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Re: CSIS Report: Securing Cyberspace
Much of it is because each PU/Municipality is responsible for finding their own solutions for linking their assets together. In regards to Municipalities doing this (think water and sewer), many times they're stuck dealing with contractors whom they feel they have to trust because they themselves don't know any better. Many smaller Municipalities are struggling just to pay their staff, so many times they don't have the money to test their own systems for security.
It would be great if there was another "internet" that public entities could use that was segregated from the rest of the world, but I don't see it happening anytime soon. Since the only real solution to this would be to run a completely second set of fiber/cable everywhere and then double up on attached equipment. Then managing this network and billing for all the thousands of groups that would need access to it would be an absolute nightmare.
Other solutions that are not using the internet are either not cost effective or do not provide the bandwidth needed. Early last year I looked into an MPLS system to link my 40 sites (which are all local) together via 56K connections. They wanted $9000/month for this. Which 56K would have been enough for the most basic of service that I needed at these sites, it would have left no room for expanding those services down the road. I did have Leased lines in some sites, and for those I was paying around $350/month for a 56K connection that I was lucky if I could get 1200 baud out of it.
I have since dropped those leased lines and I have established a VPN network using local ISP's as my backbone, because it was the most cost effective way to get connections plus the bandwidth I needed.
Much of it is because each PU/Municipality is responsible for finding their own solutions for linking their assets together. In regards to Municipalities doing this (think water and sewer), many times they're stuck dealing with contractors whom they feel they have to trust because they themselves don't know any better. Many smaller Municipalities are struggling just to pay their staff, so many times they don't have the money to test their own systems for security.
It would be great if there was another "internet" that public entities could use that was segregated from the rest of the world, but I don't see it happening anytime soon. Since the only real solution to this would be to run a completely second set of fiber/cable everywhere and then double up on attached equipment. Then managing this network and billing for all the thousands of groups that would need access to it would be an absolute nightmare.
Other solutions that are not using the internet are either not cost effective or do not provide the bandwidth needed. Early last year I looked into an MPLS system to link my 40 sites (which are all local) together via 56K connections. They wanted $9000/month for this. Which 56K would have been enough for the most basic of service that I needed at these sites, it would have left no room for expanding those services down the road. I did have Leased lines in some sites, and for those I was paying around $350/month for a 56K connection that I was lucky if I could get 1200 baud out of it.
I have since dropped those leased lines and I have established a VPN network using local ISP's as my backbone, because it was the most cost effective way to get connections plus the bandwidth I needed.
Fixed line, or was that over GSM/GPRS or ISM band? 
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