United States water facilities, which include 150,000 public water systems, have become an increasingly high-risk target for cyber criminals in recent years. This rising threat has demanded more attention and policies focused on improving cybersecurity.
Water and wastewater systems are one of the 16 critical infrastructures in the U.S. The definition for inclusion in this category is that the industry must be so crucial to the United States that “the incapacity or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on security, national economic security, national public health or safety or any combination of those matters.”
According to the X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2024, energy companies, which include water facilities, ranked fourth in terms of industries attacked, accounting for 11.1% of all attacks. In the energy sector, malware was the most common type of attack (43%), with ransomware coming in second. North America had the second-greatest number of worldwide attacks, with 22%, behind Europe, which experienced 43% of the cases.
Water facilities are at increased risk of cyberattack
The concern became heightened after numerous attacks were made on water facilities. However, drinking water has not been compromised in any attack. One of the Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa’s booster stations in Pennsylvania was the target of an attack by an Iranian-backed cyber group in October 2023. According to an alert by the Cybersecurity Advisory on December 1, 2023, IRGC cyber actors accessed multiple U.S.-based wastewater system facilities beginning November 22, 2023. Threat actors accessed those ..
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