This week the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit granted a request from the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and the National Rural Water Association (NRWA) to stop the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Cybersecurity Rule from going into effect until a current caseRead More

By Constantine Antoniou Sodium hydroxide is used as an acidity control and metal remover by water utilities. Too much of the corrosive material can cause chemical burns and other uncomfortable side effects. In 2021, when a hacker accessed a Florida water utility’s computer system andRead More

On April 17, the states of Missouri, Arkansas and Iowa filed a petition in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) March 3, 2023, cybersecurity rule. In response, the American Water Works Association (AWWA) issued theRead More

The Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) this week announced its support for a bicameral bill that it said would encourage and support the participation of drinking water and wastewater systems in the Water Information Sharing and Analysis Center (WaterISAC). The Water System Threat PreparednessRead More

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is releasing a memorandum that will require states to survey cybersecurity best practices at public water systems (PWSs). While some systems have taken important steps to improve their cybersecurity, a recent survey and reports of cyber attacks show thatRead More

By Pete Lund The recent devastating droughts in the U.K. and the U.S. have driven water restrictions in affected regions, making Water and Wastewater facilities’ Operational Technology (OT) and Information Technology (IT) prime targets for cybersecurity attacks as the industry’s role in a safe andRead More

Recently, the Cybersecurity and Information Security Agency (CISA) released a Request for Information (RFI) to inform the agency’s development of new critical infrastructure cyber incident reporting rules enacted by Congress earlier this year. The Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act was approved by Congress in March. The lawRead More

Recently, the U.S. EPA’s Office of Water finalized a report describing how it plans to provide voluntary cybersecurity technical support to drinking water systems, the second of two cyber-related actions that were mandated by Congress last year as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The infrastructureRead More

Cyberattacks on industrial control systems/operational technology are more likely to have a credit and ESG impact than a corresponding attack on IT, Fitch Ratings says. Operational technology (OT) systems are vital production technologies that prioritize product or service availability and human safety and are oftenRead More

Under a bill approved by the House of Representatives, state, local, territorial and tribal governments would be able to receive training and information about “cybersecurity threat indicators and response actions” from the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) at the Department of Homeland Security.Read More