Drinking Water Warning Issued Nationwide

 

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued an enforcement alert Monday urging water utility systems to take immediate actions to protect the nation's drinking water from cyberattacks.

According to the EPA, recent federal inspections revealed that 70 percent of U.S. water systems inspected do not fully comply with requirements in the Safe Drinking Water Act. The agency added that some systems have "critical cybersecurity vulnerabilities, such as default passwords that have not been updated and single logins that can easily be compromised."

Possible impacts of cyberattacks include interruptions to water treatment and storage and damage to pumps and valves, along with alteration of chemical levels to hazardous amounts, the EPA said...more