EPA raises concerns on cybersecurity for public water supplies

BY PHIL HALL Phall@westfairinc.com

The words “cybersecurity” and “water” rarely get mentioned in the same sentence, but a growing digital threat to public water supplies has spurred the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to release a memorandum stressing the need for states to assess cybersecurity risk at drinking water systems.

The EPA noted a recent survey and reports of cyber-attacks determined that many states have yet to adopt basic cybersecurity best practices at public water systems. The new memorandum conveyed EPA’s interpretation that states must include cybersecurity when they conduct periodic audits of water systems — called “sanitary surveys” — and highlighted the different approaches for states to fulfill this responsibility.

EPA has also published the guidance entitled “Evaluating Cybersecurity During Public Water Sanitary Surveys” to assist states with building cybersecurity into sanitary surveys. This guidance focuses on options for evaluating and improving the cybersecurity of operational technology used for safe drinking water.

Furthermore, EPA will be offering state agencies additional training on how to implement best practices for cybersecurity and use the available resources. The agency is also providing consultations with subject matter experts and direct technical assistance to water systems to conduct assessments of their cybersecurity practices and plans for closing security gaps.

“Cyberattacks against critical infrastructure facilities, including drinking water systems, are increasing, and public water systems are vulnerable,” said EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Radhika Fox. “Cyberattacks have the potential to contaminate drinking water, which threatens public health.”

“Americans deserve to have confidence in their water systems resilience to cyber attackers. The EPA’s new action requires water systems to implement adequate cybersecurity to provide that confidence,” said Anne Neuberger, deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technologies in the Biden administration. “EPA used a flexible approach to enable water systems to craft the most effective ways to protect water services The EPA’s action is another step in the administration’s relentless focus on improving the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure by setting minimum cybersecurity measures for owners and operators of the water, pipelines rail other critical services Americans rely on.”

Volansky counts Fortune 500 companies among Connex’s clients alongside a wide range of businesses of all sizes that require reliable, secure, and effective communications that are often best managed by a dedicated operator. She noted that many businesses turn to Connex for shareholder meetings, earnings announcements, investor relations calls, and other high-profile events where issues like delayed starts, dropped callers, and accidentally activated filters or inappropriate backgrounds have the potential to be devastating to a business.

“One of the specialties of Connex has always been that we are nimble and flexible to meet a client’s business needs,” Volansky said, noting that one size does not fit all when it comes to teleconferencing. “Also, we were early pioneers of the ‘hybrid meeting’ well before the term became popular during the Covid pandemic. The pandemic had a huge impact on our business growth as companies struggled to stay connected to their workforces while people sheltered at home. Our teams worked tirelessly, and we had to be resourceful and creative to support our clients.”

While the average level of familiarity with teleconferencing has increased to the point many people are comfortable hosting their own events, Volansky said that there is still major demand for Connex and its services.

“Over the past few months, we have seen the exit of many of the larger players in our industry,” Volansky said. “These widespread shakeups involve vendors selling off or simply dropping clients which severely impacts those clients’ communications needs. Sometimes with very little notice. Connex has been helping many of these stranded companies get their virtual events and meetings back on track quickly and successfully.”

Connex offers support across Zoom, Teams and WebEx to let meetings go off seamlessly, but also offers solutions for large audience situations, being able to accommodate over 25,000 participants if need be.

“Over the decades, virtual meeting technologies have changed,” said Volansky, “but the need to stay connected has not. Connex will continue to combine its knowledge of over four decades of experience with new technologies and trends, to create effective, scalable, and reliable virtual meetings and event solutions.