One technology threat that is becoming more evident this year is ransom ware. This is a particular type of malware that holds computers and data hostage until a ransom is paid. It has become a popular way of hackers to monetize cyber crime, which is why such incidents are on the rise. For regular computer users, the costs of ransom ware usually runs into the hundreds of dollars and/or the loss of data. For critical infrastructure though, the costs are much higher.

Imagine if the water supply was interrupted for a major city in the American Southwest. The FBI is currently looking into an incident in Clark County (Las Vegas) Nevada where numerous computer were shut down after cyber criminals attacked the Water Reclamation District. Few details are available so the extent of the attack and the damage it did are unknown. The fact that a critical municipal infrastructure was successfully targeted shows that ransom ware is a serious threat.

The fact is, most people in a modern society are dependent upon a web of infrastructures that make life possible. These include:

• Electrical Power
• Telecommunications
• Financial System
• Petrochemicals
• Transportation
• Food
• Water
• Emergency Services
• Space Operations
• Government

An interruption in any of these can have a widespread impact, which is why both cyber criminals and hostile governments are now targeting them.

There isn’t much any of us can do to make infrastructure more resilient to cyber attack. However, each of us can take steps to prepare for an interruption or outage of a critical infrastructure. In the coming months, I am going to go into more detail about each of these and what steps you can take to weather the proverbial storm. It will become increasingly important to do in the future.