1. What is Critical Infrastructure
Critical infostructure is considered one of the most essential networking systems to ensure public safety to a nation’s citizen by their government. To go further this kind of network is made up of a number of different systems that the government uses to provide everyday functions and processes for the people (Wright, 2023). These systems are so important for everyday life that they are continuously under review so that they can stay as protected as possible from malicious threats. Here in the USA the government uses 16 major critical infrastructure systems that are considered vital even if these systems are both physical systems and virtual systems, they are involved with the U.S. government everyday functionality (Wright, 2023).

2. Vulnerabilities of Critical Infrastructure
Unfortunately, because of how necessary these critical infrastructure systems are for everyday life that often means that individuals would like to take advantage of these systems. Considering that as every day goes by technology is becoming increasingly powerful and common, so much so that these network systems are heavily targeted by individuals with bad intentions (Delima, 2022). A clear vulnerability that is present within these systems is them susceptibility to threats of ransomware, however in general any cyberattack that compromises of the systems can lead to a shutdown of that system which is not good considering these are necessary systems (Delima, 2022). As advancements in technology progress these targeted cyber-attacks particularly ransomware attacks are becoming more and more powerful and complicated and unfortunately, it’s difficult to keep up with attacks such as this, Luckly with technological advancements in addition to the constant pressure of protecting these critical infrastructure systems, there are ways mitigate risks to these systems (Delima, 2022).

3. SCADA Systems
SCADA systems work hand in hand with critical infrastructure. SCADA plays a key role in the regulation of the systems used in critical infostructure which means that these systems are just as important for maintaining everyday life among citizens of a nation (Tech-FAQ). On a basic level the SCADA systems are used for regulation and data tracking services, “SCADA refers to the centralized systems that control and monitor the entire sites”, this quote refers to how a SCADA system would be set up with a infostructure system as a monitoring tool (Tech-FAQ). Being able to monitor infostructure systems in important because if a treat was happening to the infrastructure system, then it would be alerted and tracked through the SCADA system so that an aggressive defense can be made to the precise location of the system where the threat is taking place (Tech-FAQ).

References

(n.d.). SCADA. Tech-FAQ. Retrieved April 4, 2025, from https://www.tech-faq.com/scada.html

Delima, M. (2022, July 21). The Ongoing Cyber Threat to Critical Infrastructure. Thalesgroup.
Retrieved April 4, 2025, from https://cpl.thalesgroup.com/blog/identity-data-
protection/ongoing-cyber-security-threats-to-critical-infrastructure

Wright, G. (2023, August). Critical infrastructure. TechTarget. Retrieved April 4, 2025, from
https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/critical-infrastructure