**Minnesota Water Cyberattacks: A Reminder That Recovery Readiness Matters**

The cyberattacks reported against more than 30 Minnesota community water systems should concern every organization that operates water, wastewater, building automation, or other operational technology.

The investigation is continuing, and attribution should not be treated as established. However, the operational lesson is already clear:

A cyber incident does not have to contaminate water to become a serious public-service emergency.

When operators lose access to control systems, passwords are changed, communications are disrupted, or automated equipment becomes unavailable, the organization must still be able to operate safely and recover promptly.

Every critical-infrastructure organization should be able to answer:

• What operational technology and control equipment do we have?
• Which systems are remotely accessible or exposed?
• Who—including vendors—can access them?
• Do we have current, offline copies of programs, configurations, and credentials?
• Can personnel operate essential functions manually?
• Have restoration procedures actually been tested?

Cybersecurity is important, but prevention alone is not enough. Resilience also requires preparation for continued operations, controlled recovery, and verified restoration.

This incident is another reminder: if an organization does not know what it has, how it is connected, and how it will be restored, it is not fully prepared.

#OperationalTechnology #WaterSecurity #CriticalInfrastructure #ICS #OTCybersecurity #CyberResilience #RecoveryReadiness