Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., is seeking updates from the FBI and Environmental Protection Agency on their investigations into a cyberattack against a Florida water treatment plant. "While the Oldsmar water treatment facility incident was detected with sufficient time to mitigate serious risks to the citizens of Oldsmar, and appears to have been identified as the result of a diligent employee monitoring this facility's operations, future compromises of this nature may not be detected in time," Warner wrote in a letter to the agencies.
Related Summaries
Automation has helped small, publicly owned water utilities across the US save money while increasing efficiency, but many utilities failed to ramp up cybersecurity as they adopted new technology. The issue was highlighted recently when a hacker infiltrated a water treatment facility in Oldsmar, Fla., and experts say water sector vulnerabilities could pose security threats around the US.
The recently released Minnesota PFAS Blueprint requests stronger PFAS regulations and $3 million in state funding to locate sources of PFAS pollution. If approved, the action plan would give a hazardous designation to over 5,000 chemicals under the state's Superfund law.
Many water systems in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and elsewhere are struggling to maintain access to water amid severe winter storms, which have led to service interruptions and freezing pipes. Water systems serving about 7 million people in Texas have issued notices to boil water or stop usage.
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy has urged water facilities across the state to assess their security protocols after last week's breach at a water treatment plant in Oldsmar, Fla. "If you allow some level of remote monitoring and operation of your facilities, please consider adding additional safeguards like establishing chemical dosage limits, eliminating equipment overrides and reducing controls on systems to minimize the impact of this type of security breach," the department said.
Pinellas County, Fla., Sheriff Bob Gualtieri is urging staff in government areas to double-check the security of their systems after a hacker remotely accessed the water treatment system in Oldsmar, Fla., and increased levels of sodium hydroxide in the municipal supply. An employee noticed the change and restored normal chemical levels before there was any threat to the public.