Page 166 - Cyber Defense eMagazine June 2024

It Is Time for Smart Cyber Requirements for

the Water Sector

By Bob Kolasky, Senior Vice President, Critical Infrastructure, Exiger

Since 2021, the Biden Administration has been consistently talking about the limitations of a purely
voluntary approach to cybersecurity for critical infrastructure, and the need for a strategic shift. Among
the top priorities for this new focus is the Nation's water sector, which has a long way to go in terms of
cybersecurity.

In 2021, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies declared: “The cybersecurity of the water sector is
a weak link in U.S. national infrastructure, imperiling health and human safety, national security, and
economic stability.”

Despite that recognition, as well as the many efforts by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which
serves as the Water and Wastewater Sector Risk Management Agency, and the utilities in the sector
itself, that situation remains largely unchanged today. The breadth and scope of the utilities in the water
sector, as well as the undercapitalization for infrastructure improvements and underlying technology,
means that broad vulnerabilities remain.

Cyber Defense eMagazine – June 2024 Edition 166
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