The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday alerted water utilities to the increased risk of cyberattacks against their infrastructure. It warned that these attacks are becoming more severe and occurring more frequently, putting drinking water at risk for Americans nationwide.
Federal officials discovered that around 70% of water systems across the country had vulnerabilities that made them susceptible to cyberattacks, some as basic as using unchanged default passwords on computer control systems.
The threat is not only from independent attackers but also from state-sponsored hackers. EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe cautioned that China, Iran, and Russia are actively searching for weaknesses in U.S. infrastructure to exploit.
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Recently, a cyberattack targeted equipment manufactured in Israel in response to Israel’s conflict with Hamas, leading to a utility company in a small Pennsylvania town having to manually operate its automated pumps.
Groups associated with Russia have attempted to disrupt utility services in Texas, while a Chinese-linked group compromised various critical infrastructure, including freshwater sources.
These renewed warnings are part of the Biden administration’s broader initiative to enhance infrastructure safety. Officials are urging water utilities to improve their defense mechanisms, whether through basic steps like using stronger passwords or through enhanced cybersecurity training and recruitment.
The EPA has committed to providing training and assessments for utilities and is prepared to pursue civil or criminal actions if significant risks are identified during inspections.
“We want to ensure that the message is clear that we are encountering numerous issues here,” McCabe emphasized.
