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Given rapid advancements in information and communication technologies, continued coupling of the digital domain with the physical world and advanced persistent threats, critical infrastructure protection poses a major challenge for the United States.

When we think about critical infrastructure, specifically the sectors the Department of Homeland Security has deemed essential to the well being of the country, rarely does the idea center on public networking assets to support critical infrastructure. But a rapid transformation of network technology and security improved processes so that agencies now can take advantage of combined public and private networking to accomplish information technology goals.

Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience month serves as a reminder to not only understand, but appreciate, the various critical infrastructure sectors that play vital roles in the national and economic security of the United States. How can networking capabilities within these sectors improve? How can innovation continue? One key approach is to address the vast complexities of the networks, guest blogger David Young writes.

November marks the Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience month. The strongest assembled securities available today can't fully safeguard the nation's critical infrastructure assets. But the good news is that these vulnerabilities are front and center on official radars and primed for increased attention. 

Efforts to increasingly digitize networks that run the nation’s critical infrastructure enterprises also are boosting attack surfaces and vulnerabilities in an enduring cybersecurity contest in which hackers target those weaknesses with an elevated furor, experts admonished during a panel discussion on the issue. What can industry, government and academia contribute to shore up the weaknesses that could bring the United States to its knees?