On the latest episode of StateScoop’s Priorities podcast, Samuel Alva, a technical adviser with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, explains the “huge” threat facing the nation’s tens of thousands of water utilities, and what they can do to protect themselves. “Water is a single point of failure. So that’s why it has been under attack,” he says.
Sectors that underpin modern society face rising cyber threats. Water, electricity and satellites — which support everything from GPS navigation to credit card processing — are at increasing risk. Legacy infrastructure and increased connectivity challenge water and the power grid, while the space sector struggles with safeguarding in-orbit satellites that were designed before modern cyber concerns. But many different players are offering advice and resources and working to develop tools and strategies for a more cyber-safe landscape.
When the water sector runs as it should, wastewater is properly treated to avoid spread of disease; drinking water is safe for residents; and water is available for needs like firefighting, hospitals, and heating and cooling processes, per the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
