THE IMPACT OF UNPLANNED SYSTEM OUTAGES ON CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE SECTORS: CYBERSECURITY PERSPECTIVE
Issues in Information Systems · 2023
Threat actors and groups capable of launching advanced persistent threats have repeatedly breached the U.S. critical infrastructure sector's information technology systems.Although federal agencies collect and maintain valuable sensitive personal and national security information, they often fail to meet even the most basic cybersecurity standards.Insider threat (improper use) and unknown attack vectors remain the highest reported information security incidents in the federal government.Unplanned system outages with known and unknown causes are also on the rise across the industry.This study aims to investigate the impact of unplanned system outages on users, operation, network, and computer systems.The ultimate goal is to enhance our understanding of these impacts and propose effective solutions for protecting the nation's critical infrastructure.The study adopted a qualitative research method with an exploratory design.An expert and purposive sampling strategy along with a snowballing technique were employed to gather insights from 27 cybersecurity experts and field leaders.Six key themes emerged from the thematic analysis highlighting the significance of a cyberrisk strategy in bolstering the cybersecurity posture of critical national infrastructure sectors during unplanned system outages with unknown causes.