January 24, 2024 at 03:50PM
Water and wastewater utilities were given guidance by US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to bolster their response to cyberattacks. The guide emphasizes incident response planning, highlights resource constraints for the sector, and examines recent cyber incidents targeting utilities. The water sector faces unique challenges in addressing these cyber threats due to financial limitations and lack of cybersecurity awareness.
The meeting notes highlight the increasing concern over cyberattacks targeting water and wastewater utilities in the United States. The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has issued a 27-page guide to improve the response to such attacks, with a focus on creating effective incident response playbooks and enhancing cybersecurity measures in the water sector. The notes also cite several recent cyber incidents targeting water utilities, emphasizing the need for improved cybersecurity efforts.
Additionally, the notes discuss the challenges faced by water and wastewater utilities in prioritizing cybersecurity, including resource constraints and competing priorities such as infrastructure maintenance. Despite this, recommendations have been provided to help utilities prepare for incidents, improve detection capabilities, and create post-incident playbooks.
Furthermore, the meeting notes mention that cyber awareness and prioritization of cybersecurity within the water sector remain lacking, as suggested by the rankings of critical concerns in the “2023 State of the Water Industry” report. The decentralized nature of water utilities and regulatory constraints also pose challenges to enhancing cybersecurity efforts within the sector.
Overall, the notes shed light on the urgent need for improved cybersecurity measures and increased awareness within the water and wastewater sector to mitigate the growing threat of cyberattacks.