Today's special columnist, Scott Register of Keysight Technologies, says government and industry must come together to secure the nation's critical infrastructure in the wake of the Colonial Pipeline hack.
What does the U.S. do about criminals protected by their own governments? That question becomes more complicated with attacks against critical infrastructure, which is privately owned and operated, but also intrinsically tied to national security. Those distinctions make these companies high-value targets, which many argue are in government's best interest to protect.
The message from the White House, that the onus is largely on Colonial Pipeline to manage its own security, reignites an ongoing debate about the roles and responsibilities for protecting critical infrastructure networks.
The situation still unfolding with Colonial demonstrates the distinct vulnerabilities that face any organization with network sprawl, as multiple, often unique points of potential failure must be properly hardened.
