Page 137 - Cyber Defense eMagazine December 2023

Making Our Infrastructure Resilient: 5 Priorities

for Security R&D

By Saurabh Amin, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering PI, Laboratory for
Information and Decision Systems Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cyberattacks are undoubtedly on the rise; as of September 2023, there had already been a 17% increase
in the number of security compromises over the total number for 2022. We can likely expect more such
attacks as the geopolitical situation continues to deteriorate and more government actors abroad mount
attacks on U.S. companies and infrastructure. In this climate, the challenge for the public and private
sectors alike is to protect critical infrastructure systems as they become increasingly interdependent and
reliant on cyberinfrastructure for both routine and emergency operations.

We live in a world of neither purely physical nor purely cyber infrastructure, but of cyber-physical-human-
systems (CPHS). Vulnerabilities mean that hospitals can be shut down; air traffic and shipping can be
disrupted; electricity grids can be knocked out; and navigation systems can be spoofed. The functionality
of these systems can dip rapidly and take significant time to recover, leading to huge societal losses.

Cyber Defense eMagazine – December 2023 Edition 137
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