DNS as critical infrastructure, the energy system case study

Modern critical infrastructures (e.g., power plants, energy grids, oil pipelines, etc.), make nowadays extensive use of information and communication technologies (ICT). As a direct consequence their exposure to cyber-attacks is becoming a matter of public security. In this paper, we analyse a particular infrastructure, rarely considered as source of threats, on which indeed the majority of network based services rely: the domain name system. Taking as example the power system, we show how deeply a failure (accidental or malicious) of the DNS might impact on the operation of the modern and distributed critical infrastructure.