Riverhead Wins $278K State Grant to Shield Sewer System From Cyberattacks

Riverhead will receive $278,285 in state funding to strengthen the cybersecurity of its sewer system against hackers, Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine announced Monday.

This comes on the heels of growing concerns of AI-driven cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure nationwide, with water facilities being a prime focus.

The grant is one piece of a broader $9 million package the state distributed to 153 local government projects statewide, with nearly $1 million of that total going to Suffolk County municipalities. Riverhead's share — nearly a third of the county allocation — is among the largest single awards on Long Island.

The money will flow through the state's Strengthening Essential Cybersecurity for Utilities and Resiliency Enhancements program, known as SECURE, and will pay for improvements to the Riverhead Sewer District's information-technology infrastructure.

"We're always happy to receive grant funding from the state of New York for the IT department," said Henry Kreymborg, Riverhead's network and systems administrator. "This helps our constituents, and it helps town operations immensely."

The SECURE program is designed to help communities harden defenses for critical water and wastewater systems as cyber threats to public utilities have intensified nationally. Long Island municipal water systems were reported to have received the bulk of the $9 million in grants distributed statewide.

Riverhead officials did not immediately detail which specific IT systems or controls the funding would address, but the town said the award would support the Sewer District's ability to detect and respond to potential intrusions.