CISA and USCG Issue Joint Advisory to Strengthen Cyber Hygiene in Critical Infrastructure

Executive Summary

CISA, in partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), released a joint Cybersecurity Advisory aimed at helping critical infrastructure organizations improve their cyber hygiene. This follows a proactive threat hunt engagement at a U.S. critical infrastructure facility. During the engagement, CISA and USCG did not find evidence of malicious cyber activity or actor presence but identified several cybersecurity risks. Mitigations include not storing passwords or credentials in plaintext, avoiding sharing local administrator account credentials, and implementing comprehensive logging.

Municipal Impact

Municipal critical infrastructure organizations should review the advisory and address the identified hygiene gaps, including credential handling and comprehensive logging.

SMB Impact

SMBs in critical infrastructure should apply the mitigations, particularly avoiding plaintext credential storage and shared local administrator accounts.

Recommended Actions

1. Review joint Cybersecurity Advisory AA25-212A from CISA and USCG.
2. Do not store passwords or credentials in plaintext.
3. Avoid sharing local administrator account credentials.
4. Implement comprehensive logging.

Grey Matter Analysis