Week 3 Case Study 2 Submission
Asa J Opie
Sec 310
Professor Nerove
Strayer
7-20-2014

Week 3 Case Study 2 Submission A critical infrastructure is defined as any facility, system, or function which provides the foundation for national security, governance, economic vitality, reputation, and way of life. (http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/NIPP_InfoSharing.pdf)In short, critical infrastructure is by definition essential for the survival of the nation. The USA PATRIOT Act specifically defines critical infrastructure as "systems and assets, whether physical or virtual, (Jena Baker McNeill and Richard Weitz, 2010) so vital to the United States that the incapacity or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating
An example of a key asset would be a national monument or icon which needs to "survive" because neglecting it would send the wrong message. Reasonableness and timeliness are the basic elements of survivability in this mode of thinking, with reasonableness meaning the degree of environmental stress, and timeliness meaning the notion of "mission-critical" during certain periods of time. An example would be an electrical blackout on New Year's Eve in the Big Apple where Americans wouldn't be able to mark the start of the New Year in the way they have become accustomed
Cybersecurity experts say this is just one example in a larger trend of attackers targeting industrial control systems of critical infrastructure. A public utility was recently compromised when a hacker gained access to its control system network, according to a May report from the Department of Homeland Security. The exact identity of the hacker group in the Symantec report is not known but they appear to work hours that coincide with the workday in Eastern Europe, according to the report. Spain, U.S., France, Italy and Germany have the most “active” infections where additional malicious activity has been detected. (http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/NIPP_InfoSharing.pdf)
A few years ago this group, which Symantec calls Dragonfly (others call the group Energetic Bear), mainly targeted U.S. and Canadian defense contractors. “In 2013 and 2014 we saw it shift to