New York Awards More Than $9 Million in Cybersecurity Grants to 153 Water Systems
Summary
New York is awarding more than $9 million to help 153 water and wastewater systems assess and improve cybersecurity. The announcement follows a multi-state campaign targeting water infrastructure; no New York utility has been publicly linked to it.
Key points
- The state’s SECURE grant program will fund cybersecurity assessments and improvements at 153 drinking water and wastewater systems, with no-cost technical assistance.
- The funding is intended to help utilities meet state standards covering operator training, incident reporting, risk-based protections, and cybersecurity leads at larger drinking water systems.
- More than 30 Minnesota community water systems were targeted on July 26 and 27; Braham briefly took its water plant offline after attackers shut down operating controls.
- The campaign was reported to have affected water infrastructure in at least seven states. No New York utility has been publicly linked to it.
- Federal investigators have not formally attributed the attacks. Iran is a leading suspect, based on reported similarities to earlier campaigns linked to Iranian threat actors.
- CISA advised water operators to remove publicly exposed PLCs and other operational technology from the internet, change default passwords, and secure and restrict remote access.
Article Details
- Event Type
- Cybersecurity grant funding announcement for water and wastewater utilities
- Impact
- New York is awarding more than $9 million to 153 drinking water and wastewater systems for cybersecurity assessments and security improvements. The announcement follows a campaign targeting water and wastewater facilities in at least seven states; some municipalities reported disruption to automated control functions, but most facilities remained operational. No New York utility has been publicly linked to the campaign.