The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday called on states to boost their cybersecurity practices to protect public drinking water, as attacks against critical infrastructure facilities have been increasing.
The EPA said cyberattacks on public water systems (PWSs) amount to a threat to public health.
“Cyberattacks have the potential to contaminate drinking water,” said EPA Assistant Administrator Radhika Fox.
While some PWSs have taken steps to improve their cyber posture, the EPA said a recent survey found that many have not adopted cyber best practices and are at risk of attack.
The EPA’s memo requires states to survey cyber best practices at PWSs and to include cybersecurity when they conduct periodic audits of water systems, known as “sanitary surveys.”…