Cyberattacks have been reported on local water facilities across at least seven states, marking one of the broadest escalations in attacks on critical utilities in several years.
First came 30 reported attacks in Minnesota, then another nine in Michigan over the weekend. All targeted water and waste systems in the states.
"All signs are pointing to disruption more so than trying to get financial gain or getting an actual public impact. This is about disruption of services," said John Israel, Minnesota's Chief Information Security Officer.
Officials in both states say the systems are operating safely, but the culprit is still unknown.
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The attacks may be linked to Iran, according to a federal warning.
The FBI and other federal cyber agencies have warned of the possibility that foreign actors may try to target water facilities. Local utility plants tend to lack funds to protect themselves, and operate with relatively small IT staff and older equipment.
"We’re in a small town. That doesn’t happen to small towns, right?" Said Jacob Schillander, city administrator for Maple Plain, Minnesota. "From there as the day progressed, we started learning that some of the systems were affected by that."
The damage could be felt at your tap, whether it’s lower water pressure, or untreated groundwater ending up in places it shouldn’t be. The treatment process itself could also be manipulated. Water service could also become temporarily disabled, which could have an outsized impact on hospitals and fire departments.
Still, as of Monday there's no indication drinking water has been contaminated in any of the affected states.
President Donald Trump has downplayed the attacks. On Friday, he also alleged without evidence that an attack on Minnesota should be blamed on Democratic officials within the state.
Experts say if Iran is culpable, it exposes a terror threat to military installations, which are often supported by civilian water utilities.
Nick Anderson, the director at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, tells Scripps News it is urging “critical infrastructure owners and operators to remove publicly exposed Programmable Logic Controllers and other operational technology from the internet as soon as possible.”
