{"id":2248969,"date":"2024-05-20T18:18:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-20T22:18:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/epa-warns-of-heightened-cyberattacks-on-water-systems\/"},"modified":"2024-05-20T18:23:55","modified_gmt":"2024-05-20T22:23:55","slug":"epa-warns-of-heightened-cyberattacks-on-water-systems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/epa-warns-of-heightened-cyberattacks-on-water-systems\/","title":{"rendered":"EPA cautions against increased cyber threats to water systems"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fepa-warns-of-heightened-cyberattacks-on-water-systems%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2248969&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Environmental Protection Agency has\u2062 urged water utilities to \u2064enhance cybersecurity measures due to increased cyber threats from China, Russia, and Iran. EPA officials discovered that 70%\u200d of inspected water utilities failed basic security \u200dstandards in \u200bthe \u200dlast eight months. \u2062Ensuring secure\u2064 practices like changing default passwords can prevent cyberattacks impacting water treatment and distribution systems.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Reporter's Notebook: The Biden administration's lofty EV goals\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pxUu23mUGgo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/biden-administration\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"urged\">Environmental Protection Agency<\/a> on Monday<a href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/enforcement\/enforcement-alert-drinking-water-systems-address-cybersecurity-vulnerabilities\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"urged\"> asked<\/a> water utilities to take immediate action to defend against cyberattacks on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/3m-agrees-to-12-5-billion-settlement-for-forever-chemicals-in-drinking-water\/\" title=\"3M to pay .5B settlement for 'Forever Chemicals' in water.\">public <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-releases-list-of-president-trumps-accomplishments-and-it-is-historic\/\" title=\"White House Releases List of President Trump\u2019s Accomplishments \u2013  And It Is Historic!\">drinking water<\/a> supplies<\/a>, citing an uptick in the frequency and severity of attempted intrusions, primarily by hackers in<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/russia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\" China, Russia, and Iran.\"> China, Russia, and Iran.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In the last eight months, EPA officials said 70% of public water utilities inspected were found to be in violation of basic standards aimed at protecting against breaches.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn many cases, systems are not doing what they are supposed to be doing, which is to have completed a risk assessment of their vulnerabilities that includes cybersecurity and to make sure that plan is available and informing the way they do business,\u201d EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe said.<\/p>\n<p>Many of the standards to protect water providers are simple, officials said, such as changing a system\u2019s default login password, requiring staff to use different login information, and making sure former employees no longer have access to their systems.<\/p>\n<p>But the potential for harm from a cyberattack is much greater: By obtaining access to a water system, hackers can disrupt the treatment, distribution, and storage of community <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-white-house-confirms-3t-infrastructure-bill-will-be-in-two-parts\/\" title=\"Biden White House confirms T infrastructure bill will be in two parts\">water systems<\/a>, wreak havoc on pumps and valves, and alter levels of chemicals to hazardous amounts, EPA officials said. <\/p>\n<p>The U.S. has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/magazine\/2019\/12\/18\/america-cybersecurity-homeland-security-trump-nielsen-070149\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"seen an\">seen an<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/magazine\/2019\/12\/18\/america-cybersecurity-homeland-security-trump-nielsen-070149\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"een an increase in \" disruptive cyberattacks>  increase in cyberattacks<\/a> from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/feds-buying-chinese-drones-despite-military-warning-that-they-pose-threat-to-national-security\/\" title=\"Feds Buying Chinese Drones Despite Military Warning That They Pose Threat To National Security\">state-sponsored groups<\/a> and criminal organizations on water systems, heightening the need for new enforcement actions.<\/p>\n<p>These intrusions include an attack on a small Pennsylvania water provider linked to an Iranian-based hacking group, an attack on three Texas water systems carried out by a known Russian \u201chacktivist\u201d group, and at least three instances in which state-sponsored Chinese hackers targeted critical infrastructure and drinking water since 2021.<\/p>\n<p>In recent months, EPA has announced the creation of a Water Sector Cybersecurity Task Force aimed at helping water systems identify threats and draft strategies to better protect against intrusions. <\/p>\n<p>In March, EPA Administrator Michael Regan and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan asked states to submit a plan to protect their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/epa-decides-not-to-regulate-chemical-linked-to-fetal-brain-damage-in-drinking-water\/\" title=\"EPA Decides Not to Regulate Chemical Linked to Fetal Brain Damage in Drinking Water\">public water systems<\/a> from cyberattacks.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Officials said Monday that the enforcement alert underscores the seriousness of the cyber threats and EPA\u2019s willingness to enforce civil or criminal penalties against water systems that fail to implement basic digital hygiene.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want to make sure that we get the word out to people that, \u2018Hey, we are finding a lot of problems here,\u2019\u201d McCabe said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Environmental Protection Agency urged water utilities to act swiftly against rising cyber threats to public water supplies. Recent assessments revealed a surge in attempted cyber intrusions, mainly from hackers in China, Russia, and Iran. EPA officials noted that 70% of inspected water utilities faced such risks in the past eight months<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2650,"featured_media":2248970,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP24002538760756-1024x576.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2248969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP24002538760756-1024x576.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2248969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2650"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2248969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2248969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2248970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2248969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2248969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2248969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}