PORTLAND, Maine — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is warning community water systems around the country about an increasing number of cyberattacks. The EPA issued an alert Monday saying it would enforce more security measures to protect the nation's drinking water systems.
Recent EPA inspections show more than 70 percent of water systems its inspected since September 2023 violate requirements in the Safe Water Drinking Act, and some systems have cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
Chad Davis, Portland Water District's information services manager, said he's heard of a substantial increase in threats and attacks against water utilities across the country.
"It's really just come to the head over the last 10 years, and it’s been getting significantly worse," Davis said.
The EPA said some systems have critical vulnerabilities, such as employees having logins that can easily be compromised or default passwords.
"A lot of the utilities out there aren’t requiring users to change passwords, aren’t running updates on their systems, which makes them much more vulnerable," Davis said.
Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, spoke with NEWS CENTER Maine last week, noting the impact of cyberattacks in America. He said it's a "huge national problem."
"You’d be amazed at the number of Maine businesses that are hit on a daily basis with attempted cyberattacks," King said.
When it comes to the U.S. water system, a hack could impact operational technology, disrupting the distribution and storage of drinking water among other issues.
The EPA will increase its number of planned inspections to ensure water systems are meeting their security standards to comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act.