Lawmakers reintroduce bill expanding USDA program for water sector to include cyber assistance

Lawmakers in the House and Senate have reintroduced an industry-backed bill to provide cybersecurity assistance to rural water systems through a circuit rider program run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“We must ensure our water systems that rural communities and farmers rely on have the necessary protections to successfully guard against cyber-attacks,” Rep. Don Davis (D-NC) said in a March 17 release on the bill.

The bill would incorporate cyber risk management assistance as part of a ...