Cyber Security: From Regulations and Policies to Practice

Abstract

The major target of cyber attacks is a country’s Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) such as ports, hospitals, water, gas or electricity producers, which use and rely upon Supervisory Control and Data Acquisitions (SCADA) and Industrial Control Systems (ICS) to manage their production. Protection of CNIs becomes an essential issue to be considered. Generally, available protective measures are classified according to legal, technical, organizational, capacity building, and cooperation aspects. In this article, we discuss regulations and policies that may be used to tackle cyber attacks to CNIs along with practical measures that need to be taken in order for these regulations to be effective. Attribution of cyber attacks, especially when these originate from another nation, is questionable regarding which country or law enforcement agency has the authority to investigate and prosecute the penetrators.