Beyond the IT Checklist: Engineering a Reasonable Standard of Care for Cyber Safety

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2606.13612v1
• Date: Thu, 11 Jun 2026 17:25:07 GMT
• Title: Beyond the IT Checklist: Engineering a Reasonable Standard of Care for Cyber Safety
• Abstract summary: Current U.S. cyber policy treats documentation of controls and incident reports as a proxy for safety in the built environment.<n>This paper argues that such an approach is inadequate for cyber-physical systems, where digital failures can produce kinetic harm.
• Score: 0.2274915755738124
• License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
• Abstract: Current U.S. cyber policy, centered on security, often treats documentation of controls and incident reports as a proxy for safety in the built environment. This paper argues that such an approach is inadequate for cyber-physical systems, where digital failures can produce kinetic harm. We construct and code a corpus of critical infrastructure policy documents (N=292, 2000-2025) to examine how "reasonable care" is operationalized across the NIST SP 800-160 Vol.~2 resilience lifecycle. The resulting maps show that obligations are concentrated in the Anticipate phase and emphasize administrative compliance, while Withstand and Recover phases rely heavily on delegated references to IT-focused control catalogs that are poorly aligned with physics-based hazards. We identify three major disconnects: miscalibrated delegated standards, recovery defined as notification rather than engineered navigation, and uneven adaptation requirements across sectors. We then propose a modernized standard of care anchored in hazard-specific traceability, structured assurance cases, and cyber resiliency engineering. Finally, we recommend that federal policy pair these engineering obligations with targeted incentives so that resilient architectures for critical infrastructure become a viable business decision rather than an unfunded expectation.

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