Six Principles for the National Guard’s Cybersecurity Role Protecting the Grid
Don Soifer, Dan Goure
Cyberwarfare, United States
Without public fanfare, the National Guard has been building up its cyber capabilities.
Recent hacks of the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign headquarters underscore just how widespread and constant are the threats to this nation’s cybersecurity. The nation’s critical infrastructure too is being subjected to increasing cyberattack. Much of this infrastructure is privately owned and its security, therefore, is also largely the responsibility of the private sector. There is an additional slice of critical infrastructure, notably electric power generation, water and sewage and transportation, that is the responsibility of state and local governments.
In the event of an attack that threatens the functioning of critical infrastructure, the first lines of defense are the operators of the plants, systems and networks and the state and local governments. For this reason, the National Guard, deployed in all the states and territories, is a logical player if a governor sees the need to respond to an attack on infrastructure in that state. The Guard has always played a role when natural or manmade disasters cause a disruption in local critical infrastructure. With its recent but growing investments in cyber capabilities, the Guard is well positioned to play a larger role in protecting critical infrastructure from cyber as well as physical attacks. This is particularly true of the electric power grid, for which Guard units in a growing number of states have begun building sophisticated cyberdefense capabilities.
Americans have become dependent upon an uninterrupted supply of electricity for day-to-day functions of business and society. Meanwhile, the grid’s own vulnerabilities are exacerbated by factors which include its increased reliance on digital commands across the internet, industrial and distributed control systems, and in many cases unclear responsibilities for preventing attacks.
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