EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued an enforcement alert on Monday, May 20, as water systems across the country have experienced an increase in frequency and severity of cyberattacks and threats.
The alert was sent out via a news release from the EPA that day.
“EPA’s new enforcement alert is the latest step that the Biden-Harris Administration is taking to ensure communities understand the urgency and severity of cyberattacks and water systems are ready to address these serious threats to our nation’s public health,” EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe said.
The EPA’s alert is calling on utilities across the country to take the necessary steps to ensure they are in compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act and reduce the nation’s infrastructure and cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
According to the release, recent inspections from the EPA revealed that more than 70% of water systems in the country do not meet the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act, and are critically vulnerable to cybersecurity attacks.
KTSM spoke with El Paso Water officials, who said that they are not only compliant with the requirements, but that they are at the forefront in addressing these issues.
“El Paso Water has a very strong cybersecurity program to protect our utility from computer intrusions, either from criminal organizations such as hacktivists who may be located anywhere in the world, or nation states who would like to do harm to the United States,” said EP Water Chief of Security and Emergency Response George Quinlan.
EP Water has separate physical and cybersecurity teams that work in unison to ensure the utility’s systems are protected, as an attack on the Borderland’s water systems could be disastrous.
“The results could be catastrophic, especially living in a desert community. We rely entirely on the water system that El Paso utility has created over the years,” Quinlan said.
Quinlan explained that the biggest threat would be if an attack resulted in the contamination of their water system, which would prevent them from providing residents with safe drinking water.
He also said that a potential cyberattack could disable EP Water’s Command and Control System.
Quinlan said their physical and cybersecurity teams have already been assessed this year by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. He explained that from those inspections, they are now able to conduct their own security assessments of their departments.
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