Cybersecurity
Water and wastewater utilities provide critical lifeline services to their communities and their regions. Safe water and clean water are essential for public health, ecosystem protection and economic strength. Supporting these important functions requires secure information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT).
Yet, our sector’s IT and OT networks continue to face an onslaught of threats from cyber criminals and nation-states, hacktivists and others. Cyber criminals’ attacks, both indiscriminate and targeted, are designed to steal or extract money and collect sensitive personal information, which in turn can be sold to the highest bidder. Nation-states – primarily Russia, China, North Korea and Iran – have demonstrated the desire and ability to infiltrate IT and OT systems and, in the case of the energy and manufacturing sectors in other countries, to disrupt operations.