this post was submitted on 21 May 2024
199 points (98.5% liked)

News

23296 readers
3174 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Cyberattacks against water utilities across the country are becoming more frequent and more severe, the Environmental Protection Agency warned Monday as it issued an enforcement alert urging water systems to take immediate actions to protect the nation’s drinking water.

About 70% of utilities inspected by federal officials over the last year violated standards meant to prevent breaches or other intrusions, the agency said. Officials urged even small water systems to improve protections against hacks. Recent cyberattacks by groups affiliated with Russia and Iran have targeted smaller communities.

Some water systems are falling short in basic ways, the alert said, including failure to change default passwords or cut off system access to former employees. Because water utilities often rely on computer software to operate treatment plants and distribution systems, protecting information technology and process controls is crucial, the EPA said. Possible impacts of cyberattacks include interruptions to water treatment and storage; damage to pumps and valves; and alteration of chemical levels to hazardous amounts, the agency said.

McCabe named China, Russia and Iran as the countries that are “actively seeking the capability to disable U.S. critical infrastructure, including water and wastewater.”

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 20 points 5 months ago (2 children)

This sounds like the sort of thing I've heard preppers tell me for the almost 50 years I've been around.

And I'll repeat what I usually say: If society collapses to that point, I don't want to survive the aftermath. I have no Mad Max fantasies.

[–] JoMiran@lemmy.ml 14 points 5 months ago (1 children)

No need for societal collapse. Most of my tech friends in Austin have rain collection tanks and emergency generators now after the grid collapse. Same goes with an uncle that moved to Puerto Rico.

It doesn't take much (not much at all) to put you and your family in a position where you don't have safe drinking water.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 9 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Having some sort of off-grid water storage or access method is not being a prepper.

[–] JoMiran@lemmy.ml 3 points 5 months ago (2 children)

If having off-grid water and power backup, along with some long term storage consumables (freeze dried and canned food) isn't prepping, that what is your definition of prepping?

[–] TexasDrunk@lemmy.world 7 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Hoarding guns and alienating your family.

[–] JoMiran@lemmy.ml 5 points 5 months ago

That's covers most of MAGA.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 5 points 5 months ago

How long do you expect to be without water and power and have to eat your own food?

Because the people I'm talking about are suggesting indefinitely. No thank you.

[–] bluGill@kbin.social 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Society will not collapse. If it does odds are you won't survive what caused the collapse in the first place. (if you are a prepper make sure your neighbors know how to access you stash - both so that it doesn't go to waste if you can't get to it and because even if you can get to it you will need whatever neighbors survive to rebuild society)

However there are a lot of disasters that are much more likely that society collapse that are worth being prepared for.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

As I said to the other person, that's not being a prepper. The whole idea behind being a prepper is that "The Big One" is coming.

[–] bluGill@kbin.social 2 points 5 months ago

Right, I'm saying the big one isn't coming - and even if it comes you won't survive so what is the point.