Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure

Prior to developing your initial discussion forum post read Chapter 8 of your primary text, the Rinaldi, Peerenboom, and Kelly (2001) article “Identifying, Understanding, and Analyzing Critical Infrastructure Interdependencies”, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (2017) Critical Infrastructure Sectors (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. web page. Bullock, Haddow, and Coppola write, “Perhaps, the most appropriate characterization of the twenty-first century is that of an age when all people and, to a growing degree, all things are interconnected” (2016). It is the cyber world that really ties all of the infrastructures together, whether it is our electrical systems, financial systems, transportation systems, or health systems, they are all connected through the information infrastructure. If not the foundation of American and much of the modern world societies, it is clearly a cornerstone. Hence the protection of the cyber world is a key importance to America and is why it is one of the primary missions of the Department of Homeland Security.

Based on your knowledge, experiences, and the readings, select one of the 16 critical infrastructures and show how it makes use of the cyber world to support American society effectively. Has the infrastructure been the focus of an attack? Are there examples of an attack? Is the infrastructure vulnerable to a cyberattack? What are some of the effects of interruption of this critical infrastructure.

Your initial post must be at least 250 words in length. Support your claims with examples from the required material and/or other scholarly or official government sources. Use personal examples where appropriate. Using APA formatting, cite your sources within your paragraph, and include reference entries for your sources at the end of the post as well.