March 20, 2024 at 02:39PM
The US government urges states to improve water sector cybersecurity amid rising threats. The EPA plans to establish a Water Sector Cybersecurity Task Force to address vulnerabilities and adopt best practices. Recent attacks have raised awareness, prompting the EPA to pursue a concerted effort with state officials, backed by the Biden-Harris administration. EPA’s prior attempts to enhance cybersecurity faced resistance, but recent cyberattacks have spurred concrete action.
From the meeting notes, it is evident that the US government and the EPA are deeply concerned about the cybersecurity of the country’s water sector in the face of increasing threats from foreign adversaries. To address this, the EPA is seeking to establish a Water Sector Cybersecurity Task Force that will focus on implementing immediate solutions to prevent disruptions to the critical water services in the US.
The task force aims to consider prevalent vulnerabilities in the sector and adopt industry-wide best practices. It also plans to build upon existing initiatives, such as the 2023 Roadmap to a Secure and Resilient Water and Wastewater Sector. Recommendations from the meeting between state environmental, health, and homeland security secretaries will be fed back and considered by the task force. State secretaries were invited via a letter from Michael Regan, EPA administrator, and Jake Sullivan, national security advisor, outlining the cyber threat to the industry.
Recent cybersecurity incidents, including the attacks on the Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa and those linked to foreign adversaries, have brought heightened awareness to the need for improved cybersecurity in the water sector. Notably, Iran-backed and China-linked groups have been implicated in these cyber intrusions.
The meeting notes also highlighted that cybersecurity basics, such as updating software and secure password practices, are not being widely employed across the sector.
The EPA’s previous efforts to enforce cybersecurity measures faced legal challenges but recent cyberattacks have increased the urgency for concrete actions. With the support of the Biden-Harris administration, it is hoped that a more unified and effective approach to addressing cybersecurity risks in the water sector can be achieved.