Sam Sabin
A wave of state-backed cyberattacks against U.S. water systems in the last month is bringing federal attention back to the digital challenges facing water utilities.
Driving the news: Late last month, an Iran-linked hacker group hacked a water authority in western Pennsylvania, along with a handful of other unidentified water utilities and critical infrastructure organizations.
Why it matters: While the attacks had seemingly no impact on water supplies, they sent a clear warning to policymakers and water utility operators to prioritize basic cyber hygiene.
The big picture: The U.S. water system is made up of 150,000 individual systems, and 93% of those serve fewer than 3,000 people, said Kevin Morley, manager of federal relations for the American Water Works Association, at an event in Washington this week.
Catch up quick: Even before the recent wave of cyberattacks targeting water systems, the Biden administration was facing difficulties regulating the sector’s cybersecurity needs.
Between the lines: Despite the legal hurdles, policymakers and industry leaders still see a path forward for water utilities to quickly step up their cyber strategies, according to a report released Wednesday by Microsoft and the Cyberspace Solarium Commission 2.0 (CSC 2.0).
Details: The report’s authors are also mobilizing to help small water and wastewater utilities tackle one of their biggest vulnerabilities: human behavior.
What they’re saying: “We’re at a point where we’re shifting towards more than just the ‘what,'” Morley said at the event unveiling the report. “How do we get to there and enable them with the ‘how’ part? There are number of different paths we can get there.”
Yes, but: Waiting for the EPA and other regulators to pass new regulations isn’t an option, Tom Fanning, executive chairman of Southern Company, said during this week’s event.
Courtesy: (Axios)
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