Hackers have been in the news a lot lately, but what many people fail to appreciate is that cybercriminals aren’t all out to steal credit card numbers and similar sensitive data. Some hackers have made it their goal to infiltrate and damage critical infrastructure systems. Let’s take a look at critical infrastructure and what you can do to stop these kinds of cyberattacks.

• The term critical infrastructure refers to facilities responsible for handling one or more vital social services. Electricity, gasoline, water, medical services—a facility involved with any of these falls under the definition of critical infrastructure.

• Because these facilities are so important to the proper functioning of society, it is especially important to shield them from disruptive cyberattacks.

All of the below belong to our critical infrastructure:

• Hospitals

• Police stations

• Telecommunications companies

• Banks

• Water treatment plants

• Airports

• Railroads

This is only a partial list of facilities that can be classified as critical infrastructure.

• Critical infrastructure can be compromised by cyberattacks, as these facilities depend on computer systems to function.

• According to the Council on Foreign Relations, current Director of National Intelligence (DNI) James Clapper calls cyberattacks the single biggest threat to national security.1

• Because most critical infrastructure facilities are privately owned, they vary wildly in the effectiveness of their current cybersecurity applications.

• What happens when a hacker infiltrates your system’s perimeter defenses? Basically, they have free rein to do as they please.

• Often they’ll use their newfound access privileges to secure credentials associated with other sectors; this expands their ability to infiltrate your system.

• Don’t assume that hackers are only after credit card and Social Security numbers—they can also delete vital data and seize control of components that you need to run the system properly.

• In today’s increasingly high-tech world, it’s important to allow systems to be accessed by remote devices such as laptops and mobile devices. These are known as endpoints—areas along the network that permit remote access.

• The problem with endpoints is that, if not properly secured, they can be exploited by hackers seeking to gain access to the system.

• Triumfant's critical infrastructure security solutions provide excellent endpoint protection.

• Triumfant checks each computer on a daily basis to ensure that no unauthorized system changes have taken place. This security solution detects and thwarts all endpoint threats before they can inflict damage.

• Checks configuration settings to ensure that everything is in place.

• Checks defensive software of every computer to ensure it is functioning correctly.

• Detects and stops Trojans and other threats that can elude standard antivirus software.2

Established in 2002, Triumfant provides government and commercial clients with dependable endpoint protection technologies. Privately owned, the company is based in Rockville, Maryland. Visit www.triumfant.com.

1. http://www.cfr.org/global/global-conflict-tracker/p32137#!/?marker=2

2. http://www.triumfant.com/triumfant-solutions-overview/triumfant-for-critical-infrastructure/