Why data centers now belong on the critical infrastructure list | CyberScoop<\/title> <meta name=\"description\" content=\"As AI shifts data centers from digital backbones to strategic targets, industry experts argue they must officially be classified as critical infrastructure. Learn why rising physical and cyber threats are making operational resilience a board-level national security priority.\"> <link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/data-centers-critical-infrastructure-ai-security-op-ed\/\"> <meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\"> <meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\"> <meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why data centers now belong on the critical infrastructure list\"> <meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As AI shifts data centers from digital backbones to strategic targets, industry experts argue they must officially be classified as critical infrastructure. Learn why rising physical and cyber threats are making operational resilience a board-level national security priority.\"> <meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/data-centers-critical-infrastructure-ai-security-op-ed\/\"> <meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CyberScoop\"> <meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cyberscoop\/\"> <meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-04T10:00:00+00:00\"> <meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-5.jpg\"> <meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2309\"> <meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1299\"> <meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\"> <meta name=\"author\" content=\"Greg Otto\"> <meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\"> <meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@gregotto\"> <meta name=\"twitter:site\" 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class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> <main id=\"main\" role=\"main\" tabindex=\"-1\"> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--top ad--top-mobile\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<section id=\"stickybar\" class=\"stickybar stickybar--newsletter js-stickybar\" readability=\"0.82\"> <button class=\"stickybar__close js-stickybar-close\" aria-controls=\"stickybar\"> <svg class=\"icon icon--close\" width=\"21\" height=\"22\" viewBox=\"0 0 21 22\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"m.822.518-.805.805L9.695 11 .017 20.678l.805.805 9.678-9.678 9.677 9.678.806-.805L11.305 11l9.678-9.677-.806-.805-9.677 9.677L.822.518Z\" fill=\"currentColor\" \/><\/svg> <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Close<\/span> <\/button> <\/section>\n<article class=\"single-article content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__container js-single-article-content\">\n<header class=\"single-article__header \" readability=\"26.121405750799\">\n<div class=\"single-article__header-content\" readability=\"33.463087248322\">\n<ul class=\"single-article__eyebrow\">\n<li class=\"single-article__category\"> <a class=\"single-article__category-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/data-centers-critical-infrastructure-ai-security-op-ed\/\"> <span>Commentary<\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> As AI drives deeper dependence across business, supply chains, and national security, the buildings that run the cloud are becoming critical infrastructure \u2014 and increasingly attractive targets. <\/p>\n<p>   <\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__cover-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"single-article__cover\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list.jpg?resize=640%2C360&ssl=1\" class=\"single-article__cover-image wp-post-image\" alt 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https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-5.jpg?resize=600,337 600w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-5.jpg?resize=1200,675 1200w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-5.jpg?resize=1498,843 1498w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption> (Getty Images) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"single-article__content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__content-inner has-drop-cap\"> <html readability=\"84.319752203955\"><body readability=\"169.74672489083\"><\/p>\n<p>Missile and drone attacks that <a href=\"https:\/\/defensescoop.com\/2026\/03\/03\/commercial-data-centers-drone-warfare-amazon-aws\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">took out cloud data centers<\/a> in the Middle East underscored a critical vulnerability in the modern economy: reliance on digital infrastructure that sustains competitive advantage and operational continuity for corporations, nations, and militaries. <\/p>\n<p>The outages and downstream disruption were a preview of a new form of strategic and operational risk. Data centers have long been the backbone of the digital economy. What is changing is the scale of dependence as AI workloads dramatically increase the compute power required to run businesses, supply chains, and national security systems. <\/p>\n<p>Artificial intelligence has moved beyond business applications and into the core of warfare and national security. Last month, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/03\/world\/anthropic-pentagon-lebanon-miami.html\">The New York Times<\/a> reported that <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/tag\/artificial-intelligence-ai\/\">AI<\/a> is \u201ctotally integrated\u201d into the collection of intelligence and its use in strategic decision-making and military operations. Even if AI models are not directly firing weapons, AI-enabled analysis now plays a central role in how modern militaries gain visibility, find insights, and drive action.<\/p>\n<p>That matters because it changes what should be considered <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/tag\/critical-infrastructure\/\">critical infrastructure<\/a>. If AI is a competitive advantage for companies and a battlefield advantage for warfighters, then the infrastructure that trains, hosts and runs AI becomes a high-value target. Attacks on the digital infrastructure organizations rely on can do more than inflict financial damage. They can slow decision-making, degrade logistics and reduce military effectiveness without ever engaging a conventional force.