Hackers will be key threat to critical infrastructure

Subject

An assessment of the cyber threat to CNI.

Significance

Cyberattacks on critical national infrastructure (CNI) are a serious possibility. As CNI becomes increasingly connected, the attack surface for hackers widens. Likewise, the costs and risks of cyberattacks are markedly lower when compared to physical attacks, thereby lowering the barriers for prospective malicious actors.

Impacts

• Given the high likelihood of receiving a payoff, cybercriminals will be incentivised to hold CNI systems to ransom.
• CNI organisations would benefit from sharing information on cyber threats.
• However, establishing such arrangements could prove challenging given the sensitivity of the topic.
• Attacks on CNI could change the nature of warfare.