Major East County water agencies are responding to heightened cybersecurity warnings after federal officials reported attacks on water systems in other states, according to East County Magazine.

The report says East County Magazine contacted four large East County providers: Helix Water District, Padre Dam Municipal Water District, Otay Water District and Sweetwater Water Authority. The FBI warning cited by the source report described attacks on internet-connected programmable logic controller devices used in some water systems.

Padre Dam Municipal Water District, which serves Santee, told East County Magazine that its programmable logic controllers are on a private network isolated from the internet, with no direct internet connection to or from that private network and no device directly exposed to the internet. The district also said it is in compliance with federal mandates and has protocols to notify the public if an emergency occurs.

Helix Water District said it reviewed FBI best practices and is following them, while Otay Water District said it monitors threat intelligence and works with federal, state, regional and industry partners. Sweetwater Water Authority declined to participate in the story, according to East County Magazine.

For Santee residents, the local point is narrower than the national cybersecurity story: Padre Dam says its operational network is not directly internet-facing, and the district says it has ongoing cybersecurity measures intended to protect water quality and system reliability. The East County Magazine report also notes that California has not been listed among the states where attacks have been publicly identified so far.