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A ransomware attack shuts down access to critical systems. A third-party vendor introduces an unexpected vulnerability. An AI tool that wasn't purpose-built for utilities gains access to data it shouldn’t. These risks may look very different, but for water and wastewater utilities, they can expose the same underlying weakness: gaps in governance.
The numbers make the urgency difficult to ignore. In 2024 alone, utilities absorbed 1,162 documented cyberattacks, a 70% jump in a single year — while more than one-third of U.S. water systems still fall short of basic cyber standards. Yet the bigger lesson from recent incidents is that resilience depends on knowing how your organization will respond when those defenses are tested.
That’s where cyber governance matters. It establishes who owns risk, who makes decisions, how teams coordinate, and what happens when something goes wrong, before an incident puts those responsibilities to the test.
Cybersecurity Is an Operational Question
The Colonial Pipeline incident in 2021 showed how quickly a cyberattack can become an operational crisis. After ransomware affected business systems, the company shut down pipeline operations as a precaution, disrupting nearly 45% of East Coast fuel supply.
For water utilities, operational stakes can appear just as quickly and severely. A compromised SCADA environment may force operators to rely on manual workarounds, while an AI-enabled tool used without clear oversight may influence operational decisions or customer communications in ways teams don't fully understand.
In either scenario, a technical issue becomes a test of service delivery, public trust, and leadership readiness.
The Same Gaps Keep Appearing
Publicized utility incidents often reveal the same underlying problem: threats are evolving faster than governance models designed to manage them. Ransomware, vendor compromise, exposed operational technology, phishing, and unauthorized access can all widen small weaknesses into larger operational risks. AI adds another layer of exposure when utilities adopt tools without clear governance for how they are selected, used, monitored, and secured.
What's especially important is when AI tools are not purpose-built for utility use. Without a governance plan, teams may not know whether a tool is appropriate for operational decisions, how data is being used, or who is accountable if an AI-enabled process introduces risk. Clear ownership, approved use cases, and timely escalation help leaders act before technology adoption creates gaps that are harder to close under pressure.
The practical question is not only where the vulnerability exists, but what it could interrupt. The most important gaps are the ones that could slow response, disrupt service delivery, or leave teams uncertain about who should act when cyber risks reach daily operations.
Resilience Is Built Before an Incident
Utilities that recover most effectively have already connected cyber risk to service delivery. They know where pressure will build during a disruption and which decisions need to happen first. That clarity helps leaders keep essential services moving while technical teams contain the incident. It also turns resilience from a broad goal into something the organization can practice before it is tested.
Leadership Drives Cyber Resilience
Because utilities provide services communities can't go without, cyber resilience must be treated as a leadership responsibility. Decisions made before an incident can shape how confidently the organization communicates, meets its obligations, and keeps service reliable under pressure.
Cyber planning works best when the right perspectives are aligned before an incident occurs: leadership brings risk tolerance, operations brings service context, and technical teams bring system knowledge. The earlier those perspectives come together, the stronger the response will be.
Where Leaders Can Start
A stronger resilience conversation starts with a few focused questions:
- What functions must continue during a disruption?
- Which systems support those functions?
- Who has authority to make time-sensitive decisions?
- How would the utility communicate and recover if normal processes were unavailable?
These questions are a starting point for leadership alignment. They help reveal where service continuity may depend on assumptions that have not been tested and where the organization may need deeper planning before the next incident.
Built to Withstand
Cyber resilience is measured when preparation meets real operational pressure. Utilities that prepare for those moments are better positioned to protect service delivery, make faster decisions, and recover with confidence when disruption occurs.
Download our Executive Brief, Six Lessons Every Utility Should Learn from Recent Cyberattacks, to explore practical actions utility leaders can take to strengthen resilience.
