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Challenges and Efforts to Secure Control Systems
Title: Challenges and Efforts to Secure Control Systems
Date: March 2004
Institution: Government Accountability Office
Bibliographic Entry: “Critical Infrastructure Protection: Challenges and Efforts to Secure Control Systems.” General Accounting Office. March 2004.
Electronic Link: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04628t.pdf
Key Words: critical infrastructure protection, coordination, DHS, cyber attack, internet infrastructure, cyber-security, control systems
Summary of Key Issues, Points, Conclusions:
Computerized control systems now monitor and control much of the United States’ critical infrastructure. They run: the electrical power grid, the infrastructure of the oil and natural gas industry, the water system, many aspects of the chemical industry, rail roads, mass transit, and manufacturing. While computerization has made monitoring and controlling these infrastructures easier and more efficient, it has also left them vulnerable to cyber attacks. The interconnectivity of control systems, the use of insecure remote connections, the widespread availability of information on these systems, and the fact that many of these systems employ standardized technologies with known vulnerabilities leaves them open to cyber and other attacks. Such attacks, if successful, would be devastating. The federal government, many in academia, and private industry are currently working to make sure this does not occur. Their efforts, however, are uncoordinated. Additionally, cyber attacks are difficult to guard against. In the opinion of the authors of this report the only way to successfully protect against cyber attacks is for the federal government to adopt a coordinated national plan to protect these critical infrastructures.
Name of Researcher: Rian Bobal
Institution: Integrative Center for Homeland Security, Texas A&M University
Date: 05-31-2006