Cyberattacks on water systems spread to 7 states
by Lisa Hornung · UPIAug. 1 (UPI) -- At least seven states have suffered cyberattacks on water systems as cities and states work to keep the water supplies safe.
There has been no indication that any water supply is unsafe to drink, the New York Times reported. Minnesota first reported a cyberattack and now Michigan has also reported attacks.
The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency said in a release that it's "observing a significant increase in cyber threat actors targeting programmable logic controllers in the Water and Wastewater Systems sector. CISA urges critical infrastructure owners, operators, and integrators to remove publicly exposed PLCs and other operational technology from the Internet as soon as possible. Threat actors targeting exposed PLCs have modified passwords to lock out operators and disconnected the PLCs by changing their IP addresses. This activity has resulted in boil-water notices and sustained manual operations."
Officials told The Times that Iran has increased cyberattacks on American systems, but that the water attacks haven't been definitively declared to have come from Iran. But Iran has targeted water systems in the United States in the past. Because there's no financial motive, an attack by hacking criminals is less likely, The Times said.
Michigan had "a small number of reports from Michigan communities indicating activity consistent with what federal agencies described," Dale George, director of communications for Michigan's Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, told CBS News.
"All systems continued to operate safely, issues were addressed by local operators, and there are no known impacts that posed a public health concern," George added.
CBS reported that more than 30 community water systems in Minnesota were affected.
On Friday, President Donald Trump blamed Minnesota and Gov. Tim Walz for the attacks.
"I think that Minnesota is behind it," Trump said during a televised Cabinet meeting at Camp David. "You know who's behind it? Minnesota. Because they're grossly incompetent. I think the governor's behind it. I don't think there was an Iranian cyberattack. I think that Minnesota ought to get its act together."
"They like to say, 'Oh, it was Iran.' Iran should be so lucky. Iran's got bigger problems than worrying about Minnesota," the president said.
Walz responded to the jabs from Trump in a post on X.
"DOGE took an ax to CISA and left the U.S. exposed to cyber attacks. Thankfully, our experts in Minnesota were able to identify the vulnerability quickly and work with local communities to stop it," Walz said.
Braham, Minn., Mayor Nate George said federal and local officials don't doubt the source.
"We're getting bits and pieces of information from the state of Minnesota and the FBI," George told The Times. "They are pretty sure it's Iranian actors" but are reluctant to say so publicly.
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