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Historically, nation-state campaigns targeting data centers and service providers focused on cyber intrusions for espionage or pre-positioning. What is different now is the emergence of physical attacks on digital infrastructure during active conflict. Russian military intelligence has been linked to campaigns aimed at digital infrastructure and managed services, often as part of a supply chain attack to compromise organizations at scale. Iran-aligned groups have repeatedly demonstrated willingness to target private sector entities to advance geopolitical goals. In many cases, the objective was access: steal data, implant persistence, map networks, and maintain a foothold that could be used later for espionage or disruption. <\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s clearer now than ever before is that data centers and the AI workloads they support have become so vital to modern society, our adversaries will seek to degrade or destroy their efficacy as a tactic of both kinetic and cyber warfare.<\/p>\n<p>We have already seen how quickly a digital incident can become real-world disruption. On March 11, reports surfaced of thousands of servers and endpoints wiped inside <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/medtech-giant-stryker-says-its-back-up-after-iranian-cyberattack\/\">Stryker<\/a>, a U.S.-based medical device manufacturer. A hacktivist group sympathetic to Iran, known as Handala, claimed responsibility. The incident reportedly halted Stryker\u2019s global production after attackers accessed its Microsoft environment and issued a wipe command via Intune. Even without a single missile, the outcome looked like a strategic disruption: operations stopped and downstream customers felt it.<\/p>\n<p>For business leaders, the imperative is clear: treat operational resilience as a board-level priority in the AI era.<\/p>\n<p>In the world of corporate IT, cybersecurity prioritizes confidentiality: preventing theft of sensitive information. Resilience is a different discipline. It is the ability to sustain operations when systems are degraded, disrupted or actively under attack. For data centers and the businesses that depend on them, resilience comes down to preventing cascading failures and reducing the consequence when something inevitably goes wrong.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>These developments carry an important implication for the private sector. Digital infrastructure is increasingly a strategic target, making resilience a core business priority rather than a narrow IT issue. For business leaders, the impact of data center disruption extends into multiple, often overlooked areas of cybersecurity risk.<\/p>\n<p>For example, AI\u2019s growth is colliding with a power wall in many regions where grid capacity cannot scale fast enough. That is driving facilities toward new power dependencies, including on-site generation through distributed energy and renewables, yielding more complex power management environments. This power infrastructure becomes a pressure point as interruptions to power supply or management systems can quickly force a data center offline. Russia has on several occasions demonstrated the ability to target and disrupt power generation and distribution in Ukraine in both 2015 and 2016.<\/p>\n<p>Building management and automation systems, including HVAC and physical access controls, are another. These systems are essential to creating safe and supporting operational environments, but they typically have long capital depreciation cycles and inconsistent security safeguards. Frequently exposed to the Internet, and commonly misconfigured and not properly secured, they can become a pathway to outages by an attacker.<\/p>\n<p>With an increasing density of computing infrastructure, thermal management has become a core environment control in data centers. As the industry adopts liquid cooling for dense AI loads, interference with cooling is no longer a niche technical issue. It is a risk vector that can cause downtime and potential equipment damage if breached by attackers.<\/p>\n<p>Remote access creates another major exposure. Data centers rely on vendors, contractors, and systems integrators for maintenance, monitoring, and support, and each remote connection can become an entry point if it isn\u2019t tightly controlled, centrally managed, and well secured. Adversaries often target these trusted access routes because they can be easier to compromise than a well-defended perimeter, allowing attackers to bypass standard controls and safeguards.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>All of this has broader economic implications because data center disruption does not stay inside the technology sector. It cascades into the industries that keep society functioning and supply chains moving: hospitals, electric utilities, chemical production, food and beverage, oil and gas, and transportation. An extended outage becomes missed shipments, halted production, delayed care, safety concerns and lost trust.<\/p>\n<p>What should leaders do now?<\/p>\n<p>Start by defining resilience targets that match business reality: what must stay running, what can degrade, what cannot fail. Then invest in the controls that limit the impact of an incident. Segmentation between IT and OT assets should be non-negotiable. Remote access should be treated as a critical risk pathway with least privilege, strong authentication and continuous monitoring.<\/p>\n<p>Manage facilities systems such as building management systems, power, and cooling controls as critical operational technology, with asset inventories, vulnerability management, logging, and incident response plans that anticipate disruption.