Protecting critical systems for Infrastructure Security Month

COLUMBUS – Ohio Homeland Security (OHS) joins the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) in urging Ohioans to learn more about the importance of physical infrastructure security during Infrastructure Security Month in November.

“We rely on critical infrastructure for how we travel, communicate, conduct business, handle money; power our homes and cars, feed our families, and many other aspects of daily lives,” said OHS Executive Director Brian Quinn. “This month is a time highlight the vital role that critical cyber and physical infrastructure plays and learn how to keep our communities safe, secure, and prosperous.”

Managing risks to critical infrastructure involves preparing for all hazards, reinforcing the resilience of assets and networks, and staying ever vigilant and informed. There are 16 critical infrastructure sectors whose assets, systems, and networks—both physical and virtual—are considered so vital that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating impact, according to CISA. They include the chemical; commercial facilities; communications; critical manufacturing; dams; defense industrial base; emergency services; energy; financial services; food and agriculture; government facilities, which includes the election infrastructure subsector; healthcare and public health; information technology; nuclear reactors, materials, and waste; transportation systems; and water and wastewater systems sectors.

Critical infrastructure provides essential services that we use every day. Due to the various dependencies and interdependencies between infrastructure sectors, a disruption or breakdown in any one sector could create cascading effects that impact other sectors, which, in turn, affects additional sectors.

One of the goals of OHS is to strengthen the resiliency of Ohio’s critical infrastructure and key resources by collaborating with public and private partners to identify vulnerabilities, share information, and facilitate the development of protective programs. OHS works closely with our public and private partners to enhance critical infrastructure security and resilience.

For more information about Infrastructure Security Month, visit CISA.gov/ismonth.