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Cybersecurity, The New Variable In The Water Equation
By Sielen Namdar, Industry Solutions Executive, Cisco
Water is a resource that is easily taken for granted. We see rain, we see lakes, we see rivers, we see creeks; we turn on our faucets and there it is. Rarely do we think about what it takes to get that water to our showers or sinks. We pay our bills and don’t give it much of a second thought.
That’s because there is an entire industry of folks who are thinking about it for you. And there is a lot that goes into it. Are the chemical compositions within U.S. EPA regulations? Is the water pressure at safe levels? Are the water supply lines free of sickness-inducing fungus or bacteria? Is there a leak in any of those supply lines?
From IoT to cybersecurity, Albuquerque future proofs its water utility. Cisco
When hackers threatened the water supply in Oldsmar, Fla., last month, it highlighted the critical importance of these utilities along with their placement in the cross hairs of cybercriminals around the world.
“Since Florida, a lot of folks have become aware that this very possibly could happen to their utilities,” said Sielen Namdar, Cisco’s global water business lead. “And the last thing utilities want is to endanger the public.”
Unfortunately, too many water utilities depend on backward technologies, with little visibility into just what is happening in their networks or physical infrastructures. In Oldsmar, for example, hackers took advantage of a remote-access system that was beyond their security perimeter. And when levels of lye approached dangerous levels, it was blind luck that an operator happened to notice.