“At a time when cyber threats to critical infrastructure are mounting, budget cuts are forcing the Department of Homeland Security to scale back training and information sharing activities. Since March, the government has cancelled two conferences – including one in August — and three training sessions, which teach utility companies how to defend against cyber attacks.
Within the last two weeks, the Department of Homeland Security’s industrial control systems cyber emergency response team (ICS-CERT) sent memos to electric company CEOs reminding them to be vigilant regarding cybersecurity threats. That followed a May 9 alert that warned about ‘increasing hostility against U.S. critical infrastructure organizations,’ according to a memo obtained by CIO Journal. There’s concern that budget cuts are coming at a time when utilities need more assistance from the government, not less. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment.”
