Description: With the advent of the internet and increased integration of connected technologies at all levels, opportunities and threats have evolved multifold. Critical infrastructure such as energy grids, key industrial infrastructure, health installations, financial institutions and strategic government establishments (including nuclear facilities) are vital for survival of countries and people. However, if they fall into the wrong hands or become defunct, the national security of a state and personal safety of the population are both jeopardized. According to the Internet Crime Report of the FBI, In 2023, 2 in 5 ransomware attacks were on critical infrastructure and these are statistics from the reported attacks. Developed countries or countries with strong digital infrastructure have the means and resources to cope with cyber adversaries however, developing and least developed countries that have fewer resources become more vulnerable and helpless. Examples of such attacks include the Ivano-Frankivsk region grid power outage in December 2015 that was cyber attacked and left more than 230,000 residents out of power. Another example is when Iran’s nuclear facility was attacked by a Stuxnet computer virus that damages centrifuges used to separate out the nuclear material. Our session aims to discuss use of emerging technology such as AI to protect key critical infrastructure, strategies and frameworks to build cyber resilience based on AI for developing countries and the role of stakeholders such as government, private sector, civil society and the technical community in designing capacity building initiatives for experts in low income countries. For countries in all stages of economic development, it is necessary to have clear policy, education, skill development, intelligence sharing and proper response plans to build strong and robust defense against cyber threats to the critical infrastructure but low income countries have limited resources and thus require more regional and international support and resource optimization.
Open Zoom
