US Moves to Protect Drinking Water from Cyberattacks
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US Moves to Protect Drinking Water from Cyberattacks
The United States is taking steps to better protect public drinking water and sewer systems from cyberattacks that could disrupt service or contaminate water systems.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a new memo on Friday (March 3) ordering all public water systems to meet a set of basic cybersecurity requirements, while also including cybersecurity audits as part of regular security inspections.
"We know Americans depend on these critical services, and we know Americans expect them to be resilient to cyberattacks," White House deputy national security adviser Anne Neuberger told reporters before the memo was released.
"There have been cyberattacks on water systems in the United States and in countries around the world, so this is a very timely action," she added.
The launch of new cybersecurity requirements for public water systems comes just a day after the White House unveiled a new, aggressive National Cyber ??Strategy that seeks to shift much of the responsibility for cybersecurity away from individuals and consumers to technology and software companies, in part through stricter federal regulation.
"We need to change the inherent rules of the game to give us an advantage," acting National Network Director Kemba Walden said Thursday at a public event in Washington. "I want cybersecurity to be an unequal battle."
According to the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), there are about 153,000 public drinking water systems in the U.S., providing water for more than 80% of the U.S. population.
Another 16,000 publicly owned systems provide wastewater treatment services to about 75 percent of the U.S. population.
But U.S. officials have warned that while Americans rely heavily on these systems, cybersecurity has been weak. Some surveys have found that only about 20 percent of publicly owned water systems have implemented basic cybersecurity measures, leaving the water sector "at risk" of cyberattacks.
"It's not a hypothesis," EPA Assistant Administrator Radhika Fox told reporters.
"This is what's happening," she said. "We've seen attacks like this in places ranging from California to Florida, Kansas, Maine, and Nevada.
" There have been at least five cyberattacks on U.S. public water systems so far this year.
Four of the attacks involved the use of ransomware, and in one incident, the wastewater treatment center was forced to switch to manual operations until control of the computer systems was restored.
In a fifth case, a former employee tried unsuccessfully to contaminate the water system, gaining access using still valid credentials.
In another incident in February 2021, hackers entered a water system serving about 15,000 people near Tampa, Florida, and attempted to add dangerous amounts of lye to the water supply; The attempt was spotted and stopped before harm was done.
U.S. national security and intelligence officials have also repeatedly warned that key sectors, including water, could be vulnerable to cyberattacks by U.S. adversaries.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in September 2022 after one of the Nord Stream pipelines was sabotaged: "We have to be concerned about the possibility of Russian action, be wary of Russian threats to Western infrastructure and Western facilities. aggression.”
In the 2022 Worldwide Threat Assessment (Worldwide Threat Assessment), the U.S. intelligence community further warned that China may seek to exploit cybersecurity vulnerabilities plaguing critical U.S. infrastructure.
"China is almost certainly capable of launching cyber attacks to disrupt critical infrastructure services within the United States, including targeting oil and gas pipelines and rail systems," the report said
. Higher network security requirements. Last July, the US introduced new cybersecurity requirements for pipeline owners and operators.
