utility cybersecurity

7 Ways to safeguard utilities from cyber threats: PwC

utility cybersecurity

To suggest updates and clarifications to this information, please email Kevin Morley, AWWA manager of federal relations, at If so, federal legislation requires systems serving 3,300 or more persons to consider cybersecurity threats in your risk and resilience assessment, as well as in your emergency response plan. Congressional leaders urging federal support for water utilities after recent cyber attacks on multiple water systems.

  • Teams can produce evidence of compliance (like user access reviews, investigation timelines, or chain-of-custody for evidence) with a few clicks, rather than assembling it manually.
  • With Advanced Support for Nessus Pro, your teams will have access to phone, Community, and chat support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
  • Supply chain risk is one of the more pressing challenges in utility cybersecurity.
  • These practices will ensure that cybersecurity functions not only protect the company from threats, but also facilitate its growth and success in a risk-informed manner.
  • The amount of data energy and utilities businesses collect and analyse is enormous.

That matters because the electric power environment combines public-facing services, market and dispatch platforms, substations, remote support workflows, and increasingly distributed digital infrastructure. The same organization can face exposed internet services, supplier-connected remote access, cloud configuration drift, utility web-app risk, and OT segmentation weaknesses at the same time. Verizon’s 2026 DBIR found that software vulnerabilities became the leading initial breach vector at 31% of breaches, third-party involvement reached 48% of breaches after a 60% year-over-year increase, and ransomware rose to 48% of all breaches.

It maintains incident response procedures in a document management system but has not tested them in a realistic tabletop or simulation exercise in two years. It runs vulnerability scans that produce reports but does not have a systematic process for remediating the findings. The third track is incident response culture, creating an organizational environment where security incidents are reported quickly, honestly, and without fear of blame rather than concealed or rationalized.

utility cybersecurity

What Is Utility Cybersecurity?

  • The operating system running the human-machine interface in a substation control room may be a version of Windows that has been unsupported by Microsoft for a decade.
  • This comprehensive understanding will enable organizations to allocate resources efficiently in the future.
  • In 2023 several government agencies released a cybersecurity advisory detailing attacks on global water and wastewater systems by an Iranian military organization.
  • The statistics support a view of energy cyber risk as a continuity and safety problem, not only a confidentiality problem.
  • Congressional leaders urging strong federal support for water utilities following cyber attacks on multiple water systems in recent days.

Threats to U.S. water and wastewater utilities are increasing with hackers targeting controls, chemical treatments, and water flows. The work in progress is available for review, however content will change throughout the year. “We need to be just as sharp with them in ensuring that they are doing what they say they have done.” Electric utilities, he said, are subject to federal cybersecurity regulations and https://www.mon-expression.info/what-do-you-know-about-13/ increased scrutiny as cyberattacks on critical infrastructure have become more common. “Attackers now have access to automation and artificial intelligence that can accelerate reconnaissance, phishing, vulnerability, discovery and exploitation,” he said.

utility cybersecurity

Support your long-term growth with forward-looking resilience

According to the IEA, most energy and utilities companies rely on external consultants for security, and relatively few have deep in-house expertise. However, there are several obstacles that prevent energy and utilities firms from fully addressing the cyber threat. But cyber is a relatively new risk and now we need to review and enhance those protocols with new practices and strategies to address the new digital threat One of the biggest developments in the utilities and energy sector of recent years has been the rollout of smart meters to customers. These operatives regularly use mobile devices, laptops and other connected equipment.

utility cybersecurity

Support contacts must speak English and conduct support requests in English. Support contacts must be reasonably proficient in the use of information technology, the software they have purchased from Tenable, and familiar with https://construction-rent.com/environmental-compliance-and-erosion-control-solutions-assistance-to-construction-and-industrial-projects.html the customer resources that are monitored by means of the software. Users can also access the Knowledge Base, documentation, license information, technical support numbers, etc.; utilize live chat, ask questions to the Community, and learn about tips and tricks from other Community members.