Protecting water and wastewater utilities from cyber‐physical threats

Abstract

Recent events have highlighted the need to address cybersecurity threats to systems supporting critical infrastructure and federal information systems which are evolving and growing. These threats have become ubiquitous in the United States, and throughout the world. Many information and communications technology (ICT) devices and other components are interdependent so that disruption of one component may have a negative, cascading effect on others. In the United States, the Federal role in cyber‐security has been debated for more than a decade but creating a policy is complicated because in the United States, State and local governments are the major institutions responsible for providing services to their populations. It is important that critical infrastructure such as Publically Owned Treatment Works (POTWs) and Public Water Systems (PWSs) adopt suitable countermeasures to prevent or minimise the consequences of cyber‐attacks. This paper discusses both technological and procedural techniques that can be used to protect against cyber‐threats.

Strengthening Cybersecurity of Water Infrastructure through Legislative Actions

“…Cyber threats represent some of the most serious challenges to critical water infrastructure. Prior to adopting the legislative actions summarized in this article, federal and state governments had largely left water and wastewater utilities with the responsibility of staving off cyber threats (Clark et al 2017(Clark et al , 2018Elkind and Gillum 2021). Recent threats on critical infrastructure belie the wisdom of this approach.…”

Increasing Threats to United States of America Infrastructure Based on Cyber-Attacks

“…For anomalous identification in intelligent pervasive computing networks, references employed a stan-Journal of Software Engineering and Applications dard route searching approach. The researchers devised a strategy for detecting attacks depending on the Statistical linear relationship between two sensors [15].…”

“…IDSs are classified into two categories: biometrics and training techniques. Moreover, signature-based strategies are excellent at recognizing frequent attacks using databases and pre-defined identifiers but useless at identifying unexpected or innovative assaults [15]. On the other hand, learningbased algorithms attempt to uncover operational patterns or patterns that improve the precision with which unplanned intrusions are dealt with when detected.…”

Risk Analysis of Water Grid Systems Using Threat Modeling

“…The interdependence of ICT equipment and other components makes it clear that the challenges posed by cybersecurity include IT-related dangers and physical threats [10]. Therefore, various mitigation efforts have been implemented to protect the water sector against threats to cybersecurity.…”