Vulnerability Assessment of Critical Infrastructure Assets

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Critical infrastructure comprises networks, facilities, systems, assets, and related assets on which the society depends to preserve economic viability, public safety and health, and national security. The chosen public location for this essay contains various critical infrastructure assets, including food stores, fuel supply, hospitals, public transport, and financial institutions. Regarding the assets mentioned, several related threats can be fatal (Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, 2020). Generally, the five assets face accidental threats, a primary threat that can occur at any given time. Categorically, food stores face a natural and artificial threat. Environmental weather due to human activities on land affects food production, which lowers the food supply to the stores. Natural hazards like earthquakes and floods also affect growth and food supply production.

On the other hand, fuel suppliers face hiked prices and fuel depletion, both man-made and natural threats. Hospitals face man-made and natural threats; for example, the novel coronavirus is a natural threat that imminently impacts hospitals’ operations. Besides a shortage of healthcare professionals, equipment and, tools, medications are some man-made threats affecting the hospital sector. Public transport experiences both natural and man-made threats; for example, extreme weather conditions, for instance, hurricanes can interfere with transport modes. Furthermore, fuel shortage, an artificial threat, can reduce the efficiency of the transport sector. Lastly, banking institutions face security breaches due to cyber attacks.

Ranking Assets:

Food Stores
Fuel Supply
Hospitals
Public Transport
Financial Institutions

The top five assets listed above face various threatening activities. In the contemporary world, bank institutions face security breaches due to cyber attacks. For example, cyber-criminal attackers breached the security system of Flagstar Bank in Troy, Michigan stealing customers’ vital information and data. On hospital assets, if there are lack of professionals, tools, and equipment, the public will not acquire comprehensive healthcare services, exposing their lives to medical conditions. Natural calamities on food stores, fuel supply, and public transport will derail these assets’ services to its citizens. When natural calamity destroys roads, railroads’ calamities and service delivery is cut. For example, hurricane Ida collapsed a Mississippi highway injuring ten people and killing two. Additionally, the destruction of these assets requires extra capital for reconstruction. Besides, if the oil supply is low due to hiked prices, ordinary citizens face economic suffrage, as noticed in the United States and internationally.

Current protection measures include, for a banking institution, there are robust computer, network, and system security. Agricultural departments have put new farming methods in the food stores to overcome adverse weather conditions. Additionally, the transport assets are repaired frequently and are subjected to more weather defiance architecture. The hospital sector has ensured that healthcare professionals are recruited to suit the demand, and equipment and tools are also made available. Lastly, the oil supply is being boosted by utilizing new oil extraction methods, storage, and purchase when needed.

Uptown community space originated in the early 90s with various leaders’ initiatives bringing a breakthrough for the community. It started with a small health center that was expanded in 2004 into a hospital. This accelerated its growth by creating banks, storing foods, and transportation systems, which were essential in satisfying the needs of individuals and families who lived in the community. That is through being able to access fundamental assets and opportunities. These aspects act as the background frame in identifying uptown, which has grown to be a famous town.

The assets that would require the most protection include; banking institutions. Banks have been prone to attacks for an extended period. For example, there are physical thefts, computer fraud, and cyber fraud, where people’s servers are hacked into to acquire customers’ personal identifiable information (PII) (Homeland Security, 2022). They require protection as individuals and companies depend on bank transactions to carry out enterprise activities and save their money. Therefore, it is upon the bank to create a safe and secure environment for customers’ assets. This can be done by security personnel physically guarding bank buildings to ensure no interruptions or theft activity.

Although these regulations have prevented unnecessary attacks, it is not always known when and how the thieves could attack; some of these theft activities often result in death, holding people captive, which may result in both mental and physical trauma. Taking hostage might take the bank to use different techniques in bargaining with the criminals, leading to losses and a wastage of time (U.S. Department of the Treasury, 2020)). In some cases, the bank may be forced to pay a large sum of money in realizing the hostages; this, plus the money stolen, results in a considerable loss, often making it impossible for some banks to reorganize and grow again. The banks often fall, resulting in losing customers’ assets which take years to be refunded.

Secondly, many banks have upgraded to online services due to technological advances. These aspects have also been prone to breaches, with people attempting to steal confidential information or funds. The banks use cybersecurity in banking system transactions to safeguard customers’ assets. Many individuals continue going cashless; procedures are carried out online through checkout websites and physical credit card skimming devices.

PII can be used in both areas, redirected towards other sites, and used for malignant acts. This activity influences the consumers and substantially sabotages the banks while trying to recover data that has been lost or stolen. In turn, customers also lose trust in a bank that has been stolen from. When a bank’s online page has been breached or hacked, the consequences may be harsh on both parties, with customers canceling their credit card registration and establishing new accounts at other banks (U.S. Department of the Treasury, 2020). Therefore, banks need to be protected to provide customer satisfaction and security of their assets.

Weak protection measures are prone to hacking or theft. They include; Use of personal identifications when entering banks. This can be outdone by placing multifactor applications to help identify individuals as quickly as possible. Use of untrained and skilled security guards; this problem can be improved by training security personnel in dealing with theft. Changing bank locks more often; can be corrected by using safe and secure locks that do not need alteration every time. Use easy security passwords to log into the bank’s homepage. This can be solved by creating passwords that the user or bank staff can only remember. Automatic log-ins are prone to hackers who can easily access customers’ credentials without entering log-in details. This can be solved through automatic logouts.

The strong and recommended bank protection measures are liable for safeguarding banks’ data and customer assets. They include; banks should educate their customers on the consequences of vulnerability, such as data hacking, to help them establish a new habit of making sure they are aware of such acts. They can act accordingly to ensure their data is safe. Banks should also hire well-trained and equipped with skills to deal with emergencies. Thirdly a well-thought-out security audit is fundamental before implementing the new computerized security program (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 2022). This helps banks foresee the advantages and disadvantages of an existing setup. It also develops alternative approaches that help the bank save money.

Banks’ cybersecurity structure includes exercises that need the appropriate hardware to restrict attacks. A modified firewall helps banks stop malicious activities before connecting with other network sectors. Antivirus software is also used with firewalls through updates that can miss potential disastrous attacks on a system. Multifactor authentication is also critical in protecting consumers who use phones and internet apps. To carry out banking activities. Application MFA restricts hackers from accessing the network due to its requests for increased security. For example, a six-digit code and notifications are sent to a user’s phone. The use of biometrics is considered much safer than texted code since it uses retinal scans, fingerprints, and automatic face recognition to determine users’ identities. This helps identify everyone entering and leaving the bank.

Several web pages and apps permit users to stay logged in if they need to. This enables them to access their information at any required time without putting in login details. Automatic logout minimizes automatic log-ins by closing users’ connections after a few minutes or seconds of inactivity. These measures are the best approaches to protecting banks since they have been well implemented and regulated using various techniques, skills, and knowledge. They have been applied for a while now, and most have produced excellent results.

References

Homeland Security. (2022). Cybersecurity. Homeland Security. Web.

Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency. (2020). Critical Infrastructure Sectors | CISA. Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency. Web.

U.S. Department of the Treasury. (2020). Financial Institutions. U.S. Department of the Treasury. Web.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. (2022). SEC.gov | Cyber Enforcement Actions. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Web.

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Vulnerability Assessment of Critical Infrastructure Assets

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