Cyber Resilience – Recap of Tuesday’s Hearing on Securing Operational Technology in the Water Sector

Similar to the subcommittee hearing last week, another one was held Tuesday that focused on the water sector, titled “Securing Operational Technology: A Deep Dive into the Water Sector.” The witnesses included top water trade officials as well as leaders from Dragos and MITRE. Much of what was explored centered around the need for more cybersecurity technical resources, specifically for OT systems. The proceedings touched on the differences between OT and IT systems and how OT should be secured with a different approach. In his written testimony, Robert M. Lee, CEO and co-founder of Dragos said that applying all IT cybersecurity controls of a business to the OT networks would yield wasted resources and likely cause more disruption than all the currently tracked state actors combined. Additionally, witness Kevin Morley from the American Water Works Association (AWWA) emphasized that “while cybersecurity is one of many eligible activities within the State Revolving Fund (SRF) program, constraints on that program may not allow utilities to acquire the optimal cybersecurity support they need.” Ultimately, the witnesses testified before the subcommittee members to increase funding to help bolster cybersecurity within the sector by providing monetary resources and technical support to the numerous underserved rural water and wastewater systems.

A recording of the live stream can be found at House.gov. For more information, access Industrial Cyber and Decipher.