Danielle Jablanski, cybersecurity consulting program lead, operational technology cybersecurity at STV, recently shared her perspective on strengthening cybersecurity across the water sector in a guest blog for The Water Tower published as part of Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

In “Cyber Security Awareness Month: Everything Needed to Secure the Water Sector Has Already Been Said,” Jablanski argues that utilities do not lack cybersecurity guidance. The greater challenge is putting well-established practices into action across complex operational environments characterized by aging infrastructure, constrained budgets, competing priorities and accumulated technical debt.

“The challenge is no longer a lack of guidance. The challenge is executing the fundamentals in complex environments with aging infrastructure, constrained budgets, competing priorities, and decades of accumulated technical debt.” — Danielle Jablanski

The article examines why cybersecurity is especially critical for water and wastewater systems, where a cyber incident can have direct operational and public safety consequences. Jablanski highlights persistent challenges involving legacy operational technology, remote access, third-party vendors, incident preparedness and the divide between written cybersecurity policies and day-to-day operational practices.

Rather than calling for another cybersecurity framework, Jablanski emphasizes prioritizing the fundamentals while more closely integrating cybersecurity with engineering and infrastructure planning. She points to approaches including Consequence-Driven Cyber-Informed Engineering (CCE), network segmentation, multifactor authentication, controlled vendor access, offline backups and physical fail-safes that can help utilities limit the consequences of a cyber incident.

Ultimately, Jablanski calls for a shift toward security by design, integrating cybersecurity into infrastructure planning, architecture, procurement, operations, maintenance and engineering decisions from the outset. By turning established guidance into sustained operational practice, utilities can strengthen resilience while protecting the critical water systems their communities depend on.

Read the full The Water Tower guest blog: “Cyber Security Awareness Month: Everything Needed to Secure the Water Sector Has Already Been Said.”