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Is 85% of US Critical Infrastructure in Private Hands?

anm89 5y ago
Banksters and the deep state. This sounds like a reliable source of info.
opwieurposiu 5y ago
What does % even mean in this context? Number of servers? Linear feet of pipeline? Landing slots on airport runways? Radio spectrum?
- aaron-santos 5y ago
  A good-faith interpretation might be dollars, but it seems as though there is no original source to cite; the number itself was wished into existence.
Proven 5y ago
Bruce continues to peddle his statist recipes. > Most US critical infrastructure is run by private corporations. This has major security implications, because it’s putting a random power company in — say — Ohio — up against the Russian cybercommand, which isn’t a fair fight. Why wouldn't it be? When it comes to survival of a random power company in Ohio, a random power company in Ohio has more skin in the game than the NSA. The NSA and CIA and hacked every year. Where does Bruce's confidence come from? Enough with security socialism - let everyone pay for their own cyber defense.
nwah1 5y ago
Whether or not this statistic is accurate, certainly a large percentage is in private hands, and this does have security implications. Nationalization is not the only possible way to harden security. But we could designate certain key industries as of importance for national security, and thus restrict ownership of it to US citizens only. Insurance is a key private-sector approach to managing risk, and in an ideal world the insurance companies would enforce their own requirements in regards to security audits, penetration testing, and the like. And failing them would ideally cause premiums to rise. Making such insurance mandatory would be key, in the same way it is mandatory for drivers. This industry is currently immature, partly because of the low demand, and making it mandatory would help correct that. And such insurance would itself be an industry designated to be of importance to national security, along with all related cybersecurity services. A lot of government-run infrastructure at the state, regional, and municipal level is vulnerable in the exact same manner, and having either insurance coverage and/or federal-level assistance is key. Everything from voting systems to municipal water systems are extremely vulnerable. I know from firsthand that the security practices can be non-existent.
nunez 5y ago
It's crazy that a stat can just be "accepted" into existence regardless of its origin.
- Randor 5y ago
  Hmmmm, Maybe by forming it as a question he is inviting someone to verify or revise that number.
mlindner 5y ago
And it's a good thing that it is... If it was state controlled it would be less reliable and way more expensive. The US government is already huge. Almost every industry feels connected to the government of late. We shouldn't be continuing this trend.
LUmBULtERA 5y ago
A lot of critical infrastructure that is privately owned, however, is publicly regulated. (Regardless of whether the statistic is true or not, or whatever the point of it is)
AtlasBarfed 5y ago
Well the next step beyond "private" is ... "multinational private"? There's a big difference between virtually all the private holdings being domestic, and being part of a company that can view its American holdings as something that could be sacrificed under extreme circumstances. Rooftop solar and home storage at least offer the promise of a truly decentralized power generation for a very large percentage of Americans. Within the context of the oil pipeline attack, EVs + Home solar + storage eliminates the oil/gas/fuel vulnerabilities. Internet? Starlink and other swarm satellite networks will probably help, in addition to the reduced infrastructure needed by wireless networks compared to the wired ones. Water and roads and food are still pretty much bound by the usual technologies and processes.
dublin 5y ago
I would certainly hope so. It's considerably safer there than in the hands of a too-big, unresponsive, bloated, inefficient, uncaring government...

Banksters and the deep state. This sounds like a reliable source of info.

What does % even mean in this context? Number of servers? Linear feet of pipeline? Landing slots on airport runways? Radio spectrum?

aaron-santos 5y ago
A good-faith interpretation might be dollars, but it seems as though there is no original source to cite; the number itself was wished into existence.

Proven 5y ago

Bruce continues to peddle his statist recipes. > Most US critical infrastructure is run by private corporations. This has major security implications, because it’s putting a random power company in — say — Ohio — up against the Russian cybercommand, which isn’t a fair fight. Why wouldn't it be? When it comes to survival of a random power company in Ohio, a random power company in Ohio has more skin in the game than the NSA. The NSA and CIA and hacked every year. Where does Bruce's confidence come from? Enough with security socialism - let everyone pay for their own cyber defense.

nwah1 5y ago

Whether or not this statistic is accurate, certainly a large percentage is in private hands, and this does have security implications. Nationalization is not the only possible way to harden security. But we could designate certain key industries as of importance for national security, and thus restrict ownership of it to US citizens only. Insurance is a key private-sector approach to managing risk, and in an ideal world the insurance companies would enforce their own requirements in regards to security audits, penetration testing, and the like. And failing them would ideally cause premiums to rise. Making such insurance mandatory would be key, in the same way it is mandatory for drivers. This industry is currently immature, partly because of the low demand, and making it mandatory would help correct that. And such insurance would itself be an industry designated to be of importance to national security, along with all related cybersecurity services. A lot of government-run infrastructure at the state, regional, and municipal level is vulnerable in the exact same manner, and having either insurance coverage and/or federal-level assistance is key. Everything from voting systems to municipal water systems are extremely vulnerable. I know from firsthand that the security practices can be non-existent.

nunez 5y ago

It's crazy that a stat can just be "accepted" into existence regardless of its origin.

Randor 5y ago
Hmmmm, Maybe by forming it as a question he is inviting someone to verify or revise that number.

mlindner 5y ago

And it's a good thing that it is... If it was state controlled it would be less reliable and way more expensive. The US government is already huge. Almost every industry feels connected to the government of late. We shouldn't be continuing this trend.

LUmBULtERA 5y ago

A lot of critical infrastructure that is privately owned, however, is publicly regulated. (Regardless of whether the statistic is true or not, or whatever the point of it is)

AtlasBarfed 5y ago

Well the next step beyond "private" is ... "multinational private"? There's a big difference between virtually all the private holdings being domestic, and being part of a company that can view its American holdings as something that could be sacrificed under extreme circumstances. Rooftop solar and home storage at least offer the promise of a truly decentralized power generation for a very large percentage of Americans. Within the context of the oil pipeline attack, EVs + Home solar + storage eliminates the oil/gas/fuel vulnerabilities. Internet? Starlink and other swarm satellite networks will probably help, in addition to the reduced infrastructure needed by wireless networks compared to the wired ones. Water and roads and food are still pretty much bound by the usual technologies and processes.

dublin 5y ago

I would certainly hope so. It's considerably safer there than in the hands of a too-big, unresponsive, bloated, inefficient, uncaring government...