The White House is making it clear: Protecting our critical systems from cyber attacks must involve every level of government as well as the private sector.
A hacker tried to poison a Calif water supply It was as easy as entering a password msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The breach of a Florida water treatment system that could have poisoned citizens sent shockwaves through local government. No-cost assessment tools and low-cost fixes can increase security in this sector.
By Justin Katz
The White House on Tuesday announced the first pilot program to improve the cybersecurity of the nation s electricity infrastructure as part of a broader initiative focused on industrial control systems. The 100-day plan includes aggressive but achievable milestones and will assist owners and operators as they modernize cybersecurity defenses, including enhancing detection, mitigation and forensic capabilities, according to an April 20 statement from Emily Horne, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council.
The pilot is being managed by the Department of Energy and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
Anne Neuberger, the deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology, has previously discussed the public-private partnership effort which is being launched around the same time the administration is expected to publish a wide-ranging executive order also focused on cybersecurity.
Hacking of Small Kansas Water Utility System Highlights Risks April 13, 2021
A former Kansas utility worker has been charged with remotely tampering with a public water system’s cleaning procedures, highlighting the difficulty smaller utilities face in protecting against hackers.
Wyatt Travnichek, 22, was charged last month with remotely accessing the Post Rock Rural Water District’s systems in March 2019, about two months after he quit his job with the utility. He’s accused of shutting down the facility’s cleaning and disinfecting procedures.
When he worked for the utility, he would monitor the water plant remotely by logging into its computer system, the Kansas City Star reports.