Lawmakers Weigh Critical Infrastructure Status for Data Centers
Summary
At a House hearing, lawmakers and industry witnesses debated whether data centers need a standalone critical-infrastructure designation, citing their growing importance, recent Iranian drone strikes and unclear federal coordination.
Key points
- Witnesses said attacks that disrupt major data centers could have consequences across multiple companies and sectors.
- The article reports that Iranian drones recently targeted two Amazon data centers and struck a third facility in Bahrain.
- AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform together account for 63% of the data center market, according to the article.
- Witnesses proposed a data-center coordinating council or a combined data center and cloud infrastructure sector.
- The hearing highlighted uncertainty over which federal agency should coordinate data center security and response.
Article Details
- Event Type
- Congressional hearing and policy debate over whether data centers should be designated a standalone critical infrastructure sector, amid reported Iranian drone strikes targeting Amazon data centers and a facility in Bahrain.
- Impact
- Witnesses warned that an attack or disruption at a major data center could have consequences across multiple sectors. The article reports that Iranian drones targeted two Amazon data centers and that a third data center in Bahrain was struck; it does not report resulting damage or service disruption. Participants called for clearer federal responsibility and coordinated protection.
People
Andy OglesHouse Homeland Security Subcommittee member who raised concerns at the hearing about the lack of a clear, unified federal approach to data center security.LaMonica McIverRepresentative who asked hearing witnesses about federal protection of data centers.Mark MontgomeryFoundation for Defense of Democracies representative who suggested combining data centers and cloud providers in a critical infrastructure sector.Robert MayerUSTelecom senior vice president for cybersecurity and innovation who recommended a coordinating council for data centers.Samuel VisnerSpace Information Sharing and Analysis Center board chair who supported treating data centers as critical infrastructure.Scott AlgeierInformation Technology Information Sharing and Analysis Center executive director who told the hearing his organization had created a special interest group for data center providers.Vince FongRepresentative who asked hearing witnesses about federal protection of data centers.
Vendors
Amazon Web ServicesThree providers—Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud—account for 63% of the market.Google Cloud Platform (GCP)Three providers account for 63 percent of the market share of data centers: Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform.Microsoft AzureThree providers—Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud—account for 63% of the market.
Countries
BahrainPanelists highlighted recent Iranian drone strikes on Amazon and Bahrain facilities, the market concentration among AWS, Azure and Google Cloud, and calls for clearer federal coordination and protection.IranLast month, Iranian drones targeted two Amazon data centers in response to the U.S.-Israel bombing campaign on Iran, and a third data center in Bahrain was struck as well.United KingdomThe United Kingdom already has deemed data centers as a standalone critical infrastructure sector.United StatesThe question of how to secure data centers against cyber and physical attacks coincides with artificial intelligence fuelling a boom in the building of such facilities across the United States.
Industries
Cloud ComputingThe 2024 rewrite of a White House national security memo left some experts disappointed that it didn’t designate cloud computing as a critical infrastructure sector.Data centersLawmakers at a House Homeland Security subcommittee hearing debated whether data centers should be designated a standalone critical infrastructure sector as rapid AI-driven growth and targeting increase their strategic