CYBERSECURITY AND THE CRITICAL VULNERABILITY OF THE DUTCH WATER CONTROL SYSTEMS

Abstract

ABSTRACTEveryone can imagine what will happen when the Internet undergoes a major cyber attack or when it is no longer possible to get money out the automated teller machine (ATM). The consequences of a cyber attack for water barriers, locks and sluices, retaining structures, pumping stations and tunnels are not visible to most Dutch people, or a thought for most people anywhere in the world. Depending on the season and the level of the water, the mainland in the Netherlands will flood or will be in a drought if the water control system is inoperable due to cyber attack, and thus the mainland will be unprotected by retaining structures or pumping stations, that are controlled via the Internet. Transportation on water or road will stop by locks, sluices, and tunnels. The effect will be that stores and companies do not receive stock. In the worst case, the import and export of the Netherlands will be on hold; this will have a major impact on the Dutch economy, because we depend on the trading.This article will examine the cyber effects in relation to many critical water and transportation systems of the Netherlands. The second part of the article will give an idea of which measures the Dutch government prescribed to the different contracting parties involved during design, realisation, operation, and maintenance of the infrastructure systems. The last part gives you a glimpse in the consequences of these measures for each of the phases of development, realisation, and maintenance executed by private companies.