Protect Critical Infrastructure: Cybersecurity Strategies for Governments
Akamai Technologies, Wednesday, August 27th, 2025
It only takes one click, one misconfigured port, or one forgotten patch - and, suddenly, 911 dispatch is offline, water treatment operations grind to a halt, or a regional airport is paralyzed. For state and local governments, protecting critical infrastructure is no longer just an IT issue, it's a matter of public safety, economic stability, and trust.
What is critical infrastructure?
Critical infrastructure is a prime target for nation-state threat actors, hacktivists, and cybercriminals. But what is 'critical infrastructure' exactly?
From the perspective of state and local governments, critical infrastructure encompasses the assets, systems, and networks, both physical and virtual, that are deemed essential for the functioning of a community, state, or the nation as a whole. These are the foundational elements that support daily life, the economy, public health and safety, and national security.
From a more general perspective, critical infrastructure refers to the essential services and systems that, if rendered unavailable, would have a debilitating impact on the constituents who depend on these services. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has defined 16 critical infrastructure sectors, including emergency services, energy, financial services, wastewater systems, healthcare, information technology (IT), and others.