The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) is inviting organisations from the water and wastewater sectors to participate in a national, two-day cyber security exercise in August 2021 aimed to strengthen cyber security resilience. This invitation also extends to government agencies with a role in responding to cyber incidents affecting the sector.
The water and wastewater sector provides essential services for Australians.
"A cyber incident disrupting critical water infrastructure could have serious impacts on the safety, social or economic wellbeing of Australians," said ACSC Head Abigail Bradshaw CSC.
This exercise follows the success of the national cyber security exercise for Australia's electricity industry in November 2019.
Exercising cyber security arrangements is an important and effective way to test them and take necessary steps to strengthen arrangements and ensure incident response plans are up to date.
The ACSC is working in partnership with water and wastewater sector organisations, and government agencies, to design the two-day exercise to test and strengthen arrangements for responding to cyber incidents.
Participation in the exercise will provide Australian water and wastewater sector organisations with government agencies with the opportunity to gain experience responding to a cyber incident scenario and evaluate areas for improvement.
The exercise will provide opportunities for organisations and personnel, to:
- Strengthen and validate their cyber security response and recovery plans, including interoperability with other organisation and jurisdictional arrangements
- Practise technical, operational and strategic capabilities to respond to cyber incidents, including decision-making
- Improve communications with their partners and the Australian public
- Increase their knowledge of current cyber threats, potential consequences and actors targeting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of water sector organisations' information and systems
- Validate and inform training
- Increase exercise management capabilities.
Registration to participate in the two-day national exercise closes on Thursday, 24 September 2020.
