Security News > 2024 > March > White House and EPA warn of hackers breaching water systems
"Drinking water and wastewater systems are a lifeline for communities, but many systems have not adopted important cybersecurity practices to thwart potential cyberattacks," said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan.
The National Security Council and the Environmental Protection Agency have invited governors to a virtual meeting on March 21 to strengthen collaboration between government entities and water systems and establish a Water Sector Cybersecurity Task Force.
In recent months, Iranian and Chinese state-backed threat groups have both targeted and breached U.S. water systems.
IRGC-affiliated threat actors infiltrated a Pennsylvania water facility, while Volt Typhoon hackers breached the networks of critical infrastructure organizations, including drinking water systems.
Critical infrastructure facilities within the U.S. Water and Wastewater Systems Sector have been breached multiple times over the last decade, sometimes leading to the deployment of Ghost, ZuCaNo, and Makop ransomware.
These ransomware attacks impacted a South Houston wastewater treatment plan in 2011, a water company with outdated software and hardware equipment in 2016, the Southern California Camrosa Water District in August 2020, and a Pennsylvania water system in May 2021.