Leaky Cybersecurity Holes Put Water Systems at Risk

The EPA's passive assessment found critical and high-severity Internet-facing vulnerabilities in nearly 100 large community water systems—putting the water supply of roughly 27 million Americans at risk—after scanning over 75,000 IP addresses and 14,400 domains; the report highlights increasing targeting by state-sponsored groups and ransomware actors, cites past compromises (including PLC access in Pennsylvania and other incidents), and stresses that legacy infrastructure, financial constraints, and inadequate risk assessments leave the water sector vulnerable to disruptive or physically harmful cyberattacks.