The White House is calling on state environmental, health, and homeland security to attend a meeting to discuss safeguarding water and wastewater critical infrastructure sectors.
The meeting, set for Thursday, March 21, at 1 pm EST. The virtual meeting will last one hour and will highlight US government efforts in improving cybersecurity capabilities in the water critical infrastructure sector. The meeting will also outline gaps present within cybersecurity abilities for the water sector and will provide a call to action for states and water systems alike. In a letter to state governors, the White House states that water and wastewater systems targeted by cyberattacks have the potential to “disrupt the critical lifeline of clean and safe drinking water”. These attacks could originate from both Chinese and Iranian state-sponsored threat actors. These threat actors have previously executed malicious cyberattacks that have targeted similar US critical infrastructure sectors. Hacking groups that have been associated with the Iranian Government Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Chinese threat actor Volt Typhoon have targeted US critical infrastructure. From targeting US drinking water systems to infiltrating US information technology for critical infrastructure are just a few examples of these attacks. In order to combat this, the Biden-Harris administration has asked government agencies to bolster the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in its efforts to protect the water sector from potential cyberattacks.
Read More:
https://www.securityweek.com/white-house-calls-on-states-to-boost-cybersecurity-in-water-sector/
