City of Irvine
2020 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
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• Interruptions to communications infrastructure • Number of people protesting • Impacts to certain socioeconomic groups 71 , 72
Cyber Threats Since computers are so ubiquitous, a cyber threat could appear in virtually any part of the city. In extreme circumstances, a threat could impact the entire city. Cyber threats vary in their length and severity in impact. A minor threat could simply cause computer systems to slow down for a few minutes and not behave as responsively. On the other hand, a major cyber threat could cause a complete shutdown of critical systems, including those used by banks, healthcare institutions, universities, major businesses, and city government.
Cyber threats are not measured on any scale, but they can be assessed by determining:
• The type of incident (website defacement, denial of service, unauthorized surveillance) • The use of malicious software • The level of security countermeasures that failed in preventing the cyber threat • The duration of the cyber threat (a few hours, a few days, several weeks, etc.) 73 Globally cyber threats are increasing and becoming more sophisticated. The most common types of attacks include: • Phishing • Ransomware • Intellectual Property Theft • Spyware/Malware • Unpatched Software To understand the status of cyber threats, the Index of Cyber Security, Figure 3-8 , can be referenced, which identifies the measure of perceived risk. Since 2015 this index has trended upward and appears to have doubled in this timeframe. Infrastructure Failure Infrastructure failure may happen anywhere. The specific risk of any individual piece of infrastructure failing depends on the type of infrastructure, the conditions that it is exposed to, and how well it is maintained. Although no piece of infrastructure is completely safe, infrastructure that is well maintained and protected from degradation as much as possible is less likely to suffer failure. There is no scale for infrastructure failure. Key pieces of infrastructure that serve a critical function to the community are analyzed as part of the threat assessment in Chapter 4.
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