Washington Post: The cybersecurity risk to our water supply is real. We need to prepare.

Off Cyber Policy in the News,

From the Washington Post

Mark Montgomery is senior director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation (CCTI) at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and senior adviser to the Cyberspace Solarium Commission. Samantha F. Ravich chairs the CCTI and serves as a commissioner on the Cyberspace Solarium Commission.

It’s rare that four government agencies issue a joint advisory on a potential threat to the basic health and welfare of the entire U.S. population. But that’s what happened in October when the FBI, National Security Agency, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and Environmental Protection Agency warned that U.S. water and wastewater systems are being targeted by “known and unknown” malicious actors.

Their warning is not a theoretical one. In February, a hacker or hackers breached the water-treatment system in Oldsmar, Fla., and attempted to raise the level of sodium hydroxide, or lye, in the water more than 100-fold — from 100 parts per million to 11,100 parts per million. Sodium hydroxide, used to control water acidity, is poisonous at high levels.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/01/03/cybersecurity-risk-water-supply/

 

About The Author

Hugh Taylor is a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM). In addition to editing Journal of Cyber Policy, he writes about cybersecurity, compliance and enterprise technology for such clients as Microsoft, IBM, SAP, HPE, Oracle, Google and Advanced Micro Devices. Prior to launching his freelance writing career, he served in executive roles at Microsoft, IBM and several venture-backed technology startups.

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