American Water (NYSE: AWK), the largest publicly-traded U.S. water and wastewater utility company, announced that President and CEO Walter Lynch joined other private sector and education leaders to discuss collaborative efforts to collectively improve the nation’s cybersecurity with President Biden, members of his cabinet, and the national security team.

The Biden Administration has deemed cybersecurity as a national and economic security imperative saying that the federal government, the private sector and education leaders can leverage their power to drive progress for the nation’s cybersecurity.

“American Water was honored to participate in today’s meeting on behalf of our customers and the water industry,” said Lynch. “We also appreciate the recognition of the water sector in addressing cyber threats. Not only is it an essential service, but it is the only utility that provides a service that is ingested by customers.”

“Our company puts safety above all when it comes to delivering water and wastewater services and this persistence extends to cyber threats as well,” added Lynch. “We fully support the continued partnership with the Administration, the Cyber and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Environmental Protection Agency on cyber threats and solutions and believe the sharing of information and collaboration on best practices with other infrastructure sectors is critical.”

Today’s meeting included Water, Energy, Banking, Financial, Insurance, Technology and Educational leaders and highlighted the scope of the challenges faced by the country as well as the opportunities to significantly improve the nation’s cybersecurity.

Building on the President’s Executive Order on Cybersecurity and its emphasis on secure software, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will collaborate with industry and other partners to develop a new framework to improve the security and integrity of the technology supply chain. The approach will serve as a guideline to public and private entities on how to build secure technology and assess the security of technology, including open-source software. American Water committed to participating in this NIST-led initiative today.

American Water has already voluntarily adopted the current NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF). American Water also serves on the Water Information Sharing Analysis Center (ISAC) Board and participates at the Federal level as the Chair of the Water Sector Coordinating Council (WSCC) representing the National Association of Water Companies (NAWC). In each of these partnerships, American Water analyzes and discusses with experts the latest threat information and specific response activities and strategies that are emerging in the sector.

About American Water

With a history dating back to 1886, American Water is the largest and most geographically diverse U.S. publicly traded water and wastewater utility company. The company employs more than 7,000 dedicated professionals who provide regulated and market-based drinking water, wastewater and other related services to 15 million people in 46 states. American Water provides safe, clean, affordable and reliable water services to our customers to help make sure we keep their lives flowing. For more information, visit amwater.com and follow American Water on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210825005830/en/