarke, a top adviser to three presidents, sounded a dire warning that the United States should avoid going to war with other nations because its computer networks systems are so vulnerable to attack
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Smart grid security market to jump to $2 billion in 2016
Analysts project that spending on smart grid security will exceed $2 billion in the next five years; according to ABI Research’s report, titled “Smart Grid Security,” $590 million was spent on securing the smart grid in 2010 and by 2016 that number will rocket to $2 billion
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