Cybersecurity Incidents in the Water Sector 2026 Springer Nature Switzerland AG, Cham, Switzerland info:eu-repo/semantics/conferenceProceedings All rights reserved https://unilib.phaidrabg.rs/o:9642 doi:10.1007/978-3-032-20948-1_11 ISBN: 978-3-032-20947-4 eng Cybersecurity threats to the water sector have intensified as utilities adopt digital technologies for operational efficiency. This paper analyzes five major incidents between 2021 and 2025, highlighting vulnerabilities in both operational technology (OT) and enterprise IT systems. Findings reveal that most breaches exploited basic weaknesses such as insecure remote access, default credentials, and poor network segmentation rather than advanced exploits. Attack motives ranged from financial gain and political signaling to psychological impact, illustrating a diverse threat ecosystem involving criminal groups, hacktivists, and state-aligned actors. Consequences included service disruptions, reputational damage, and heightened regulatory scrutiny, even when physical harm was avoided. Comparative analysis underscores that smaller utilities face acute resource and expertise gaps, while larger entities remain exposed through IT systems critical to business continuity. Key lessons emphasize multi-factor authentication, IT–OT segmentation, secure remote access, continuous monitoring, and workforce training. Policy recommendations call for enforceable cybersecurity baselines, funding for under-resourced utilities, and international threat intelligence sharing. Research priorities include lightweight anomaly detection for legacy OT, cyber–physical modeling, and socio-technical response studies. Strengthening resilience requires coordinated action across policy, practice, and research. 3rd International Scientific and Professional Conference: Critical Infrastructure Risk and Crisis Management in the New Reality, October 16th–17th, 2025, Falkensteiner Hotel, Belgrade, Serbia startpage: 187 endpage: 202 Cybersecurity, Water sector, Comparative analysis Milivojević, Nikola Milivojević, Vladimir application/pdf 2776437 bytes