The White House plans to include the water sector in its Industrial Control Systems (ICS) cybersecurity initiative

The White House announces its plan to extend the Industrial Control Systems (ICS) cybersecurity initiative to the water sector. The plan outlines actions that will take place over the next 100 days to improve the sector’s cybersecurity. The action plan was developed in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the Water Sector Coordinating Council (WSCC). According to the announcement: (1) The plan will assist owners and operators with deploying technology that will monitor their systems and provide near real-time situational awareness and warnings. The plan will also allow for rapidly sharing relevant cybersecurity information with stakeholders; (2) EPA and CISA will work with water utilities in developing a pilot program for ICS monitoring and information sharing. All agencies will collaborate to promote cybersecurity monitoring to the entire sector; (3) The plan will meet the sector’s particular requirements (multiple and different water systems), so EPA and CISA will work with private sector partners to develop protocols for sharing information; and (4) The plan will focus on the utilities that serve the largest populations, but it will lay the foundation for supporting enhanced ICS cybersecurity across water systems of all sizes.