Beyond the data network: Looking at connections you might not notice

Short post to posit a what if. “What if” you could analyze the entire network infrastructure of the electric power grid, water grid, the command and control networks (cyber grid) and any other utilities to find logical and geographic connections between the grids? There are a variety of engineering disciplines that look at failure analysis methods, cascading failures, keystone, and so much more. Most of the methods are discipline specific even though for example the military has “systems of systems” as a thought process. Within the realm of information warfare where there is a cognitive, physical and information dimension the network analysis takes on a new capability.

There has been substantial research looking at networks (systems) and how they can be analyzed whether the network is a radicalized terrorist group or an electric grid. There has been fewer researchers looking at how the different networks connect but usually only with the same domain (terrorist groups working with other terrorist groups as an example). There is some excellent work that looks at how networks can effect each other (electric grid effecting computing as an example). There is however substantially less looking at the connections between the command and control (C2) networks of the different utilities. Unlike geographic dispersion the command and control systems are found in logical and geographic space. They are also connected in different ways to each other with that connection sometimes being computer and sometimes being through a human being.  From a cyber warfare aspect finding where these unexpected connections specifically of command and control networks exist in the same space results in an attack vector or defense issue. Expand the definition beyond the packet network. Expand the idea of how the connections are made and twist that little section in your brain and examine “what if”. This new area that can be identified is very interesting from that aspect.