Application of Cyber Resilience Review to an Electricity Company

The functioning of a modern society is based on the cooperation of several critical infrastructures, whose joint efficiency depends increasingly on a reliable national electric power system. Reliability is based on the functional data transmission networks of the organizations belonging to the electric power system. Furthermore, reliability is linked to the confidentiality, integrity and availability of system data in the operational environment, whose cyber security risks are continuously augmented by the threatening scenarios of the digital world. In Finland, the electricity generation is in various ways distributed, which contributes to the reliability of the electric power system. There are about 120 electricity generation companies and about 400 power plants nationally, in which the electricity is produced using various production methods. The control of electric power system’s operational processes is highly automated and networked. The major contribution of the paper is to apply the cyber resilience review to a single electricity company. The basis is in SWOT analysis, which is used for analyzing and that way for bettering the cyber security level of an organization. However, there is not such as perfect security. Security is based on trust, which can be developed with the help of preparedness planning. Resilience review can be seen as preparedness planning that also enables contingency planning. Resilience metrics framework proposed by Linkov et al. is utilized by applying the resilience measures to the organization’s operational processes. In addition, open source intelligence and organization’s operating networks are used for collecting significant security information and that way for updating the preparedness plan, i.e. resilience plan. In order to put the resilience plan into practice, the leadership of an organization must regard resilience measures related to cyber security as a strategic goal and communicate to their staff the importance of contingency planning in achieving the goals. As a result, the cyber security management of an electricity company is improved

Cyber Situational Awareness in Critical Infrastructure Organizations

The capability related to cybersecurity plays an ever-growing role on overall national security and securing the functions vital to society. The national cyber capability is mainly composed by resilience of companies running critical infrastructures and their cyber situational awareness (CSA). According to a common view, components of critical infrastructures become more complex and interdependent on each other and, as a consequence, ramifications of incidents multiply. In practice, the actions relate to developing better CSA and understanding of a critical infrastructure organization. The aim is to prepare for incidents and their management in a whole-of-society approach. The arrangement is based on drawing correct situation-specific conclusions and, when needed, on sharing critical knowledge in the cyber networks of society. The target state is achieved with an efficient process that includes a three-leveled (strategic, operational and technical/tactical) operating model related to the organization’s decision-making. The cyber environment is dynamic and hence especially the strategic agility is required when preparing for incidents. The pervasive incidents targeting society are a challenging cyber environment when it comes to the critical reaction speed required by the situation management.peerReviewe

Cyber Situational Awareness and Information Sharing in Critical Infrastructure Organizations

Cybersecurity-related capabilities play an ever-growing role in national security, as well as securing the functions vital to society. The national cyber capability includes the resilience of companies running critical infrastructures, their cyber situational awareness (SA) and the sharing of cybersecurity information required for cyber SA. As critical infrastructures become more complex and interdepend-ent, ramifications of incidents multiply. The EU Network and Information Secu-rity Directive calls for cybersecurity collaboration between EU member states re-garding critical infrastructures and places the most crucial service providers and digital service providers under security-related obligations. Developing better SA requires information sharing between the different interest groups and en-hances the preparation for and management of incidents. The arrangement is based on drawing correct situation-specific conclusions and, when needed, on sharing critical knowledge in the cyber networks. The target state is achieved with an efficient process that includes a three-level—strategic, operational and technical/tactical—operating model to support decision-making by utilizing na-tional and international strengths. In the dynamic cyber environment strategic agility and speed are needed to prepare for incidents

High Arctic “hotspots” for sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) off western and northern Svalbard, Norway, revealed by multi-year Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM)

Abstract Despite the well-documented, broad global distribution of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus), their distributional patterns remain poorly known in Arctic regions, where year-round monitoring is challenging. Adult male sperm whales are known to migrate seasonally between nutrient-rich high latitude waters and low latitude breeding grounds. However, knowledge is limited regarding fine-scale distribution and seasonal presence at high latitudes. To investigate the acoustic occurrence of this vocally active species in the High Arctic of the Northeast Atlantic, this study combined automated and manual click detection methods to analyze passive acoustic data collected at eight locations around the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway, between 2012 and 2021. The results revealed the presence of sperm whales at six recording sites and demonstrated sperm whale “hotspots” in ice-free areas in eastern Fram Strait along the shelf break and close to the west coast of Spitsbergen from May–January, with some variation between years and locations. Although acoustic presence decreased with increasing latitude, even the northern-most location (81° N) recorded sperm whale vocal activity between August and January. This study provides a baseline for sperm whale acoustic presence in the High Arctic, which will be essential in the context of detecting future changes and also for predicting future distribution patterns in the rapidly changing Arctic marine environment

Sperm whales exhibit variation in echolocation tactics with depth and sea state but not naval sonar exposures

Funding: This work was supported by the UK Defense and Science Technology Laboratory (DSTLX-1000137649), NL Ministry of Defence (Cerema-DGA #1883003901), FR Ministry of Defence, and US Navy Living Marine Resources program (N39430-17-C-1935). PLT was supported by US Office of Naval Research (ONR) grant numbers N00014-18-1-2062 and N00014-20-1-2709, as well as by the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) contracts RC20-1097, RC21-3091, and RC20-7188.Auditory masking by anthropogenic noise may impact marine mammals relying on sound for important life functions, including echolocation. Animals have evolved antimasking strategies, but they may not be completely effective or cost-free. We formulated seven a priori hypotheses on how odontocete echolocation behavior could indicate masking. We addressed six of them using data from 15 tagged sperm whales subject to experimental exposures of pulsed and continuous active sonar (PAS and CAS). Sea state, received single-pulse sound exposure level (SELsp), whale depth and orientation towards surface, and sonar were considered as candidate covariates representing different masking conditions. Echolocation behavior, including buzz duration and search range, varied strongly with depth. After controlling for depth and angle to the surface, the likelihood of buzzing following a click train decreased with sea state (t = −7.3, p < .001). There was little evidence for changes in 10 tested variables with increasing sonar SELsp, except reduced buzzing consistent with previously reported feeding cessation (t = −2.26, p = .02). A potential Lombard effect was detected during echolocation with sea state and SELsp, despite off-axis measurement and right-hand censoring due to acoustic clipping. The results are not conclusive on masking effects on sperm whale echolocation, highlighting challenges and opportunities for future anthropogenic masking studies.PostprintPostprintPeer reviewe

Sperm whales exhibit variation in echolocation tactics with depth and sea state but not naval sonar exposures

Auditory masking by anthropogenic noise may impact marine mammals relying on sound for important life functions, including echolocation. Animals have evolved antimasking strategies, but they may not be completely effective or cost-free. We formulated seven a priori hypotheses on how odontocete echolocation behavior could indicate masking. We addressed six of them using data from 15 tagged sperm whales subject to experimental exposures of pulsed and continuous active sonar (PAS and CAS). Sea state, received single-pulse sound exposure level (SELsp), whale depth and orientation towards surface, and sonar were considered as candidate covariates representing different masking conditions. Echolocation behavior, including buzz duration and search range, varied strongly with depth. After controlling for depth and angle to the surface, the likelihood of buzzing following a click train decreased with sea state (t = −7.3, p &lt; .001). There was little evidence for changes in 10 tested variables with increasing sonar SELsp, except reduced buzzing consistent with previously reported feeding cessation (t = −2.26, p = .02). A potential Lombard effect was detected during echolocation with sea state and SELsp, despite off-axis measurement and right-hand censoring due to acoustic clipping. The results are not conclusive on masking effects on sperm whale echolocation, highlighting challenges and opportunities for future anthropogenic masking studies