Adrian Johnson
TLDR:
House lawmakers introduced a bill to create the Water Risk and Resilience Organization, a non-federal agency, to strengthen cybersecurity protections for water and wastewater systems. The bill aims to address cybersecurity vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure and follows calls for increased public-private partnership in cybersecurity efforts.
Full Article:
A new bill introduced by U.S. House lawmakers would establish the Water Risk and Resilience Organization, a governing body comprised of cybersecurity and water system experts, to develop and enforce cybersecurity requirements for drinking and wastewater systems. The bill aims to safeguard water systems from cyber-attacks by foreign adversaries such as Russia and China, which have targeted critical infrastructure like water systems.
The legislation comes in response to letters from EPA and Department of National Security Affairs officials urging governors to address cybersecurity vulnerabilities in water systems, emphasizing the potential disruption of clean and safe drinking water and significant costs to affected communities. FBI Director Christopher Wray highlighted the targeting of critical infrastructure by Chinese hackers and incidents of cyber breaches in water treatment facilities in the U.S.
The proposed bill models a collaborative approach to cybersecurity similar to the U.S. electric sector, which managed cybersecurity efforts across the national power grid. This aligns with President Joe Biden’s call for increased public-private partnership in cybersecurity. The bill aims to update and manage cybersecurity requirements for the critical infrastructure sector, focusing on water and wastewater systems.
