Public Water and Wastewater Sector Face Mounting Cyber Threat

The Center for Internet Security, Inc. (CIS^®) Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) team assesses that U.S. State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial (SLTT) government-operated U.S. water and wastewater systems (WWS) will likely continue to face a mounting threat from cyber threat actors (CTAs) over the next year, largely driven by recent global conflicts. This assessment is based on CTAs’ demonstrated ability and intention to exploit vulnerable WWS to achieve geopolitical, financial, or data-collection goals.

SLTT entities operating WWS must confront an increasing number of cyber threats including ransomware, insider threats, hacktivism, state-sponsored CTAs, and attacks exploiting unpatched legacy systems. Cyber attacks targeting WWS also threaten significant downstream impacts due to factors including inhibiting access to safe drinking water, wastewater function, and strains on the supply chain. Refer to the end of our white paper for tailored guidance and resources for better securing WWS and operational technology (OT) against the spectrum of cyber threats.