{"id":3374,"date":"2022-04-25T12:52:41","date_gmt":"2022-04-25T12:52:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itegriti.com\/kw022024\/?p=3374"},"modified":"2022-09-12T10:43:32","modified_gmt":"2022-09-12T10:43:32","slug":"essential-frameworks-for-the-water-industry-water-infrastructure-act-of-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itegriti.com\/kw022024\/2022\/compliance\/essential-frameworks-for-the-water-industry-water-infrastructure-act-of-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Essential Frameworks for the Water Industry: Water Infrastructure Act of 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

America’s Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA) of 2018<\/a> \u201cimproves drinking water and water quality, deepens infrastructure investments, enhances public health and quality of life, increases jobs, and bolsters the economy\u201d declared the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).<\/a> It also provides critical cybersecurity framework for the nation\u2019s over 50,000 separate water facilities. Let’s look together at how AWIA aims to improve the security posture of the nation\u2019s facilities, and what can happen without it.<\/p>\n

Why America needs AWIA <\/strong><\/h2>\n

They knew this day would come. It was described as \u201cthe kind of breach that has been warned about for years but is rarely seen\u201d by a national news outlet<\/a>, and following it, a joint advisory was issued by the FBI, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and others warning that<\/a> U.S. water and wastewater systems are being targeted by \u201cknown and unknown\u201d malicious actors. A municipal water plant in Florida had fallen victim to a cyberattack, but three years earlier a mandate was put in place that could have done much to mitigate \u2013 and even prevent – the vulnerable cybersecurity protocols leading to the incident.<\/p>\n

America\u2019s Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA) of 2018 was passed to improve the current state of American drinking and wastewater management and rolled out with over 30 mandated programs<\/a>. There had been no new national water provisions since the 1996 amendments to the Safe Water Drinking Act<\/a>, and a lot had changed in that time. Threats facing the water supply and critical national infrastructure (CNI) in 2018 were vastly different from those over twelve years earlier. And, additional updates to general water availability, usage and safety had to be made. But besides extending subsidies to disadvantaged communities and expanding source water protection eligibilities, it made very important provisions for cybersecurity.<\/p>\n

Namely, AWIA<\/a> \u201crequires community water systems serving more than 3,300 people to develop or update risk assessments and emergency response plans (ERPs).\u201d It\u2019s no wonder, when potential nation-state attacks<\/a> would target bigger and more critical national water supplies just a few years later. Some organizations read the writing on the wall. Others failed to properly defend and were victims of SCADA attacks<\/a>. So, what\u2019s in AWIA that\u2019s designed to keep the US water sector safe?<\/p>\n

What\u2019s in the Act<\/strong><\/h2>\n

AWIA includes the following requirements<\/a> for the nation\u2019s water utilities:<\/p>\n