US to Require Cybersecurity Checks for Drinking Water Systems

The EPA is requiring all drinking water systems to check their vulnerability to hacking and other cybersecurity threats as part of their periodic sanitary reviews required by law, the agency said Friday.

“This is a mandate,” said Radhika Fox, the Environmental Protection Agency’s assistant administrator for the Office of Water. “Many don’t even have basic cybersecurity processes in place.”

Drinking water systems are increasingly vulnerable to hacking, threatening water quality. In one instance two years ago, a hacker gained access to an Oldsmar, Fla., city computer and changed the level of lye used in the ...