Infrastructure has always been a target in warfare, says Mikhail Chester, an ASU professor of civil and environmental engineering. “Think about military aircraft dropping bombs on bridges or railroad lines,” he says. Chester points to the recent ransomware attack that shut down one of America’s largest fuel pipeline networks. “This kind of problem is growing, and it can’t be solved through remedial repairs to old infrastructure,” Chester said.
Infrastructure has always been a target in warfare, according to Mikhail Chester, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Arizona State University.
“Think about military aircraft dropping bombs on bridges or railroad lines. But battles today are not just army versus army. They are society versus society, and this change means we need to change how we think about infrastructure.”