A Regulated Asset Base, or RAB, is a financing model used for large infrastructure projects. Under a RAB framework, regulators allow a project company to recover approved costs, and sometimes earn a return, before the asset is fully operational. That early revenue can make expensive, long-duration projects easier to finance because lenders see a clearer path to repayment.
In cyber security, RAB matters because the model depends on trustworthy data: project costs, completion milestones, billing records, and regulatory submissions. If an attacker alters those records, the project may overbill consumers, understate risk, or trigger disputes with regulators and investors. Defenses focus on integrity controls, access management, strong audit logs, and segregation of duties across finance, engineering, and IT systems. In practice, RAB-supported projects can become targets for phishing, insider manipulation, ransomware, or document tampering, because changing the numbers can change the money.