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, train to operate under degraded conditions. Tabletop exercises should include scenarios like loss of a cloud region, partial failure of a facility, or compromise of a management plane. Use these exercises to validate that the organization can maintain essential operations and recover quickly when disruptions occur. <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Policy is moving in this direction as well. Governments are increasingly treating data centers as critical infrastructure. Policies and frameworks such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?s=national+cybersecurity+strategy\">National Cybersecurity Strategy<\/a>, CISA\u2019s Secure by Design principles, and international standards like IEC 62443 all reflect a growing recognition that digital infrastructure is a national security issue. Companies that get ahead of this shift will not only reduce risk, they will build competitive advantage in a world where downtime can become a strategic weapon.<\/p>\n<p>In the AI era, data centers are essential infrastructure for modern economies and national security. Their rising importance also makes them attractive targets in cyber and physical conflict. Protecting them is no longer just about safeguarding company operations, it is about protecting the systems society depends on every day. <\/p>\n<p><em>Grant Geyer is the chief strategy officer at Claroty.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><\/body> <\/p>\n<footer class=\"single-article__footer\" readability=\"0.6241610738255\">\n<div class=\"author-card\" readability=\"7\">\n<div class=\"author-card__avatar\">\n<figure class=\"author-card__image-wrap\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-card__image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-1.jpg?w=640&ssl=1\" alt=\"Grant Geyer\"> <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><h4 class=\"author-card__name\">Written by Grant Geyer<\/h4>\n<p> Grant Geyer is the chief strategy officer for Claroty <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__tags-container\">\n<h4 class=\"single-article__tags-title\">In This Story<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<p> <\/html><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__ads js-single-article-sidebar\">\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-5 ad--rightrail_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-4 ad--rightrail_2 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-3 ad--rightrail_3 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"popular-stories popular-stories--single-post\">\n<div class=\"popular-stories__container\">\n<h2 class=\"popular-stories__title\"> More Scoops <\/h2>\n<div class=\"popular-stories__stories\">\n<div class=\"popular-stories__cards\">\n<article class=\"post-item post-item--popular-stories-cards \" readability=\"21.605855855856\">\n<figure class=\"post-item__thumbnail\"> <a class=\"post-item__thumbnail-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/congress-industry-ponder-government-posture-for-protecting-data-centers\/\" tabindex=\"-1\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"506\" height=\"337\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-2.jpg?resize=506%2C337&ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-ratio-16-9-md size-ratio-16-9-md wp-post-image\" alt decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-6.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-6.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-6.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-6.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-6.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-6.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-6.jpg?resize=252,168 252w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-6.jpg?resize=506,337 506w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-6.jpg?resize=1013,675 1013w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-6.jpg?resize=1265,843 1265w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 506px) 100vw, 506px\"> <\/a><figcaption class=\"screen-reader-text\"> In this handout provided by Amazon, a technician works at an Amazon Web Services AI data center in New Carlisle, Indiana on Oct. 2, 2025. (Photo by Noah Berger\/Getty Images via Amazon Web Services) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<header class=\"post-item__meta\" readability=\"2\">\n<h3 class=\"post-item__title\"> <a class=\"post-item__title-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/congress-industry-ponder-government-posture-for-protecting-data-centers\/\"> Congress, industry ponder government posture for protecting data centers <\/a> <\/h3>\n<p> A hearing of the House Homeland Security panel\u2019s cyber subcommittee weighed whether to designate data centers as a standalone critical infrastructure sector. <\/p>\n<div class=\"post-item__byline\"> <span class=\"post-item__author\"> <span>By <\/span> <a class=\"post-item__author-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/author\/tim-starkscyberscoop-com\/\"> Tim Starks <\/a> <\/span> <\/div>\n<p> <\/header>\n<p> <\/article>\n<article class=\"post-item post-item--popular-stories-cards \">\n<figure class=\"post-item__thumbnail\"> <a class=\"post-item__thumbnail-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/dragos-zionsiphon-ai-malware-targeting-water-sector-hype\/\" tabindex=\"-1\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"252\" height=\"168\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-3.jpg?resize=252%2C168&ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-ratio-16-9-sm size-ratio-16-9-sm wp-post-image\" alt decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-7.jpg 7875w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-7.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-7.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-7.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-7.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-7.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-7.