UW Computer Security Research and Course Blog

Summary:

As humans we are cursed by the need for a number of basic necessities. Among these include nutritious food, clean air, and of course water. In this brief post I will focus on the later of these.

While the importance of securing our computing systems and infrastructures cannot be stressed enough, the importance of ensuring that everyone has access to clean water far surpasses any other consideration simply because it is essential for our health and well-being. It would indeed be tragic to lose a life savings due to identify theft, but such loss pales in comparison to the health risks involved with contaminated or otherwise unsanitary water. Financial loss can be recovered, while the same cannot be said about the loss of life, life years, or the degraded quality of life in the years that one does have. Unfortunately, while some risks to our water supply seem far fetched and highly unlikely, others are very real and seemingly unavoidable.

Assets:

The main asset to consider is the health and well-being of each and every individual. Everyone needs access to clean water with no exception. Whether someone lives in urban areas, rural areas, or anywhere in between matters only in the details of the risks involved. City dwellers rely on the city water supply while residents of rural areas rely on their ground water, which can also be easily contaminated.

Potential Adversaries / Threats:

The potential threats to water supplies are numerous. Since 9/11, a common fear is that terrorists might gain access to the water supply of a major city and contaminate it with a deadly toxin that could kill thousands. Some feel that this risk is severe enough to warrant action, while others believe that such fear-induced thinking is actually making us less secure in the long run. Besides the common stereotypical terrorists, however, it is conceivable that anyone with the motive, know-how, and tools could infiltrate and infect the water supply for a significant number of people.

The greatest threat, however, is simply unclean drinking water caused by insufficient drinking water purity regulation, lack of enforcement of current regulations, and above all else, negligence and equipment failure. It has been discovered that the water supplies of many major cities the eastern states contain trace amounts of a large number of different pharmaceutical chemicals. These drugs were not maliciously injected into the water supply, but are merely the remnants of chemicals contained in the waste products of people; chemicals that were not completely filtered out during water treatment. Contamination levels of pharmaceutical drugs in our water supplies are currently not under regulation, and the effects of exposure to decades of large numbers of trace amounts of these drugs are unknown.

Another risk is that of equipment failure. We currently have superb technology for treating and distributing water, but unfortunately it only takes a single accident to contaminate a distribution system with catastrophic effects. A broken pipe leeching sewage into fresh water and a broken septic tank leaking sewage into groundwater are but two examples.

Weaknesses:

The largest weakness of any water system is the fact that it only takes a single point of failure for disaster to ensue. It doesn’t matter if the supply and water treatment systems are working effectively if some point of the distribution network is contaminated. Another weakness is the fact that each and every human being must have access to a clean water supply for survival. This makes the risks, and thus the appeal of a potential adversary, all the greater.

Potential Defenses:

In rural areas, it is the responsibility of the individual to maintain a working septic tank and drain field.  Authorities in those areas should devise and implement policies for making sure that ground water does not become contaminated by negligent residents.

Cities need to provide high physical security to freshwater sources, treatment facilities, and distribution systems.  This is purposefully a very broadly stated requirement because each city could have different systems with unique infrastructure.  Furthermore, a detection system should be implemented that can detect and notify emergency response teams if dangerous levels of a particular substance are found in critical components of the water supply system.

Conclusions:

Though the threat of terrorist attacks on our water supplies is present, it is an unlikely event whose consideration should be shadowed by the importance of providing clean, everyday water.  Finally, although water treatment technologies will continue to improve and policymakers will hopefully make wise decisions in the future, the security of this vital life source should never be taken for granted.