EPA Grants Could Leave Door Open For Cyberattacks And IP Theft

The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) rush to push billions of dollars of grant assistance to recipients has created the potential for devastating cyberattacks and intellectual property theft on water/wastewater systems, according to a recent Bloomberg report.

EPA Assistant Inspector General Jason Abend has noted several factors contribute to this issue:

1. many grant recipients, including municipalities, researchers and social justice groups are unfamiliar to the EPA;
2. the lack of information sharing between EPA's investigative and cybersecurity branches is weak; and
3. the EPA's own grant application process doesn't require relationships with foreign entities to be revealed.