Here in the southwestern United States, water or the lack thereof may be so contentious that we blithely say that we have to fight for it.
Meanwhile, things happen.
“Water and wastewater utilities in at least seven states have now reported cybersecurity incidents involving Internet-facing programmable logic controllers (PLCs), according to the FBI and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)….Specific states were not named.”
But at least four incidents HAVE been explicitly named.
“Meanwhile, Minnesota officials announced this week that at least 30 community water systems across the state were hit with malicious cyber activity, and an investigation is ongoing there….
“Four Minnesota city water organizations publicly announced cyber incidents, but others are unidentified. Braham’s water plant went temporarily offline; Plymouth announced impacts to automated controls and cellular-connected equipment at water towers and lift stations; South St. Paul announced a cybersecurity incident on automated controls; and Maple Plain declared a temporary emergency.”
Now perhaps this is just a bunch of instances of kids messing around.
Or perhaps it’s something else.
“The authoring agencies urgently warn U.S. organizations of ongoing Iranian-affiliated cyber targeting of internet-connected operational technology (OT) devices, including programmable logic controllers (PLCs).”
Yes, Iran. You may recall that we are at war with them.
This brings these incidents into the realm of critical infrastructure. Among our 16 critical infrastructure sectors is the water and wastewater sector.
“In the United States, there are approximately 152,000 public drinking water systems, including 50,000 community water systems, and more than 16,000 wastewater treatment systems. Over 80 percent of the U.S. population receives their potable water from these drinking water systems, and about 75 percent have their sanitary sewerage treated by these wastewater systems.
“The Water and Wastewater Systems Sector is vulnerable to various threats, including physical attacks, cyberattacks, and contamination with harmful agents. Such incidents could result in widespread illness, casualties, and service disruptions, significantly impacting public health and economic stability.”
Messing up someone’s computer is bad enough. But messing up their glass of drinking water is devastating. And whether the damage is done by a state-sponsored terrorist or by Beavis, you want to prevent it from happening.
Bredemarket 