The project Cybersecurity in Water Services Management, aims to enhance the cybersecurity resilience of North Macedonia’s critical water infrastructure by implementing comprehensive cybersecurity measures, building local capacity, setting benchmarks, and encouraging further investment into digital security across public utility companies and related sectors.

North Macedonia’s path toward European Union (EU) accession requires significant improvements in infrastructure, including the digitalization of critical sectors like water services management. Water and wastewater are among the eleven sectors classified as critical under the EU NIS 2 directive requiring strengthened cybersecurity measures.

Water supply, wastewater collection, and treatment services are mostly managed by municipalities through Public Utility Companies, overseen by the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning, 

But ongoing digitalization of water systems brings cybersecurity risks, as evidenced by recent cyberattacks on government institutions, alongside the increasing number of global attacks on water systems. Global trends and these local incidents underscore the urgency of protecting critical water infrastructure to ensure public health and service reliability. 

Donor:                     Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic

Project partner(s): Municipality of Kavadarci, Public Utility Company. 

At the national level, the most significant institutions setting cybersecurity standards, Ministry of Digital Transformation and the Agency for Electronic Communications (AEC), specifically, the National Computer Security Incident Response Team (CERT) as responsible handler of cybersecurity incidents and coordinating responses.

Project duration:   2025 – 2026 

Budget:              200,000.00 USD