Security News > 2022 > March > US critical infrastructure operators should prepare for retaliatory cyberattacks

US President Joe Biden has urged companies in critical infrastructure sectors to shore up their defenses against potential cyberattacks.

"Most of America's critical infrastructure is owned and operated by the private sector and critical infrastructure owners and operators must accelerate efforts to lock their digital doors," he noted, and advised those that have not yet done it to harden their cyber defenses by implementing security best practices delineated earlier this year.

US Deputy National Security Advisor Anne Neuberger has followed up the warning with a press briefing, during which she stated that "There is no certainty there will be a cyber incident on critical infrastructure," but that owners and operators of critical infrastructre have the ability and the responsibility to harden the systems and networks the country relies on.

Previously, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency released guidance to help critical infrastructure owners and operators identify and mitigate the risks of influence operations that use mis-, dis-, and malinformation narratives.

Neuberger also said that US agencies have not yet attributed the recent attack on satellite communications company Viasat.

Neuberg has been repeatedly asked by the press whether this latest warning for critical infrastructure operators is due to the agencies seeing evidence of or anticipating a cyberattack on specific targets.

News URL

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/03/22/us-critical-infrastructure-cyberattacks/