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single-post postid-79665 single-format-standard\" id=\"readabilityBody\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/water-digitization-critical-infrastructure-attacks\/#main\" class=\"skip-to-content-link visually-hidden-focusable\">Skip to main content<\/a> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--top ad--top-desktop\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> <main id=\"main\" role=\"main\" tabindex=\"-1\"> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--top ad--top-mobile\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<section id=\"stickybar\" class=\"stickybar stickybar--newsletter js-stickybar\" readability=\"0.82\"> <button class=\"stickybar__close js-stickybar-close\" aria-controls=\"stickybar\"> <svg class=\"icon icon--close\" width=\"21\" height=\"22\" viewBox=\"0 0 21 22\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"m.822.518-.805.805L9.695 11 .017 20.678l.805.805 9.678-9.678 9.677 9.678.806-.805L11.305 11l9.678-9.677-.806-.805-9.677 9.677L.822.518Z\" fill=\"currentColor\" \/><\/svg> <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Close<\/span> <\/button> <\/section>\n<article class=\"single-article content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__container js-single-article-content\">\n<header class=\"single-article__header \" readability=\"24.477099236641\">\n<div class=\"single-article__header-content\" readability=\"29.04\">\n<ul class=\"single-article__eyebrow\">\n<li class=\"single-article__category\"> <a class=\"single-article__category-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/news\/cybersecurity\/\"> <span>Cybersecurity<\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> Robert M. Lee expects the water sector to face greater risk of cyberattack as the industry moves to adopt digital technologies. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__cover-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"single-article__cover\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/dragos-ceo-digitization-in-critical-infrastructure-will-spur-attacks.jpg?resize=640%2C426&ssl=1\" class=\"single-article__cover-image wp-post-image\" alt decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/dragos-ceo-digitization-in-critical-infrastructure-will-spur-attacks-2.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/dragos-ceo-digitization-in-critical-infrastructure-will-spur-attacks-2.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/dragos-ceo-digitization-in-critical-infrastructure-will-spur-attacks-2.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/dragos-ceo-digitization-in-critical-infrastructure-will-spur-attacks-2.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/dragos-ceo-digitization-in-critical-infrastructure-will-spur-attacks-2.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/dragos-ceo-digitization-in-critical-infrastructure-will-spur-attacks-2.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/dragos-ceo-digitization-in-critical-infrastructure-will-spur-attacks-2.jpg?resize=252,168 252w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/dragos-ceo-digitization-in-critical-infrastructure-will-spur-attacks-2.jpg?resize=506,337 506w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/dragos-ceo-digitization-in-critical-infrastructure-will-spur-attacks-2.jpg?resize=1013,675 1013w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/dragos-ceo-digitization-in-critical-infrastructure-will-spur-attacks-2.jpg?resize=1265,843 1265w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1013px) 100vw, 1013px\"><figcaption> A wastewater treatment plant at The Port of Stockton is viewed on May 22, 2023, near Stockton, California. (Photo by George Rose\/Getty Images) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"single-article__content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__content-inner has-drop-cap\"> <html readability=\"33.113935969868\"><body readability=\"67.226467523446\"><\/p>\n<p>MIAMI \u2013 As critical infrastructure organizations become increasingly digitized, homogeneous and connected, the risk of cyberattacks from both nation-backed and criminal hackers will increase, Robert M. Lee, CEO and founder of the industrial cybersecurity firm Dragos, warned in remarks on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou look at a lot of our water systems across the United States. There\u2019s many antiquated, older systems that are not digital and that are not connected,\u201d Lee said at the ICS-focused security conference S4x24 in Miami. \u201cAs those systems get upgraded over the next three to five years, you\u2019re going to start to see a massively more connected and massively more homogeneous water sector than we\u2019ve ever had before.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lee argued that this development will replicate how other industries have moved from analog to connected digital systems \u2014 only to see themselves subject to widespread cyberattack. Seeking efficiency, the manufacturing sector was one of the first to digitize, and today it is the sector hardest hit by ransomware attacks, according to a recent <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/dragos-manufacturing-industrial-ransomware\/\">year-in-review<\/a> from Dragos.<\/p>\n<p>Greater digitalization has also brought greater homogeneity, and that will soon be seen in other critical infrastructure sectors, which, in turn, will increase both the number of ransomware attacks as well their impact, Lee warned.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe insulin manufacturing plant didn\u2019t need to be homogeneous to anything else in the world. It was a self contained plant,\u201d Lee said. \u201cBut now we are seeing that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Homogeneity will also make it easier for hackers to reuse capabilities that were traditionally only found in IT systems that have similar technology stacks. Lee warned that soon criminal hackers will realize that they can reuse capabilities on multiple facilities and have a greater impact on operations.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s especially concerning for industries that have historically underinvested in cybersecurity. Speaking at a <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/water-trade-groups-cyber-protections-house-hearing-epa\/\">hearing in January<\/a>, Rick Jeffares, president of the Georgia Rural Water Association, <a href=\"https:\/\/d1dth6e84htgma.cloudfront.net\/01_31_24_ENV_Testimony_Jeffares_929dbfa656.pdf\">told House lawmakers<\/a> that many smaller water utilities in Georgia use limited SCADA systems and are often not connected to the internet. So for some of those water utilities, cybersecurity is simply not a pressing concern.<\/p>\n<p>The potential impact of increased connectivity and homogeneity was illustrated recently by a relatively <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/pennsylvania-water-facility-hack-iran\/\">unsophisticated attack<\/a> targeting a device made by the Israeli firm Unitronics that was carried out by a group calling itself the Cyber Av3ngers, a hacking crew connected to Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.<\/p>\n<p>By targeting a single device, the crew was able to cause disruption at multiple water facilities, a brewery, as well as the chemical and manufacturing sectors, according to Dragos. By connecting the devices to the internet and relying on a default password, administrators made themselves easy targets. <\/p>\n<p><\/body> <\/p>\n<footer class=\"single-article__footer\" readability=\"1.6470588235294\">\n<div class=\"author-card\" readability=\"9\">\n<div class=\"author-card__avatar\">\n<figure class=\"author-card__image-wrap\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-card__image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/dragos-ceo-digitization-in-critical-infrastructure-will-spur-attacks-1.jpg?w=640&ssl=1\" alt=\"Christian Vasquez\"> <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><h4 class=\"author-card__name\">Written by Christian Vasquez<\/h4>\n<p> Christian covers industrial cybersecurity for CyberScoop News. He previously wrote for E&E News at POLITICO covering cybersecurity in the energy sector. 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{"id":2672,"date":"2024-03-06T21:42:31","date_gmt":"2024-03-06T21:42:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=79665"},"modified":"2024-03-06T21:42:31","modified_gmt":"2024-03-06T21:42:31","slug":"dragos-ceo-digitization-in-critical-infrastructure-will-spur-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2024\/03\/06\/dragos-ceo-digitization-in-critical-infrastructure-will-spur-attacks\/","title":{"rendered":"Dragos CEO: Digitization in critical infrastructure will spur attacks\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"