Cyber Security

Overview
   Relevant Activities
   Role of Local Governments
U.S. EPA Resources
Other Resources 
   Other Federal Agencies & Programs
Funding & Financing

Overview

The water and wastewater sector is part of the nation's critical infrastructure, defined in the USA PATRIOT Act as "systems and assets, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the United States that the incapacity or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination of those matters." The supply of safe drinking water and treatment of wastewater are both considered National Critical Functions.

Public water systems (PWS) and publicly owned treatment works (POTW) increasingly depend on cyber-physical systems (CPS), incorporating both information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) into their operations. The COVID-19 pandemic further accelerated movement to remote operations.

These developments make the sector an attractive target for cybercriminals, particularly when a PWS or POTW depends on outdated operating systems, has insufficient controls or lacks a robust training program. Threat actors targeting water systems include nation-state political actors, cybercriminal financial actors and current and former employees. Their motivations range from stealing sensitive data and disabling network components to disrupting operations.

The consequences of cyberattacks can be dire, ranging from operational disruption and system component damage to the theft of customers' personal data. Most significant is compromising the ability of a PWS or POTW to provide clean, safe drinking water, protect the environment and maintain the confidence of the public.

Three federal agencies play key roles in supporting the cybersecurity of the water and wastewater sector:

Additionally, the Office of the National Cyber Director is the White House's principal advisor on cybersecurity policy and strategy and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) develops standards, best practices and tools and public guidelines on cybersecurity measures.

CISA, FBI and EPA collaborate in responding to significant cybersecurity incidents, from notification and assessment to making recommendations to avoid future attacks.

  • CISA leads the response, collecting reports of cybersecurity and incidents and providing technical assistance to protect assets and reduce the impacts of attacks. The agency helps with restoring affected systems, coordinating federal assistance and improving security after the fact;
  • FBI handles the law enforcement and investigative activity; and
  • EPA directs water and wastewater sector requests for assistance to CISA, confirms requests are fulfilled and communicates alerts, coordinates cyber incident response among appropriate federal agencies, facilitates sharing of information and intelligence, and maintains open lines of communication to affected utilities and other stakeholders.

EPA and CISA collaborated with the National Security Council, Water Sector Coordinating Council and Water Government Coordinating Council to develop the Water and Wastewater Sector Action Plan to promote early cyber-threat detection and information sharing across the federal government and critical infrastructure community. 

Relevant Activities

Role of Local Governments

The America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 requires community water systems (CWS) serving more than 3,300 people to develop or update risk assessments and emergency response plans (ERPs), which must address "electronic, computer, or other automated systems (including the security of such systems)."

PWSs and POTWs are urged to reduce the risk of a successful cyberattack by implementing best practices, training staff, implementing a monitoring plan and updating technology. EPA and other federal and state agencies offer multiple cybersecurity capacity-building resources specifically for PWSs and POTWs. EPA also published a memo clarifying that states must assess PWS cybersecurity practices as part of their sanitary surveys.

There are many resources on best practices, preparation and response and funding that even the smallest utilities can leverage to effectively counter cybercriminals. EPA and other federal and state agencies offer multiple cybersecurity capacity-building resources specifically for PWSs and POTWs.

PWSs and POTWs can stay informed about potential threats impacting the water and wastewater sector, by:

PWSs and POTWs should immediately report any cyber incident to the following entities:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Resources

EPA Cybersecurity for the Water Sector. Provides multiple resources, including a Cybersecurity Incident Action Checklist, Water Sector Cybersecurity Training and Response Exercises, the Vulnerability Self-Assessment Tool 2.0 (VSAT Web 2.0), Water Resilience Tabletop Exercise and more.

EPA's Water Sector Cybersecurity Evaluation Program. Allows water utilities to submit requests for further information about EPA's Cybersecurity Evaluation Program, which conducts free cybersecurity assessments of water systems to identify gaps and potential vulnerabilities.

Other Resources

Other Federal Agencies & Programs

Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center. Resource for cyber threat prevention, protection, response and recovery for state, Tribal, local and territorial government entities. 

Cybersecurity Framework. A flexible and performance-based voluntary framework of cybersecurity standards by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and procedures that sets out a risk-based approach to managing cybersecurity. 

Funding & Financing

Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and Clean Water State Revolving Fund loans and set-asides may be used to build managerial, technical, and financial capabilities, conduct vulnerability assessments and trainings, develop effective cybersecurity measures and plans, upgrade IT and OT technology and more.

For more information on funding & financing programs and options, please see the Cybersecurity section of LGEAN's Funding & Financing page.

Back to Top