Letter: Infrastructure And Cybersecurity

Be aware of the coming change to navigational lock and dams.

One cannot overstate the cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI) danger coming as the Army Corps of Engineers is on the doorstep of linking by remote off-site operation automation. In time, 230-plus navigational lock and dam sites will be linked by an off-site computer control system. Thus, it opens a door to the cyberworld and our hostile adversaries and links our top critical infrastructures/navigation to this “forever cyberwar.”

All federal agencies are facing the most extreme and ongoing cyber threats. This Army Corps scheme of moving our top critical infrastructure—navigation locks and dams—from a responsive, secure on-site operation control with on-site federal personnel working 24/7 to an off-site computer control remote operation is a cybersecurity/AI disaster in the making.

It’s worth noting a statement by Brandon Wales, executive director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA): “It is very clear that Chinese attempts to compromise critical infrastructure are in part to pre-position themselves to be able to disrupt or destroy that critical infrastructure in the event of a conflict, to either prevent the United States from being able to project power into Asia or to cause societal chaos inside the United States — to affect our decision-making around a crisis.”

Michael Arendt

Towboat Captain (Ret.)

Meridian, Miss.