The US needs a real plan to defend its water systems

What happened

Here’s what it would take: stronger defenses for large utilities, hands-on help for smaller systems and federal support to make both happen. The summer’s cyberattacks by Iranian hackers on water systems in 12 states underscored how vulnerable U.S.

A broad attack on water infrastructure could have consequences comparable to a public health crisis that impacts the country’s entire population. The threat to water has long been clear .

intelligence community states “Cyber actors from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and ransomware (software that locks up files and demands payment) groups . . . pose critical threats to U.S. networks and critical infrastructure.” Advances in artificial intelligence have heightened those vulnerabilities.