The Environmental Protection Agency has issued a critical warning about widespread cybersecurity vulnerabilities in the nation’s drinking water systems, which could affect millions of Americans.
On November 13, the EPA’s Office of Inspector General published a report that assessed 1,062 public drinking water systems, which serve about 193 million people.
The report identified 97 systems, supplying water to 26.6 million customers, with critical or high-risk cybersecurity vulnerabilities. An additional 211 systems serving 82.7 million people were found to have medium and low-risk vulnerabilities.
“EPA is reviewing the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) management implication report on cybersecurity concerns related to drinking water systems,” a spokesperson for the EPA told Newsweek.
“The agency has long-standing concerns with cybersecurity-related threats and vulnerabilities facing the water sector and continues to work diligently within the water sector to mitigate these vulnerabilities by providing direct technical assistance, guidance, tools, training, and funding that can aid water …