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-7.jpg?resize=252,168 252w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-7.jpg?resize=506,337 506w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-7.jpg?resize=1013,675 1013w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-7.jpg?resize=1265,843 1265w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 252px) 100vw, 252px\"> <\/a><figcaption class=\"screen-reader-text\"> Arik Ashkenazi, chief engineer at the Ein Netafim wastewater treatment plant, walks between water clarifier basins at the facility in Israel\u2019s southern Red Sea port city of Eilat on July 13, 2023. Hemmed in between the Red Sea and a desert, isolated from the rest of Israel and with no natural freshwater, Eilat\u2019s drinking water is a combination of desalinated groundwater and sea water. After its domestic use turns it into sewage, it is treated and then allocated to farmers, enabling the arid region to support an agricultural industry. While Eilat used to be the exception in Israel\u2019s water management, it is now more of a prototype for the country and perhaps to the world. (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA \/ AFP) (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA\/AFP via Getty Images) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<header class=\"post-item__meta\">\n<h3 class=\"post-item__title\"> <a class=\"post-item__title-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/dragos-zionsiphon-ai-malware-targeting-water-sector-hype\/\"> Dragos: Despite AI use, new malware targeting water plants is \u2018hype\u2019 <\/a> <\/h3>\n<div class=\"post-item__byline\"> <span class=\"post-item__author\"> <span>By <\/span> <a class=\"post-item__author-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/author\/derek-johnson\/\"> Derek B. Johnson <\/a> <\/span> <\/div>\n<p> <\/header>\n<p> <\/article>\n<article class=\"post-item post-item--popular-stories-cards \">\n<figure class=\"post-item__thumbnail\"> <a class=\"post-item__thumbnail-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/anthropic-mythos-vulnerability-discovery-op-ed\/\" tabindex=\"-1\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"253\" height=\"168\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-4.jpg?resize=253%2C168&ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-ratio-16-9-sm size-ratio-16-9-sm wp-post-image\" alt decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-8.jpg 6048w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-8.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-8.jpg?resize=768,511 768w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-8.jpg?resize=1024,681 1024w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-8.jpg?resize=1536,1022 1536w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-8.jpg?resize=2048,1363 2048w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-8.jpg?resize=600,399 600w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-8.jpg?resize=253,168 253w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-8.jpg?resize=507,337 507w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-8.jpg?resize=1015,675 1015w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list-8.jpg?resize=1267,843 1267w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 253px) 100vw, 253px\"> <\/a><figcaption class=\"screen-reader-text\"> (Getty Images) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<header class=\"post-item__meta\">\n<h3 class=\"post-item__title\"> <a class=\"post-item__title-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/anthropic-mythos-vulnerability-discovery-op-ed\/\"> Mythos can find the vulnerability. It can\u2019t tell you what to do about it. <\/a> <\/h3>\n<div class=\"post-item__byline\"> <span class=\"post-item__author\"> <span>By <\/span> <a class=\"post-item__author-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/author\/alex-thaman\/\"> Alex Thaman <\/a> <\/span> <\/div>\n<p> <\/header>\n<p> <\/article>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> <\/div>\n<p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <\/p>\n<section class=\"latest-podcasts\">\n<h2 class=\"latest-podcasts__title\"> Latest Podcasts\t<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"top-categories\">\n<div class=\"top-categories__container\">\n<h3 class=\"top-categories__category-title\">Government<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"top-categories__container\">\n<h3 class=\"top-categories__category-title\">Technology<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> <\/main> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--bottom \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"interstitial\" class=\"welcome__container\"> <button id=\"close-modal-1\" class=\"welcome__clickable_area\"><\/button> <\/p>\n<div class=\"welcome__ad_wrapper\">\n<p> <button id=\"close-modal-3\" class=\"welcome__continue-button\">Continue to CyberScoop<\/button> <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>   <\/body> <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/data-centers-critical-infrastructure-ai-security-op-ed\/\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why data centers now belong on the critical infrastructure list<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[235,384,280,413,2807],"tags":[236,388,284,415,2808],"class_list":["post-8605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ai","category-artificial-intelligence-ai","category-commentary","category-critical-infrastructure","category-op-ed","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence-ai","tag-commentary","tag-critical-infrastructure","tag-op-ed"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":"","chromenews-featured":"","chromenews-large":"","chromenews-medium":""},"author_info":{"display_name":"Cyber Scoop","author_link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/author\/cyberscoop\/"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/ai\/\" rel=\"category tag\">AI<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/artificial-intelligence-ai\/\" rel=\"category tag\">artificial intelligence (AI)<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/commentary\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Commentary<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/critical-infrastructure\/\" rel=\"category tag\">critical infrastructure<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/op-ed\/\" rel=\"category tag\">op-ed<\/a>","tag_info":"op-ed","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8605\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":8605,"date":"2026-05-04T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=88840"},"modified":"2026-05-04T05:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T10:00:00","slug":"why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2026\/05\/04\/why-data-centers-now-belong-on-the-critical-infrastructure-list\/","title":{"rendered":"Why data centers now belong on the critical infrastructure list"},"content":{"rendered":"