The dangerous blind spot in critical infrastructure cybersecurity

Disruptions to critical infrastructure occur, but as our systems become more complex, we don’t always know whether the incident was due to a maintenance issue, a configuration change, a cyberattack, or something else.

The power blackouts in Spain and Portugal in April 2025 are recent examples in a growing list of disruptions that have left millions without electricity, sometimes for hours or even days. In these cases, engineers work urgently to restore service while investigators try to determine the cause. Was it a technical malfunction? Human oversight? Or a deliberate cyberattack probing for weaknesses or testing emergency responses? These questions arise every time, yet far too often, the answer is: ‘We don’t know.’

Critical infrastructure, including electric grids, water treatment facilities, transportation networks, pipelines and industrial plants, is deeply interconnected and digitalized. Yet, despite their strategic importance, many of these essential systems remain alarmingly under-equipped when it comes to cybersecurity.

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