With the increasing threat of terrorist attacks, most governments, especially in the developed countries, are aware of the vulnerability of the water systems to disaster and threats or cyber-attacks. The government of the United States has been on high alert after 9/11, and responsible agencies have maintained constant surveillance of the national infrastructure, water supply included to ward off any form of cyber-attack from terrorists. Cyberattacks on the water systems are not usually taken seriously compared to a similar attack on other infrastructure. However, the water system is essential, and it needs proper surveillance to prevent cyber-attacks.
Consequences of Cyber Attack on Water System
The availability of safe drinking water is a matter of public health and is essential to all human activity. Treated reated water supply means that the government can prevent the spread of waterborne diseases and maintain its citizens' general health (Maiolo & Pantusa, 2018). Consequently, it is a matter of economic importance to ensure a supply of clean drinking water while managing the wastewater through the treatment process. As a result, a cyber-attack on the water management system can have a far-reaching impact. The impact of hacking the water system of any country depends on the motive of the attackers. Some hackers may break into the system to steal information to make a further targeted attack or sell information for financial gains crimes (Clark et al., 2017). The selling of hacked information is a serious issue considering the confidentiality that government agencies must maintain concerning people's details.
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In many instances, hacking incidences result in panic and fear among the people. This is usually the case when hackers try to release contaminated water to the people (Clark et al., 2017). Sometimes they may jam the system to deny access or even destroy it altogether. These actions can cause huge losses to the responsible agencies and result in a public health crisis with the release of contaminated water. Sometimes, hackers can destroy system database parameters that negatively impact the integrity of the water supply and treatment system (Clark et al., 2017). Worse still, they can turn on water pumps leading to the overflowing of tanks and causing huge water losses.
The Interconnectedness of all Critical Infrastructure
Critical infrastructure is a “system and asset whether physical or virtual, so vital to the nation that the incapacity or destruction of that system would have a debilitating impact on security, national economic security or national public health or the safety of any combination of these matters (Maniscalco & Christen, 2011).” In the USA, there are 18 sectors identified as critical infrastructure. Apart from the water supply, others include agriculture and food, energy, and healthcare, just to mention a few. The critical infrastructure systems are interdependent, indicating connections among the physical facilities, customers, and services. The term interconnectedness is used to imply formal linkage between two separate systems. On the other hand, the term interdependence implies a deeper relationship where systems are not just connected but depend on each other. Water supply infrastructure is interconnected connected to healthcare supply infrastructure. The availability of clean water is crucial for public health and public health is also crucial for economic infrastructure because people have to be in good health to work.
DHS Actions to Ensure Resiliency
Department of Homeland Security has partnered with the US Environmental Protection Agency to protect water systems from cybercrimes (Clark et al., 2017). Under this partnership, several guidelines and techniques have been formulated as a countermeasure to cyber-attack and reduce vulnerability to the same. The DHS also created the Critical-Infrastructure Cyber Community (C3) Voluntary Program as a collaboration to raise awareness and the utilization of the NIST Cybersecurity structure. The program is designed for participants in the water sector with the DHS and other government agencies to provide resources to help in the management of cybersecurity risks (Clark et al., 2017).
Future Measures
To be a step ahead of the hackers posing cybersecurity threats to the water management systems, there is a need for a cybersecurity culture. According to Enescu (2019), many people involved in direct management of water infrastructure using technology do not have enough knowledge of information technology, and cybersecurity defense. People need to be informed and organizations must have cybersecurity countermeasures in their strategic plans. Government organizations should also look into the segmentation of networks and the use of firewalls. Segmentation and creating network boundaries allows an organization to carry out protective and detective controls within the infrastructure. Organizations should ensure that they use strong passwords, consider other access control measures, and change default passwords (Yıldırım & Mackie, 2019). Strong passwords will help in keeping the systems and the information safe. The systems should be upgraded regularly because of the increasingly targeted attacks over the past few years.
The availability of clean water is crucial for public health and public health is also crucial for economic infrastructure because people have to be in good health to work. The water system is essential and any attack can have rippling effects on several sectors and infrastructure. The most important interconnectedness is between water and healthcare infrastructure. Without clean water, healthcare is in jeopardy and the population is at risk of various healthcare problems. The way forward is for government agencies and concerned organizations to constantly improve their cybersecurity infrastructure to remain ahead of the game, keep the water supply intact, and ensure safe water.
References
Clark, R. M., Panguluri, S., Nelson, T. D., & Wyman, R. P. (2017). Protecting drinking water utilities from cyberthreats. Journal of the American Water Works Association , 109 (INL/JOU-16-39302).
Enescu, S. (2019). The concept of cybersecurity culture. In The Fourth Annual Conference of the National Defence College Romania in the New International Security Dynamics (pp. 176-191). ” Carol I” National Defence University Publishing House.
Maiolo, M., & Pantusa, D. (2018). Infrastructure Vulnerability Index of drinking water systems to terrorist attacks. Cogent Engineering , 5 (1), 1456710.
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Maniscalco, P. M., & Christen, H. T. (2011). Homeland security: Principles and practice of terrorism response . Jones and Bartlett Publishers: New York.
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Yıldırım, M., & Mackie, I. (2019). Encouraging users to improve password security and memorability. International Journal of Information Security , 18 (6), 741-759.
