Your audience is a group of senior executives who will be meeting to decide which emerging applications of technologies should be selected for a security-focused, Internal Research & Development projects during the next budget cycle. Each of these executives is responsible for developing products and systems that support next generation systems in the nation’s critical infrastructure sectors.
The high-level visibility for your deliverable means that you need to start from a strong foundation of suitable research-based journal articles, papers published in conference proceedings, and doctoral dissertations. The basic question that must be answered about the selected technology is: what are the cybersecurity implications (good or bad) for the selected critical infrastructure sector?
In addition, the executives have expressed the following information needs, which must be met by the deliverable for this assignment:
(a) characteristics of the critical infrastructure,
(b) characteristics of the technology,
(c) use of the technology to support or improve cybersecurity,
(d) use of the technology to reduce or manage risk,
(e) use of the technology to increase resistance to threats/attacks,
(f) use of the technology to decrease vulnerabilities in an existing technology application,
(g) use or exploitation of the technology by attackers, criminals, terrorists, etc. to accomplish their goals.
Choose a Critical Infrastructure Sector
“There are 16 critical infrastructure sectors whose assets, systems, and networks, whether physical or virtual, are considered so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination thereof” (Department of Homeland Security, 2016, p.1).
Choose a critical infrastructure sector to focus your technology review. For definitions of critical infrastructures, see https://www.dhs.gov/critical-infrastructure-sectors. You may wish to choose your emerging application of technology first and then select an appropriate critical infrastructure in which your selected technology can be applied or deployed.
Choose an Emerging Application of Technology
Choose an emerging application of technology that can be used in the computers, digital devices, and other electronic / electrical technologies (including networks and network infrastructures) that are deployed in or used to build, operate, support, or maintain a critical infrastructure sector (e.g. utilities, pipelines, transportation, smart cities, etc.).
Suggested technologies include:
• Autonomous Vehicles (ground, sea, or air): Transportation Systems Sector
• Deep Space Communication Networks: Communications Sector
• Implantable Medical Devices: Healthcare and Public Health Sector
• Precision Agriculture (integrated systems using satellite imagery, GPS, Sensors, Robots): Food & Agriculture Sector