SAVANNAH, GA. -- Imagine what would happen if an attacker broke into the network for the industrial control systems for New York City's elevators and boiler systems and decided to disrupt them, imperiling the lives of hundreds of thousands of residents relying on them. Think it could never happen? Think again.

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- The security associated with industrial control systems (ICS) is facing heavy criticism this week at the ICS Joint Working Group 2012 Spring Conference, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS is concerned cyberattacks could disrupt America's energy, water and manufacturing facilities.

On the face of it, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) that the U.S. House of Representatives just passed seems to address the long-held notion that encouraging private and public sector concerns to share security information will improve our general security.

Cybercriminals have already figured out how to hack into enterprise infrastructure, and the critical infrastructure that controls our nation's supply of water, gas, oil and electricity just might be next.

Security issues are exerting a ton of pressure and monetary concerns on the executives in charge of keeping corporate networks and assets safe.

Embattled by hactivists, cybercriminals and foreign rivals seeking to steal proprietary information, U.S. corporations are ramping up their hiring of cybersecurity experts, with open jobs reaching an all-time high in April.

Cybersecurity jobs are plentiful, from government, financial services and utilities to manufacturing and retail. But what skills do IT professionals need to qualify for these high-paying jobs?

A PR campaign is underway to clean up as many as 300,000 computers infected with DNSChanger viruses that divert victims' traffic to sites that can further exploit the machines and their owners, but it's not clear that goal can be accomplished without drastic measures.