ISA NATIONAL DEFENSE CYBER THREAT REPORT: HIGHER EDUCATION
America’s Hidden Frontline: Why Universities Are Now a Matter of National Defense Today, one of the country’s most important and least defended battlefields is not a military base or government bunker – it is US universities. Universities are not merely centers of education; they are the research core of America’s strategic advantage. Each year, they […]
ISA NATIONAL DEFENSE CYBER THREAT REPORT: FINANCIAL SERVICES
Cyber Defense in the Financial Sector: Securing the Infrastructure Behind America’s Economic Power Every U.S. military operation depends on a stable and secure financial infrastructure. Payroll for 2.1 million service members moves through commercial banks. Defense contractors rely on credit markets to fund production. Treasury’s sanctions—the nation’s most effective non-kinetic weapon—require a functioning financial […]
ISA NATIONAL DEFENSE CYBER THREAT REPORT: NUCLEAR
The Nuclear-Cyber Convergence: America’s Energy Future Meets Its Greatest Security Challenge Technology giants are investing billions in nuclear energy to power their artificial intelligence initiatives. Microsoft plans to restart the reactor at Three Mile Island, Google has contracted for 500 megawatts from small modular reactors, and Amazon has taken stakes in several nuclear projects1. This […]
ISA NATIONAL DEFENSE CYBER THREAT REPORT: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
The Heart and Soul and Muscle of Cybersecurity: The IT Sector and Its People Before World War II, the United States viewed warfare as occurring in two primary domains: land, overseen by the Army, and sea, managed by the Navy. The attack on Pearl Harbor revealed a third essential domain—the air—forcing the U.S. to rethink […]
ISA NATIONAL DEFENSE CYBER THREAT REPORT: TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS
Our Transportation Infrastructure is Already Compromised Endangering National Security The People’s Republic of China has forecast its intent to move against Taiwan as early as 2027. Such a move creates extensive strategic concerns for the United States, which could generate the need for a physical show of force. However, if, for example, the US decided […]
ISA NATIONAL DEFENSE CYBER THREAT REPORT: MANUFACTURING
Critical Manufacturing is now the most frequently attacked U.S. critical infrastructure sector, surpassing energy, financial services, and transportation. According to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), manufacturing plays a foundational role in national defense by supplying metals, machinery, electronic systems, and advanced materials essential to modern weapons platforms and critical industrial supply chains1. […]
ISA NATIONAL DEFENSE CYBER THREAT REPORT: HEALTHCARE
Government’s Motto for Cybersecurity needs to be Do No Harm Healthcare was one of the very first industries regulated for cybersecurity under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and remains one of the least cybersecure. Academic reviews of cybersecurity policy have identified 49 separate regulations, standards, and guidelines applicable to healthcare […]
ISA NATIONAL DEFENSE CYBER THREAT REPORT: AGRICULTURE
Food is on the Front Line of Nation-State Cyber Attacks We Are Already Under Attack Agriculture is one of the nation’s most essential and least protected infrastructures. Rapid digitization of precision farming, automated processing, and just-in-time logistics has created an attack surface that has expanded far more quickly than cybersecurity investment. USDA officials […]
ISA NATIONAL DEFENSE CYBER THREAT REPORT: THE ELECTRIC GRID
Chinese Hackers Have Infiltrated Our Grid American cybersecurity faces a significant and immediate challenge. Chinese state-sponsored hackers have embedded themselves in our critical electric utility infrastructure—positioning themselves to potentially disrupt both our economy and our operational national defense capability. In November, Politico quoted the Chief Information Security Officer of a major critical infrastructure company, stating, […]
ISA NATIONAL DEFENSE CYBER THREAT REPORT THREE: WATER
The Navy can’t protect us from these attacks on the water. Chinese military strategists have long emphasized that the most effective way to weaken an adversary is to disrupt its critical infrastructure without firing a shot. The discovery that Volt Typhoon, a Chinese military cyber group, has successfully attacked and compromised access to American water […]
