What’s Good for the Grid is Good for the Groundwater

Pardon the stretch for the purpose of the title; I hope the spirit with which it was intended is somewhat appreciated. In a blog post at Tenable yesterday, Marty Edwards highlighted how current work from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), along with three recently proposed bills should have positive cross-sector benefits. While the proposed bills are specific to grid security and resilience, Mr. Edwards suggests their influence should improve cross-sector collaboration and information sharing. Likewise, one could infer that the inverse could also be true; greater cross-sector information sharing could enhance grid security, and thus national critical infrastructure security as a whole. Two of the efforts (PROTECT Act and Enhancing Grid Security through Public-Private Partnership Act) specifically reference the benefits to two of the most vulnerable of the electric infrastructure, rural electric cooperatives and resource constrained electric utilities. It is reasonable to apply similar models to small local, rural, and other resource constrained water and wastewater systems and other critical infrastructure providers to help improve their security posture. Now is the time for members to shine and demonstrate just how vital the water and wastewater sector is to the national critical infrastructure community. Water and wastewater utilities are encouraged to lead the cross-sector collaboration efforts, especially by providing much needed support to the small, rural, and resource constrained providers. As a huge fan of information sharing, WaterISAC thanks Mr. Edwards for carrying the torch in his role as industry co-chair of the Control Systems Working Group (CSWG) to implement plans for collaboration and information sharing across sectors and fields to improve OT security and ensure we have a strong critical infrastructure foundation for years to come. Read more from Marty Edwards at Tenable.