(The Hill) — The Biden administration warned governors Tuesday that “disabling” cyberattacks are targeting drinking water and wastewater systems throughout the country and urged them to help identify and address any vulnerabilities.
Water and wastewater systems can represent an “attractive target” for cyberattacks because of their essential nature and frequent lack of “resources and technical capacity to adopt rigorous cybersecurity practices,” said Michael Regan, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan in a letter.
“Even basic cybersecurity precautions — such as resetting default passwords or updating software to address known vulnerabilities — are not in place and can mean the difference between business as usual and a disruptive cyberattack,” Regan and Sullivan said.
Cyber actors affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and China have recently targeted critical U.S. infrastructure, including drinking water systems, Regan and Sullivan noted.
IRGC-affiliated actors targeted and disabled operational technology at water facilities that failed to change a default manufacturer password late last year, while a Chinese state-sponsored cyber group has compromised the IT environments of several critical infrastructure organizations and appears to be pre-positioning itself to disrupt operations.
“Drinking water and wastewater systems are a lifeline for communities, but many systems have not adopted […]
Full article: ktla.com
Los Angeles residents at a section of the Los Angeles River cleanup in Los Angeles,…
Over the past decade, about 67 million gallons of fire retardant have been dropped on…
Photo: Golden Trout Wilderness Seeking blue, seeing gold The Kern Plateau features a chain of…
For the first time in more than a century, a salmon was observed swimming through Klamath…
New turnout facility from the California Aqueduct on Monday, Oct. 23, 2023. Officials say the…
Over the past century, humans have constructed major transportation infrastructure like highways, bridges, railroads, and…