When we hear the term “critical infrastructure,” we want to believe that the assets – whether they are physical or digital – are extremely secure. Our minds conjure images of the vaults of Fort Knox, which are protected from every angle. However, critical infrastructure of the digital variety is not necessarily any more secure than any other digital asset. It all comes down to how meticulous the organization is in looking for and quickly closing vulnerabilities and security gaps that expose an attack surface for a bad actor to exploit.

In Spring 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic was starting to spread across the globe, a survey of approximately 250 U.S. consumers commissioned by Awake Security found that the two threats from the DHS list that worry Americans most are cyberattacks on core infrastructure (electric, water, transportation etc.) and cyberattacks on corporations. Diving deeper into the results surfaces something that is contrary to the popular narrative: consumers take responsibility for their personal cybersecurity and even help out those around them. They hold the government and enterprises ultimately accountable, but also understand the role each individual has to play.